British School of Bahrain

To work there or for study?

Either way, its a good school and has good reviews. Most of my friends whose kids attend British School are happy with the school.

For both teacher and children it is a fantastic school with amazing facilities.

If you are looking to put children in to the school start applying now as classes and waiting lists can be very full.

Thank you for the replies.
Yes, we have heard it is a good school, although I have seen a post on another forum recently saying they are not renewing many contracts for the current teachers for some reason.  I don't know if there is any truth in this.
Hubby is starting work in Saudi later this month. We are going to stay in Dubai until our daughter finishes the school year.
Of course, if we don't get a place the move will be postponed.
If we get the school place then we have to find accommodation, car etc...etc......  Cant say I am looking forward to all that again, although we have a lot of experience having been oversees for many years.
We are Irish, hubby is UK..... he says he looked upon our marriage a little like missionary work........LOL
He cant be very good as he has been at it for more than 20 years..... LOL
We visited Bahrain many times, albeit just a the weekends when we lived in Saudi in the 90s.
We do like Dubai, but it is getting more and more expensive, however the real reason is that we could be together as a family every weekend.
Thanks again everyone.

Good luck in your move if it happens. A lot of schools change their teachers here and a lot of it is due to the teachers wanting to move elsewhere, there are some going to China, Malaysia, USA, France etc. It broadens their horizons and gains them a lot more experience.

Don't let this change concern you though as the new teachers recruited are just as good if not better, the schools take the responsibility of recruitment very seriously indeed.

Thanks Jo, yes I agree.
My name is Ann by the way..... forgot to mention that in my posts.
We have paid the enrolment fees for BSB, just hoping we get a place.

Same situation here.
Your daughter has to do an exam to get a place in BSB, our school in London refused to undertake the exam for my daughter so we have to move and do the exam before they can guarantee a place for her.

Yes, we are in touch with the school.  They are trying to move it online so it can be taken anywhere, however I don't think it is available yet.
We have sent all the paperwork and paid the enrolment fee and we are planning to fly there soon and hopefully take the exam at the school.
The slightly annoying part is that you never know how long the waiting list is.  Things are very similar here in Dubai..
Obviously a school place is very much a part of deciding if the move is on or not.

I am a parent at BSB and yes, there are lots of changes afoot.  However, we are extremely happy with the education that our sons have received and are in the process of enrolling our youngest.  We are assured by the Head that any new staff that are brought in will be as good if not better than those already in post.  The school is moving forward in applying for IB status and has recently started some BTEC courses.

As you will already be aware from living in Dubai, the rumour mill in expat communities is rife and is probably worse in Bahrain as its so small and when you get teachers socialising with parents, things can get intense.

I hope you all get places, we love Bahrain and are always happy to see new faces

Thank you for the insight and I agree with all you have said.
We are hoping that we get the school place and looking forward to moving to Bahrain.
Unfortunately the school place is going to be the deciding factor.

Good luck to you and your daughter .My daughter was not able to pass the assessment test for year1 last year .It's a tough and long test .You better be prepared .Unfortunately even if you pass the test you will in waiting list till chances is available  .

Have you considered St Christopher's? They post the test to your children's current school so they can complete the test and wait for a place to become available before moving.

Yes. However I got an e mail stating that the books are closed until April next year

St Christophers is full to bursting and all waiting lists are closed.

All schools in Bahrain normally send the exam papers to the childs current school but it all depends on if their current school will take the time out to sit a 90 minute exam with one child in exam surroundings.

My son was lucky, his head teacher provided a room and a teacher to supervise him during his exam and he got the last place available for his year group at St Chris.

BSB is a fantastic school and is expanding to match the requirements of the parent by introducing more classes and buying more local land around it.

Good luck with getting the kids in to the schools. I know it's a very stressful time

On a side note, Nadeem school in Adliya is amazing and does have vacancies. Tiny school which is very well run. Your child could maybe go there for a year while you secure places on waiting lists at other schools.

There are private school buses available to all 3 schools listed above.

Thank you.  I did not know about that school.
I must say Geraldine at BSB  has been fantastic with us.
We hope to get the test done here in Dubai or will go to the BSB when we visit.
Thank you all for the info, it really helps.

What year level is your daughter going into? You could also consider the Multinational School in Adliya - it has been getting rave reviews.

Our daughter will be going into year 8

[ Moderated : Inappropriate content ]

Wondering why Musnut's posting was deemed inappropriate ? I thought it was very well written and honest?

So did I but it seems the truth is not acceptable on this blog which does not help the cause of a public website that is supposed to help and inform expats. Perhaps we need to just bury our head in the sand?!

I am disappointed, what about freedom of speech and opinion?
Unfortunately , Bahrain along with many other expat postings is struggling to provide enough International school places for the ever increasing needs of expats and their children. It's frustrating and can result in not relocating at times .
I too am all for (not for profit) schools opposed to profit making schools.....only
my personal preference.
Having experienced both here due to waiting lists, I know the one which has come out top for us, for many reasons . I won't go in to detail as it may be deemed inappropriate .

I'm glad that there are so many satisfied parents posting, however, it is also important to get different perspectives.

First of all, I am confused at to why musnut's posting was deleted. It mentions some of the issues I alluded to in another posting about the British School of Bahrain. Issues I would want to know as the parent of a prospective student. 

I do not want to be misunderstood and seen as part of the rumour mill, so I will not talk about the experiences of teachers who teach or have taught at the school. Instead I will write about what I see as an international teacher with over 7 years of experience:

If you look on the BSB website there are a minimum of 10 postings for teachers (some are multiple postings), to start in September. This is a red flag to any potential teacher and should also be a cause of concern to parents.

Yes, international schools do experience a higher turnover rate than "normal" schools, however schools who take recruitment seriously begin the hiring process in January/February and are finished by April. There may be a couple of last minutes postings here and there but the majority of staff should have already been hired in the winter or the early spring.

So, the fact that they are still hiring so many teachers likely means that either many teachers were let go (usually due to pay issues or because they were not satisfactory teachers), or that there were problems big enough to warrant teachers breaking contract (usually due to changes in pay, or with administration).

Now, I am not saying that the BSB is a bad school. A lot of parents are very happy with the administration and teachers there, which is great. What I am trying to say is as a teacher and a parent, I would want to know why there are still so many openings.

Thank-you for reading.