PARENT COMMUNICATION

1. PARENTS’ MEETINGS

Parents’ meetings are held throughout the year, with the first meeting being with the Form Tutor at the start of the academic year. This meeting, which is called ‘Meet the Tutor’, gives parents the opportunity to meet face-to-face, or remotely, the person who is the first point of contact for their child. Form Tutors are responsible for all aspects of their tutees’ school life and therefore are the point of contact for all academic and pastoral matters.

Subject specific meetings are held, by year group, throughout the first two terms of the academic year, with parents invited to meet, online or in-person, the staff teaching the various subjects. Meetings are scheduled through the online parents’ meeting software and communication is made in advance to allow parents to schedule meetings. The dates of parents’ meetings are shared at the beginning of the academic year and reminders are communicated through parent communications.

WEEKLY PARENTS’ NOTICES

The Headteacher sends an email every Thursday sharing the latest school news and any important updates. The Notices are sent to all the contact email addresses on our management system and are always accessible via the Parent Portal.

2. PARENT PORTAL

All parents have access to the Parent Portal which is part of our management information system. This portal allows for all policies, documents, reports, grades and timetables to be accessible at any point while a pupil is registered at the school. All parents receive an activation email when their child joins the school and this includes guidance on how to access reports. If you do not receive the email kindly contact our Data Officer Mr Sameer Aziz on saziz@sherborneqatar.org

4. WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY

All homework is recorded on Microsoft Teams, and each week a summary of the assignments set, returned or outstanding is automatically generated and sent to the registered parent email. This allows parents to see the tasks being set as homework and whether they are being completed, submitted and marked.

5. REPORTS

At Sherborne Senior School we ensure that pupils’ academic progress and attitude to learning is tracked throughout the year. We use a variety of assessment methods, in conjunction with teacher judgement, to ensure progress is carefully monitored.

Each year group receives three reports annually, one per term. These will, in most cases, coincide with the end of term. However, in the cases of examination year groups (i.e., Years 11, 12 and 13) full reports will be generated earlier to support the preparation for examinations.

The school day is as follows for pupils:

3. ISAMS PARENT APP

The parent app is a handy replica of the online Parent Portal. This can be downloaded from the App Store for iOS or Play Store for Android devices (search for ISAMS Parent App). When you download the app, it will ask you for a school code which is SBQ. You can then proceed and log in with your existing Parent Portal account details.

THE EXPECTATION IS THAT PUPILS TAKE PART IN AT LEAST 2 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES EACH WEEK.

The school is accessible for pupils from 6.15am. Pupils must wait in either the courtyards or cafeteria until the start of Period 1.

Between the end of enrichment, 2.30pm, and 3.15pm pupils should wait to be collected in either the courtyards or the cafeteria.

Pupils must be collected by 3.15pm each day.

Term Dates

TERM DATES 2023-2024

Autumn Term 2023

TERM DATES 2023-2024

Sunday 27th August Term begins for all pupils at 10:00

Autumn Term 2023

Sunday 22nd to Thursday 26th October Half Term

Sunday 27th August Term begins for all pupils at 10:00

Sunday 17th & Monday 18th December Qatar National Day – SCHOOL CLOSED

Sunday 22nd to Thursday 26th October Half Term

Thursday 21st December Term ends at normal time for pupils

Sunday 17th & Monday 18th December Qatar National Day – SCHOOL CLOSED

Spring Term 2024

We are excited to build community across all of the schools within the Sherborne Qatar family. We are proud to bring those schools together and create connections across the schools and foster community amongst our parents and children.

In March 2023, we were thrilled to welcome over 2,000 people from the Sherborne Qatar community to the Spring Fair, hosted at the Senior School. It was the first time since 2019 we have been able to host such an event and it was a huge success. This is just one of the events we have planned for the year to come.

Thursday 21st December Term ends at normal time for pupils

Monday 8th January Term starts for all pupils at 10:00

Spring Term 2024

Sunday 11th to Thursday 15th February Half Term

Monday 8th January Term starts for all pupils at 10:00

Sunday 31st March Easter Sunday – SCHOOL CLOSED

Sunday 11th to Thursday 15th February Half Term

Thursday 4th April Term ends at normal time for pupils

Sunday 31st March Easter Sunday – SCHOOL CLOSED

Summer Term 2024

Your involvement and support are highly valued and greatly appreciated. If you would like to know more then please contact us on SherborneqatarPTA@gmail.com. Please keep an eye on regular notices from the PTA.

Kind Regards

Lucy Fowlie

Chair Sherborne Qatar PTA

Thursday 4th April Term ends at normal time for pupils

Sunday 21st April Term starts for all pupils at 10:00

Transport

Sunday 16th to Thursday 20th June Eid Al Adha – SCHOOL CLOSED

Summer Term 2024

Sunday 21st April Term starts for all pupils at 10:00

Thursday 27th June Term ends at 12 noon

Sunday 16th to Thursday 20th June Eid Al Adha – SCHOOL CLOSED

Thursday 27th June Term ends at 12 noon

Pre-School and Reception pupils have a staggered start / shorter day initially. Parents will be notified of their child’s schedule.

Tri Logistics provide bus transportation for our pupils from home to school. Here is the Enrolment Pack and we encourage you to read it carefully. You can also find some of the company’s Standard Operating Procedures here on our website. The headlines are as follows:

• QAR 9,500 per year per child, payable in instalments

• Male bus driver - drivers are well trained and with certification in Defensive Driving, Pediatric First Aid and Basic Fire Fighting Training

Pre-School and Reception pupils have a staggered start / shorter day initially. Parents will be notified of their child’s schedule.

Parents of pupils in the examination years (Years 11, 12 & 13) must note that some external examinations will be held on Fridays, during Ramadan & national holidays and may continue up to 28 th June 2024. You should avoid committing to travel arrangements during these times.

• Female monitor onboard all buses - monitors all have certification in Pediatric First Aid and Basic Fire Fighting Training

• Buses are GPS tracked

Sherborne Qatar reserves the right to make amendments to dates as and wh en necessary and will endeavour to give as much notice as possible.

Parents of pupils in the examination years (Years 11, 12 & 13) must note that some external examinations will be held on Fridays, during Ramadan & national holidays and may continue up to 28 th June 2024. You should avoid committing to travel arrangements during these times.

Sherborne Qatar reserves the right to make amendments to dates as and wh en necessary and will endeavour to give as much notice as possible.