Moving To Jeddah with my family

Helo,

First, Let me start by welcoming you and your family here in Jeddah. Second, its funny but I have been in Pembroke in 2006 when I was studying in Swansea. Loved the castle and the village charm and I can tell you from now you will be missing the feeling that a small sleeping welsh village gives you (tears came into my eyes thinking about it loool).

Continental school is one of the best schools here in Jeddah, so good choice, but be sure to contact the school from now for availability. You said, your husband company will pay for the school that is Excellent, because it's the most expensive school in Jeddah.

The school and where your husband will be working are at the two ends of Jeddah, so if you ended living nearby the continental school, your hubby will have to expect to drive for 1h daily.
For compounds, in general Jeddah does not offer great compounds like Riyadh and yes you need to expect to be in a waiting list, so contacting them from now is a good idea. That being said, the best compounds in Jeddah for a western family are; Bassateen,  Arabian Homes Sierra, Al Hajarayn, and Lotus (French compound).

For getting into the bus with your kids, hmmm there are no need for that since there will be teachers (if it's the school bus) or maids (if its compounds bus) accompanying the kids and most likely they will not allow you to be in the bus with other kids.
Feel free to contact me for any enquires about Jeddah.Welsh had been very generous to me and it's time for me to giveback

Cheers,

Hi

if you could find a place in Conti School and you are living in Al Basateen you doesnt need
a school bus as it is direct beside just 5min walk in the compound. As we do:)
Also you should contact the school now as there have a waiting list !

masha allah ( Mean may allah bless you all )


Yup you will find in shaa allah , jeddah have changed alot now a days .

there are a lot of families here , in compounds . don't worry things will work out for you .

Take care

First and foremost.....It is very important to contact the schools as soon as possible
We have been waiting since March last year to find a school for my son.
We are at the Sierra compound and it is next to the American school, but because we are not American they will not even accept a application.
We are home schooling at the moment...but I am just about ready to pack up and go back home, and come and visit my husband every school holiday.
Can handle most of what this country throws my way...the Abaya, woman having no say....expats treated like worms....take it all in its stride, but this schooling is getting to me
ok....finished ranted
The Sierra compound is fantastic, your kids will love it. Would suggest you apply to all the compounds. Usually the big companies have a contract with the compounds and it is much easier to get in.
Even if you are at the Sierra compound they have school buses that travel to all the schools. and parents take turns to escort the kids.

Best of luck
feel free to contact me any time if you need any help

Hi thank you all for you're kind posts I'm a little concerned now about the school situation I have placed the application with the conti school over the last week and paid the registration fees etc how old is your son? Did you hear straight away that there would be no place for him?

We applied at the American school last year March. My son did not pass the assessment as English was not his first language.
We then started home schooling, changing him over to the American curriculum, and have tried since then.
He is going to Jeddah Prep an Grammer today for a assessment. They are the other British school.

The American school will only consider applications if the child has a sybling in school already, or if you are a american citizen.

The webite says that applications are now open. So please download the application and hand it in asap. You might just get lucky.

My son is 9, we are currently doing grade 3 and are applying for grade 4. With the British school it would be for year 5

We are also moving to Jeddah, my husband is going in April and me and our two kids (2 and 4years old) are going in may, we are also looking for schools and I was thinking about the American school, we are Americans, and I just read in this post that you have to be an American citizen so maybe that helps. I have no idea about the compound we'll be staying at but Ill tell my husband about the ones you guys have mention, I guess I'll star the application process as soon as possible.

There are lots of international schools in Jeddah that are using either /both the American and the British curriculums. Some of them are having quite few western teachers like in  Jeddah Knowledge, Jeddah Private, Nobles, Desert Rose,  Thamer, Dar Jana and the list goes on. At these schools the students will be mostly Arabs and Arabic will be used frequently by both teachers and students.

American, continental and Jeddah prep and grammar schools are the only ones (I know of) that most of the students are of western nationalities.

There are other international schools like German, Italian and South Korean schools but at least one of the parents should speak the language for the kid to be admitted there.

Hi all, I just found a job in jeddah and will arrive in 2 or 3 months time with my wife and 5 yo girl. I plan to enroll her at the French school, which is located in Az Zahra district. I am curious to know if there are some compounds around that area. Thank you.

Douracell wrote:

Yes

No

Dear Seashe,

I would like to congratulate you on the future move over here, I hope t is everything that you want it to be.

Yes I am sure you will find things difficult at first and it will take a little time to adjust but when you settle (all documentation processed, housing, school and car all ticked off) then I am sure you will find things a lot more comfortable.

I think Ahmadaq has covered most things. I would just like to add dont leave anything until you come over (housing and schools) start applying and talking to them now. Following up on the phone regularly should also be done. If you find someone in a compound ask them to speak to the admin in person directly as that can often help in getting a space.

I wish you all the best and be sure to bring a lot of patience with you (for the begining at least!)

Morning,

Welcome Douracell to Jeddah. Arabian homes sierra, one of the main western compounds of Jeddah, is 2 minutes' drive  from the French School. The Main French compound in Jeddah, Lotus, is 15-20 minutes' drive from the school and am almost sure that the compound will have bus that takes student to the that school.

Ahmadaq, thank you brother!

Al Hajarayn isn't "Western" from what I hear...most of the residents are Arab. But, it is still considered one of the top 10 compounds in Jeddah, and looks nice in the pics I have seen.