Sherborne Senior School has relocated to a new, state-of-the-art building in the Grand Zone at the Mall of Qatar.
The new Senior school has been purpose built and is designed to deliver an outstanding, 21st century education, with small class sizes and age-appropriate facilities. The school will be a place where ideas are shaped and shared in a culturally diverse and exciting environment and where technology will play an important part in the provision of secondary education.
The new site boasts:
- 12 Science labs
- ICT and robotics suites
- a large Library
- Design and Technology rooms
- specialist Drama, Art and Music facilities
- a 250-seater theatre and
- multiple sporting areas, including a 100m running track, two sports halls, a large multi-purpose pitch and a 25m swimming pool.
There is ample parking and excellent transport links, including the Metro station at the Mall of Qatar, making the new school site easy to reach from anywhere in Doha.
Sherborne Qatar is a family of schools with shared values but each has its own personality. There is a Prep School for 4 – 11 year olds, a Senior School for 11 – 18 year olds and a Girls’ school, currently for 4 – 15 year olds.
Sherborne Qatar has much in common with Sherborne, our historic and prestigious home school in England, established 500 years ago. Both are dedicated to providing the very best that British independent education can offer. Dedicated to knowing our pupils as individuals, Sherborne Senior School’s holistic approach to education ensures pastoral care and wellbeing has as much emphasis as academic excellence. We want to meet the ‘whole’ needs of each and every child in the Senior School.
The Senior School’s aim is to create a stimulating educational environment for our pupils, where they can achieve academically and holistically, preparing and equipping them for life, nurturing their skills, their ambitions and their moral and cultural development whilst, at the same time, growing their creative talents, their love for learning and all the while enjoying the fun of school.
A key area of the school will be the Sixth Form Centre which will be designed to help our Sixth Formers (Year 12 and 13 pupils) prepare for the transition to top universities around the world. The dedicated Sixth Form Centre has a very large Common Room, a large private study area and six break-out smaller study areas.
Our enthusiastic, dedicated and highly-qualified, mostly British trained, subject specialist teachers will continue to deliver an impressive range of options at I/GCSE, AS Level and A Level. As an alternative to these qualifications, we also offer a number of BTECs in Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.
An after-school programme of more than 60 enrichment activities are on offer every day of the working week, promoting a commitment to learning, teamwork and self-improvement. The extensive range of enrichment opportunities include the International Award (the Duke of Edinburgh Award), many sports clubs, debating, MUN (Model United Nations), Medical Club, sailing, riding, helping at local animal rescue centres, music, drama and art. The majority of pupils actively engage in our after-school enrichment programme.
The last year has been challenging but the Senior School responded strongly and, during blended and remote learning, all lessons have been live, interactive and recorded, without interruption. From the start of the academic year, the Senior School’s main priority was to provide the highest quality teaching and learning despite the COVID-19 restrictions. During blended learning pupils in Years 7 to 12 have physically attended school every other day, while the Year 13 pupils attended school every day. Whether at home or physically in school, from the start of the school year, pupils had 5 hours of academic instruction each day (six 50-minute lessons – as under normal conditions) and 25 minutes of pastoral time and well-being support.
The school’s approach to the pandemic was praised by parents and comments such as the following were typical:
I was very happy with the school before COVID, but I think the way school has handled everything has been fantastic, the fact the children have live lessons everyday keeps them motivated and involved with their teachers and friends.
The level of education and commitment from the teachers has been remarkable. We’re genuinely grateful for the commitment to stretch the children in a positively engaging manner.
Teachers have been the highlight and, without them, my child wouldn’t have made it through this year.
Staff and pupils have mastered a whole range of new ICT skills and the intention is to incorporate these into future teaching once we return to normal schooling, thus enhancing the whole educational experience for all pupils.
Sherborne Senior School is one of the highest performing schools in the Middle East and last year the Senior School celebrated its best ever I/GCSE, AS and A Level results.
- 91% of I/GCSE pupils achieved grades 4 to 9 (in comparison in England 76% of all grades were a grade 4 or higher in 2020) and 100% of pupils achieved a passing grade (for the second year in a row). 41% of all I/GCSE grades were the top 9 to 7 grades (compared with just 26% in England).
- At AS Level 50% of all grades were either a grade A or B and 30% of all grades were a grade A (up from 22% in 2019).
- At A Level, an amazing 44% of all grades were A* or A, 69% of all grades were in the A* to B range and 83% of all grades were in the A* to C range. 26% of pupils did exceptionally well achieving an A* or an A in all their subjects and over half of the pupils (54%) achieved at least one grade A in their A Levels.
These impressive results are testament to our pupils’ commitment to learning and to the excellent teaching which they receive, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic but throughout their time at Sherborne Senior School.
Sherborne Qatar is proud of its links to the UK, but it is even more proud of what has been achieved since establishing itself here in Doha. The new Senior School site marks the beginning of the next exciting phase in the school’s future.
