British School Muscat

As my kids finish up their first full week at school, I thought I would take this time to outline how we picked this school, our insights so far, and how things are going.  Since this is our first expat experience, I will freely admit that my frame of reference is narrow.  My only comparisons to other schools come from stories I have heard.

Foundation stone plaque at BSM.

I have had many people ask how we ended up at BSM.  The short answer is that they were the only school back in March (when I inquired) that could guarantee spots for both boys.  The long answer begins with being told that I should start applying to schools before spring break (it was the Wednesday before).  I had already done some research, and I knew that it would require lots of paperwork.  I got to work, broke down into tears of stress, took a break, prayed, and finished inquiring at the top 3 schools by that evening.  My plan was to hopefully get responses overnight and apply to others the next day if needed.  Here’s the thing:  schools here end on Thursday.  If they didn’t respond that night, I wouldn’t get a response until Sunday.  That evening, I printed off ALL the forms that either I or our old school would need to complete.

The next morning, I woke up to responses:  one spot at TAISM (The American International School Muscat), one spot at ABA (American British Academy), and two spots at BSM.  TAISM and ABA both said things could change, but that was how their openings stood so far.  Decision made!  It was like God was talking to me.  I didn’t need to stress about this.  He already knew where my kids would go to school.  I broke down into tears of joy and thanksgiving.  Settling on one school simplified the papers our old school needed to complete as well as decisions about where to live in Muscat.

We ended up choosing to live in the neighborhood of our school so that I could walk the kids to school.  It has been great (and yes, hot) to walk to school.  But it is so convenient!  There is also an American Club that is run by the American Embassy that is just a couple of blocks away.  They have a covered pool, a playground, and restaurants that are open some week nights and during the weekends.

Me after pick up time walk.  The shine is sweat.

So far, I am very impressed with this school.  All the school options required uniforms.  All the school options are private.  BSM and ABA are half the cost of TAISM.  BSM has excellent school ratings.  From my online forum research, it seemed that maybe they used to be not ranked as high, but they have really turned things around if that is the case.  They are ranked as the third best British school in the GCC.  They are also ranked in top 9% and 11% of British schools in the UK for public and private schools, respectively.  They offer many after school activities that change each term so my kids can try out new activities.  They offer some classes for adults after school, but I don’t think I’ll be participating.  School gets out early on Thursday, but I think that is a cultural thing here (so it might have been the case at any of the school choices).  The kids at BSM are known to be very respectful and kind.

From a more personal experience, E has already started exploring doing the February play.  Try outs were Wednesday and Thursday after school.  E is also looking at joining either a Harry Potter club or a young librarians club.  He is such a book worm.  J is hoping to join an art and design technology class after school.  Both boys have really enjoyed school.  They have both brought home books to read (J’s were probably way too easy for him).  They love their class schedules.  They have math, reading, English, French, Arabic, discovery learning, PE, swimming, and a few other little pockets of time.  Discovery learning is a STEAM class time that they love!  E has learned about tessellations.  J has done an art project he is very excited about.  E has been learning about poetry and writing a poem about himself.  J has referred to a friend helping him with his water, and I saw him chatting with a boy when I picked him up yesterday.  So “Yay!” for new friends!  I even met my American friends at school coffee mornings for new parents. 

A beautiful tree archway path at the school.

And on a fun note, because they are a British school, they have houses very much like in Harry Potter.  We don’t know our house yet, but the boys have already started accumulating points.  J is very excited to be in the lead in his class thanks to all the reading we do after school.  Actually, I’m not sure if he’s earning house points.  He has referred to them as dojo points… whatever those are.  There are certainly phrases and terms I’m not familiar with yet.

To keep it real, both kids have left their lunch boxes at school one day.  E even left his water bottle.  J left his personal organizer or PO at school this weekend.  He even wore E’s shorts to school Thursday.  And E didn’t change out of his PE clothes Wednesday because he didn’t take his school clothes bag to PE time.  We are all on learning curves here.