THE JUNIOR DUKE

This year, we introduced the children in Upper Key Stage 2 to the Junior Duke Award. Many of you may already be familiar with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards International Award conducted from Year 10 in the Senior School. The Junior Duke is an introduction which prepares children for this challenging initiative and supports and encourages the use of our Learning Dispositions and Values. Aimed at helping children to learn and practice a large variety of life skills, Year 5 were invited to complete the Gold Award and Year 6 the Platinum award.

Each of these levels has a selection of challenges and, in order to complete a level, the children need to finish a pre-determined number of these successfully. These include skills such as First Aid, ICT, Eco Awareness, Drama, Music, Sport and other life skills such as cookery and puncture repair. The children were given some of the necessary skills in school, but most of the challenges required a good deal of time and effort out of school with friends and family. On completion of a level, a well-earned certificate and badge was awarded to each successful candidate.

SHERBORNE QATAR JUNIOR SCHOOL

The academic year 2022 – 2023 will be another significant step in the continued development of the Sherborne Qatar family of schools. Following on closely from the opening of Sherborne Qatar School for Girls, at El Ebb and the relocation of our Senior School to a purpose built, state of the art building at the Grand Zone, Mall of Qatar, we now welcome Sherborne Qatar Junior School (SQJS), to Bani Hajer. As a co-educational school for children from Reception to Year 6, the Junior School will work closely with the Prep School, as both schools look to build on and further develop the outstanding all-round education and pastoral care, through further development of The Sherborne WAY. The Junior School will focus on the Performing Arts and Sport - utilizing the excellent facilities at the Junior, Prep and Senior Schools and using our internal shuttle bus service to reach the Prep and Senior School campuses.

The founding Head Mrs Mary Robertson - Barnett joins us from the UK. Mrs Sarah Bennett, currently Head of Upper Key Stage 2 at the Prep School, will move to the Junior School as Deputy Head. With a strong desire to maintain the very highest standards, academically and pastorally, for which Sherborne Qatar is renowned, Mrs Nadira Rahman will move to a central role between the Prep and Junior schools as ‘Second Master’: Director of Studies - overseeing the academic and pastoral standards of both schools, supported initially by Heads of Department. Mrs Rahman has been Deputy Head at the Prep School since 2019 and has been integral in helping the Prep School achieve the very highest judgements in all Standards in both our recent Qatar National Schools’ Accreditation in September 2021 and the British Schools Overseas Inspection (the UK Department for Education’s inspection scheme for overseas schools) in April 2022.