Durham School for Girls Doha | British School Qatar

Who we are

Durham School for Girls Doha is the first truly international British school in Doha just for girls, delivering a British curriculum, striving to be the school of first choice for young women in Doha.

Durham School for Girls Doha is a sister school of Durham School UK and will draw its inspiration from both the Qatari National and wider Islamic culture and tradition as well as Durham School UK’s 600-year heritage of outstanding British education.

Operating in full partnership with Durham School UK, Durham School for Girls Doha offers the very best British education available in the Middle East, delivering outstanding education to meet Qatar’s ambition for its young women and prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of life across the world in the 21st century.

Durham School for Girls Doha has an established House system linked with Durham School UK. Both schools have a shared vision, espouse the same values and so develop an ethos and character that, despite being over 7,000 kilometers apart, deliver a sense of one school in two places.

Situated in Al Messila, Durham School for Girls Doha will open its doors in September 2019. As part of its Phase 1 opening in 2019, the school will be open for the Early Years Foundation Stage Programme (EYFS) as well as for Primary Stage including years 1 to 6. Starting from 2020, the school will be open for Secondary levels, add a 6th Form in 2021 and will be fully operational and open for all academic years by 2022.

Vision

Durham School for Girls Doha aims to inspire a lifelong appetite for learning in a caring environment that will develop emotional, moral and spiritual strength for future leaders.

The School strives to provide a curriculum and range of co-curricular opportunities that will enrich its pupils’ sense of self belief and help them make appropriate judgements giving them ‘Confidence for Life’ and an aspiration for achievement.

With an emphasis on both individual and collective learning, the curriculum will be set in an international context whilst staying inspired by the Qatari culture and tradition.

What we believe in

Durham School for Girls Doha strives to provide a supportive idyllic environment which meets individual needs as well as a safe, aspirational, inclusive and happy environment tailored to the needs of girls, one which instils in them an aspiration for achievement, a respect for others and a ‘Confidence for Life.’

Durham School for Girls Doha aspires to instill a sense of tolerance, compassion and resilience in its girls. The School identifies and nurtures the skills necessary for girls to thrive in the 21st Century, whilst imbuing a sense of Qatari heritage and tradition.

Durham School for Girls Doha emphasises its girls’ distinctive passions and strives to provide them with a platform to pursue them and achieve their full potential.

Welcome message from Vanessa Jane Whay,

Founding Principal of Durham School for Girls Doha

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you and your child to Durham School for Girls Doha, set to open its doors in 2019.

Durham School for Girls Doha is the first truly international British school in Doha just for girls with the opening of the school reflecting the development of the State of Qatar which has exceptional potential and great ambitions for its nation as part of its 2030 national vision.

The School was in fact born out of need to educate the girls and young women in Qatar and provide them with the very best British education available in the region to meet the country’s ambition for its young women and empower them to become prepared for the opportunities and challenges of life across the world in the 21st century.

At Durham School for Girls Doha, we want our girls to develop into young women who are internationally savvy whilst being enriched by Qatar’s national and Islamic culture and heritage.

At Durham School for Girls Doha, it is ‘our people’ that make us special. The School staff are all skilled practitioners, each with a passion and a burning desire to motivate the pupils they teach.

With an embedded curriculum balancing both British and Qatari requirements, Durham School for Girls Doha is a sister school of Durham School UK with an established House system linked directly with Durham School UK, delivering a sense of one school in two places.

Both Durham School for Girls Doha and Durham School UK share a common vision and operate according to the same values and standards. With an emphasis on both individual and collective learning, the curriculum of Durham School for Girls Doha will be set in an international context whilst being deeply rooted in the Qatari culture and tradition.

Students of Durham School for Girls Doha will benefit from a governance overlap with Durham School UK and a schedule of quality assurance measures in which Durham School’s senior staff are wholly engaged. They will also benefit from curriculum overlap and shared co-curricular programmes between the two schools, and a provision of pastoral care that is to the same high standards in both Durham School UK and Doha. Both schools share a common Alumni organisation while the girls graduating from Durham School for Girls Doha will enjoy all the same advantages as those graduating in Durham School UK.

I look forward to welcoming all parents and their girls for admissions as we embark upon an exceptional journey here at Durham School for Girls Doha.

Welcome message form Kieran McLaughlin Headmaster of Durham School UK:

Here at Durham School UK we are both excited and proud that Durham School for Girls Doha will open in 2019.

Although the opening itself is of course an important milestone, we see it very much as the beginning of a partnership that will both deliver a great school for young girls of Doha, but also enrich our own school here in Durham.

With my senior staff, I have been closely involved in the project from its inception and will remain as such over the next year and when the school opens.

Both schools will share a common vision and operate according to the same values and standards, and a Governor from Durham will serve on the Governing Body in Doha.

I look forward to working with Ms Whay and together maximising the opportunities to share aspects of both the curriculum and wider co-curricular programmes and so to create a close bond between both staff and pupils across the partnership.

Whilst each will be its own school, as much as we can, we seek to create a sense of ‘one school in two places’.

I look forward to meeting prospective parents, and of course, the girls and young women who will make Durham School for Girls Doha the fabulous school I am sure it will become.

Curriculum

School Life

Durham School for Girls Doha will provide a curriculum and range of co-curricular programmes that will enrich its pupils’ sense of self belief and foster leadership, collaboration and teamwork.

Durham School for Girls Doha will deliver a rounded education which promotes the benefits of being single gender with the Qatari culture and values embedded at its core.

All girls are encouraged to participate in the School’s co-curricular programme which will be across a broad spectrum of activities including a comprehensive sports programme, to extensive visual and performance arts opportunities, to a leadership and individual development agenda.

Both the ‘gifted and talented’ as well as those with special educational needs (SEN) will be provided for at Durham School for Girls Doha.

The School will embrace an appropriate use of technology, balanced with more traditional methodologies whilst emphasizing the synergy with the community through proactive Charity and Community projects.

Academic

Durham School for Girls Doha will welcome the Early Years Foundation as well as Primary Stage including years 1 to 6 as part of its Phase 1 opening in 2019.

The School will deliver a UK based curriculum at foundation and primary stages, and at secondary level it will prepare for and deliver GCSE and A Level programmes.

Advantages of being a student at a Durham Sister School

Students will benefit from a governance overlap with Durham School UK and a schedule of quality assurance measures in which Durham School’s senior staff are wholly engaged.
Students will benefit from curriculum overlap and shared co-curricular programmes between the two schools, and a provision of pastoral care that is to the same high standards in both Durham School UK and Durham School for Girls Doha.
Students will gain awareness of the British culture and values, renowned for its tradition and discipline.
Both schools share a common Alumni organisation while the girls graduating from Durham School for Girls Doha will enjoy all the same advantages as those graduating in Durham School UK.
Students of both schools will not be differentiated from one another but will rather share the same bonds of friendship and identity.
Girls in Doha will be empowered to develop into young women with a real, and evidentially useful, ‘Confidence for Life’ with both Durham School UK and its sister school in Doha working together to deliver the best education in Qatar.

Exclusive benefits for Qatari and Expat students at Durham School for Girls Doha:

Students will benefit from the highest standards of teaching in the first truly International British curriculum school representing the values and culture of Qatar, and exclusively for girls, to open its doors in Qatar.
Students will be imbued with a rich sense of Qatari National heritage and Islamic culture as well as an international awareness.
Qatari families specifically will have the opportunity of enrolling their children in an authentic Qatari School that whilst adopting British education and discipline, will envelop Qatari values and culture.

Students will have the opportunity to achieve academic excellence thanks to the provision of a challenging British curriculum.
Durham School UK will, where appropriate, help with some of the administrative processes to assist girls form Doha plan their visits to UK universities.
Whilst being a girls only school employing the best single gender offering, students will have the opportunity to study overseas (at Durham School UK) and attend a multi-gender international school.

Admissions details

For interest/registration please fill in the below contact details:

Please download the application form here complete all fields and send it to info@durhamqatar.com

For information on the admission process and fees, download the information pack here.