|
Post by sarahman on May 18, 2013 16:02:33 GMT
o all,
I have just accepted an offer from Saudi Aramco and am looking to move from London to the Dhahran camp with my family in August.
We currently have three sons attending good independent schools in London in years 9, 8 and 4 (we also have a baby daughter aged 5 weeks!), and are looking to send them to a good British school while staying with us in Dhahran, rather than boarding and being separated from their family.
The Dhahran British Grammar School seemed like a good option, however the GCSE options currently offered are a little too limited relative to the subjects our older children are currently studying, and DBGS very kindly suggested that we take a look at St. Christopher's School in Bahrain, where some of the DBGS students have gone on to study for their A levels.
The Bahraini school does look excellent, but I am concerned that getting the children to and from the school each day may be difficult.
Is there are anyone who lives in Dhahran and has (or knows of anyone who has) children studying at St. Christopher's? If so, how do the children get to and from school? Also it would be great if we could get in touch.
Thank you very much in advance for your help!
|
|
|
Post by vpainter on May 18, 2013 17:19:33 GMT
|
|
|
Post by sarahman on May 18, 2013 18:36:31 GMT
Hi Vpainter,
Thanks - and yes, I did take a look at BISAK, but I think that St. Christopher’s is a little bit closer to what we are looking for, and it was actually specifically recommended to us by the deputy headmaster at DBGS. This is an extract from an email he sent me:
“If you still are considering Saudi Arabia there is the possibility of BISAK (GCSE and A levels) in Al Khobar and St Christopher's School,Bahrain. St Christopher's has a number of students who commute daily to their school from Saudi and indeed a number of our Year 11 students go there at post 16 for A levels. I know from personal experience that it is an excellent school and has very high academic standards..."
A look at the website confirms this – the only real issue that I envisage is the travelling to and from school – but I expect that the children will get used to the routine fairly quickly - just need to sort out the logistics in advance.
One possibility I suppose, if we cannot arrange something with other parents, is to try to find a reliable driver who we can retain the services of - are these easy to find there?
|
|
|
Post by GroveWanderer on May 23, 2013 5:09:20 GMT
Last time I heard, there were buses leaving from the Dhahran Theater every morning (and returning in the evening) for children commuting to schools in Bahrain.
I can't guarantee that is still the case but I can't see why they would have discontinued them, I still know of people whose children go to school in Bahrain every day.
|
|
|
Post by sarahman on May 23, 2013 22:50:14 GMT
I checked with the Senior Admissions Office at St. Christopher's School, and she said that they did have GCSE and A Level students commuting from Dhahran on a daily basis, but that they do not allow this for younger children.
She suggested instead that a number of families actually live in Bahrain, with the employed parent commuting to Saudi as this takes the pressure off of the children. It does look like this is a sensible alternative, and it would come with certain additional advantages (e.g. wife will be able to drive the car in Bahrain and generally have a little more freedom etc), but also some disadvantages (i.e. either a long daily commuting or not being with the children every day).
I wonder in this case whether Aramco would still contribute the "boarding" costs for the children who are effectively studying abroad - i.e. would the company make a contribution to the rent of the property where the wife and children are staying as per the EAP? I am guessing that this would indeed be the case, but it would certainly be nice to have this confirmed.
|
|