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Post by Famwelnl on Jul 20, 2015 9:29:36 GMT
As some of you know, we currently accepted an offer from Aramco. As we are from the Netherlands we will live outside Aramco and our children would need to attend schools outside Aramco. I assume some of you are in the same position as we are.
I started searching the internet for schools, but it's hard to find any schools that have places for the coming academic year. My children are 3 and 4,5 years, and they would need to attend kindergarten and preschool.
I was wondering if some of you already were able to find a school?
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Post by nallebjorn on Jul 22, 2015 15:00:01 GMT
Hi Famwelnl
We are in the same uncertain situation as you guys with regards to kids schooling.
Hopefully Saudi Aramco will make effort so that the schools will increase their capacity to meet the demand to make it easier for the prospective employees.
We would have preferred Swedish curriculum but it is unavailable in Daharan/Al-Khobar so we are focused on British/American curriculum.
I will pm you if I get more information.
Nallebjorn
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Post by KSAhopeful on Jul 30, 2015 5:43:02 GMT
Hi,
I am in the same boat. I recently accepted an offer, and kids just turned 3 and 5. Trying to get information on schools, but it appears all/most are full for the coming academic year.
It is also hard to commit to the coming school year, as the timeline for the paperwork that has started is an unknown.
I'd appreciate if you could post any information on schools (or private compounds) you happen to come across here, or PM me separately.
Thanks.
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Post by waywood on Aug 4, 2015 10:43:35 GMT
Unfortunately you will find it challenging to find places at the various international schools in Khobar. The two British curriculum ones (DBGS and BISAK) are running long waiting lists. I suspect the same for the US curriculum ISG schools (Dammam, DEMS and DHS). Aramco has no influence on these schools in terms of capacity. Most schools return from 18th August and my advice would be to contact them all to see if there are any places left. Due to the transient nature of KSA, the waiting lists can be quite fluid. January 2016 would be the best time to apply for schooling for September 2016, depending on where you are in the visa application process.
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Post by Famwelnl on Aug 5, 2015 13:17:53 GMT
I received a list of all the other schools in the Khobar area. I have contacted most of them, and I now have some options. British and American are all full except ISG Jubail. They did tell me that I should contact them again in September because sometimes you can be (very) lucky. It seems that we will arrive in January/February, my husband will be there in November, so he can already submit the children into one of the schools that have places. I will also put them on the waiting lists for the next academic year, so they might switch schools after summer 2016.
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Post by vpainter on Sept 6, 2015 8:45:06 GMT
Famwelnl,
Even though you live outside of Aramco, Dhahran has some private preschools your kids could attend. Once you are here, go to Community Information Center in the Al Mujamma building and ask for a list. Also can find them by word of mouth, so ask around as you meet people.
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Post by Famwelnl on Sept 7, 2015 19:22:19 GMT
Thank you Mildred and Vpainter for this useful information. I will certainly look into this option.
Meanwhile there is also some movement in the schooling issue. I was able to put my children on different waiting lists last week and this week. I am hoping that by the time we will arrive in the Kingdom there will be vacancy. My husband will relocate on the 19th of October, we will follow as soon as possible.
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Post by jimmyartic on Sept 21, 2015 7:44:04 GMT
I recently accepted an offer, have 3 small kids. Trying to get information on schools, quite challenging all/most are full for the coming academic year.
Really appreciate if you could update any information on schools (or private compounds) or PM me separately.
I found some are good but not so much feedback from them:
IPS inside EuroVillage
DHARAN ELMENTARY SCHOOL.
Sara Village.
The rest seems full/unreachable with long waiting lists for 2016-2017 also:
BISAK
Dhahran British Grammar School
Thanks.
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Post by Famwelnl on Sept 26, 2015 14:17:04 GMT
Meanwhile there seems to be some movement within the schools.
@ jimmy all the schools that you mention, have waitinglists. Currently my oldest child is added on the waitinglists of Dharan British (DGBS) and DEM S (dharan elementry and middle). I am also trying to get a waitinglist place for Bisak as we have a small preference to live in Oasis Gardens. Sara village school is only available for people who live on sara village compound... and that compound is exclusive for a British company.
Ips is hard to contact, but I did receive a reply that they are completly full for 2015/2016
Meanwhile I learned that you just need to keep emailing them. Sometimes they open up registration again and then they put you on the list.
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Post by Famwelnl on Sept 26, 2015 14:24:28 GMT
Ps when you are looking for next year, then most schools open up registration in december or january. After you are on list your child will receive an invitation for an assessment. The lenght and the difficulty of the assessment varies by school. When I want information I email the registrar of the school. DEMS, DGBS, ISG Dammam and Sara Village are all connected in one board; ISG. You can also contact them by the main number and the assistent can also answer general questions.
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Post by jimmyartic on Sept 27, 2015 23:46:04 GMT
Many thanks Famwelnl for the info and tips. Why did you choose Oasis? Is a place granted at BISAK if you live there? My oldest child is also added to waiting list at DEMS too.
I´m checking New world also, does anybody has any reference from that school?
I guess we´re pioneers on these matters as previously all Aramco employees were assigned to an Aramco´s compound. Does anybody knows someone that have already succeed with all this arrangements?
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Post by Famwelnl on Sept 28, 2015 14:12:24 GMT
No unfortunately there is no guarantee at all. But as women are very limited it feels nice to have the school nearby. I am allowed to drive on the compound, or I can get them from school by bike. We know that there are some Dutch families on Oasis, and by what we can judge online, it seems very nice with many facilities. I contacted them and the prices are within the budget. They also had some houses available. That's why we have a preference for Oasis Gardens. However we can only make a decision when my husband sees it in real life.
I also looked at New World, but I haven't received a reply. My children are now on 3 waiting lists, so I just hope that it will work out at one of these schools.
I also had contact with Al-Andalus, which is a Philippian international school, the curriculum has similarities with the American curriculum. They have places available for this school year.
We are definitely pioneers... But I am sure we will find our way.
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Post by jimmyartic on Sept 28, 2015 21:37:41 GMT
Thanks again Famwelnl for your encouement, it sounds positive news for me. We found some villas available at Oasis too, but as you said they´re not at the main main resorts. If you have good recommendations about them it´s great.
About the assessment sounds very challenging since I don´t plan to bring my family until I found a school for my kids. Besides you need to inform Aramco 3 months in advance about the intention of bringing your family to KSA.
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swan
Senior Member
Posts: 209
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Post by swan on Sept 30, 2015 11:43:28 GMT
We took a leap of faith, and came out to KSA last week without school. My husband has been working for Aramco since the start of the summer.
The response to emails from the UK was minimal, but much better from an Aramco email address. We have had a MUCH better response since arriving in Kingdom. Our youngest starts at preschool (KG in this terminology, YR in the UK) on Sunday. We have an appointment for Grade 1 ( UK year 2) tomorrow.
There are also wives about who were primary teachers before relocating. If you are open to the possibility of homeschooling with or without a tutor for a bit, it may be worth taking a gamble and coming out.
The schools have been shut for a lot of time recently. They came back from the summer late Aug, and now have had 2 weeks off for Eid/Hajj.
I may retract all this after tomorrow if the news isn't good!!!
BISAK and ISG seem to have massive wait lists. If you have your heart set on them, you may be disappointed.
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Post by jimmyartic on Sept 30, 2015 20:56:45 GMT
Hope everything is fine swan with schools.
Where did you get place for preschool for your youngest? Which is the school for the appointment? My kids are similar ages.
You mentioned homeschooling until a school is available, how can it be arranged? It depends on the compound I guess. Which compound have you choose?.
Yes, we were hoping about BISAK,IPS and DEMS, but it´s really difficult to find a place there. We also thought of sorting out everything from home country, before coming to KSA, but specially because of assesments for the schools it seems not feasible.
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