Our Subjects

The Art department at Doha British School provides students with the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of materials, techniques and artistic styles. It is our role to equip students with the skills, knowledge and experiences that will enable them to develop their own ideas, concepts and responses in creative and innovative ways.

Within Key Stage 3, students focus on their understanding of fundamental art skills through an introduction to a broad range of new techniques, material, artists and themes. Students experience practical tasks, discussions and group work to help set the foundations for developing as an effective artist and creative thinker.

At GCSE Level, the Art Department offers two Edexcel qualifications; Textile Design and Fine Art. These courses cover a wide range of disciplines to develop both artistic and design based skills. In Textile Design, students will experiment with digital textiles, dyed fabrics, printed fabrics, embellished fabrics and fashion design. In Fine Art, students will undergo workshops in drawing, painting techniques, printmaking, photography and digital editing.

Each course is composed of two research projects (forming 60% of the whole GCSE) and an exam project (forming 40% of the whole GCSE).

At post 16, the department offers IB Visual Arts which allows students to work in accordance with their own area of expertise. Our aim is to get our students where they want to be. Previous students have progressed to study Art-based courses such as fine art, fashion design, architecture, product design and many more at Universities around the world.

As a department we are keen to introduce our students to the exciting opportunities available within the creative industries.

The Business and Computing department at Doha British School provides students with the opportunity to develop their knowledge, understanding, analytical and evaluative skills allowing students to access, succeed and excel through a focus on real life scenarios that students can relate to.

At KS4 Business we offer our students the chance to broaden their skills by extending students’ knowledge through for example developing the ability to:

• Read sources to interpret and evaluate business information
• Write extended responses
• Respond appropriately to a range of question types, including multiple-choice, short-answer, data-response and open-ended questions
• Develop an understanding of business concepts and apply these concepts to real-life situations.

At A Level we provide students with the chance to develop a further understanding of business at a holistic level that reflects today’s global world. Students are encouraged to contextualise theory and respond to real life business case studies and stimulus material.

At IB we give the students the chance to study business functions, management processes and decision-making in contemporary contexts of strategic uncertainty. Students will examine how business decisions are influenced by factors internal and external to an organization, and how these decisions impact upon its stakeholders, both internally and externally.

The Design and Technology (DT) department’s philosophy is to provide an exciting experience for all pupils. We aim to challenge pupils’ creativity and problem solving skills through a wide variety of projects that encourage independent and practical thinking and that use a range of different materials.

DT is a dynamic subject that is keeping pace with the ever-changing technology used in industry. It prepares pupils for a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, architecture, product design and creative arts.

DT at Doha British School focuses on these core elements of creativity and critical analysis within each project. The department has two fully equipped workshops and a design studio with IT facilities which boasts a varied of CAD/CAM facilities. Students will have the opportunity to undertake projects that call on professional level software and hardware including 3D printers, laser cutters and CAM Vinyl cutters.

The variety of students’ projects as they enter the examinations demonstrates a key part of what makes the department such a vibrant place to be. We publicly display student work year round to showcase each students’ individuality and the choices they made to ensure that their design was bespoke.

KEY STAGE 3

At each level in the first three years, the emphasis is on enjoyment and learning, through experiencing, a wide range of practical skills and techniques related to design and the manufactured world that is all around us. All the projects that are undertaken will consist of key elements taught at exam level.

GCSE

This course is designed to encourage pupils to develop an awareness of the nature and importance of Design and Technology in a rapidly changing society. Pupils learn to combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, function and industrial practices, all of which are essential in the technological field. At GCSE level, pupils follow the Edexcel specification. Within Doha British School students can take one of two pathways for Design and Technology. The subject focuses on either resistant materials or graphic product design. Both pathways offer a rigorous learning journey to that will develop student’s creativity, design capabilities and critical analysis skills.

IB

The Design Technology course provides an exciting opportunity for pupils to explore their interest, and exercise the importance, of design and technology within the modern and future world. The course provides a wide-ranging syllabus for students who may be considering a course linked to industrial or product design, engineering, construction, science, applied science or other related professions. Core topics are based on concepts such as the design cycle, product design, sustainability and product innovation. In addition to this they will gain advanced knowledge of materials, processes, developments and evaluation strategies. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the topics through a range of practical investigations, assessments and independent design projects.

Through studying design technology, students should become aware of how designers work and communicate with each other. While the design methodology may take on a wide variety of forms, it is the emphasis on a practical approach through design work that characterizes this subject.

The English secondary curriculum at Doha British School provides students with the opportunity to acquire a range of skills; not only to flourish academically, but to provide a foundation of knowledge required outside of the classroom and the wider community.

Our KS3 curriculum is catered around reading, writing and speaking and listening components that transitions across to KS4 and KS5. A broad British curriculum covering Shakespeare, a novel and creative writing are all studied to ensure English at DBS is creative, inspiring and relevant. Alongside this, all students will complete the English Language IGCSE and English Literature IGCSE course at KS4. Students will complete coursework and sit an exam for both courses to ensure all students reach their full potential and beyond.

At KS5, we offer two pathways, A Level and IB. We have had an exciting opportunity to introduce English Language at A Level this year or students have the option of choosing English Literature. A range of post-2000 poetry and prose and pre-1900 texts are explored in order to develop essay writing. The English Language course focuses on contexts and identity and language in transition. The IB route consists of Language and Literature or Literature whereby students will explore key themes and concepts to analyse how texts are constructed. Importantly, students will complete an Individual Oral on a text studied to develop speaking and listening skills that are essential when transitioning to University or the workplace.

Welcome to the Humanities department. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of current events, global issues and future solutions. Through History, it becomes easier to understand events and the reasons behind them, enabling us to learn from past encounters, ensuring we don’t repeat the same mistakes, or we succeed through collaboration. Through Geography, we can understand global processes from a human, physical and environmental perspective. It allows us to see why the world is the way it is, how we have been able to survive as humans for so long, how we have developed huge metropolises and megacities, where really, there should be no life able to exist. Through Psychology, we can explore the human mind. We can begin to understand how it works, the importance of sleep and relationships with other human beings, and how interactions between us are on a much deeper level than we expect.

When we bring all of these individual strands together into one Humanities family, we begin to see how much of life around us is driven or impacted by these three subjects. It is essential to have some form of knowledge around the Humanities. It helps us to respect decisions and the world around us, it helps us to foster a community spirit in times of need, such as war or the climate crisis. Most importantly, however, Humanities provides us with the tools to be inquisitive and investigative of the world around us – something that we should never stop doing.

“The calling of the Humanities is to make us truly human in the best sense of the word” – J. Irwin Miller

There are three main aims in the teaching of mathematics at DBS.

• To instil an interest and desire to learn mathematics.
• To produce a confident student who is well equipped to function in society.
• To instil the required amount of mathematical knowledge to support the future education of a student.

These three aims are equal in their importance and are the focus of our teaching and learning throughout all key stages.

Mathematics is an integral part of everyone’s life and it focuses on methods to portray real life events or circumstances so that they can be analysed, reflected upon and adapted to support any situation. Mathematics is the means by which the world we inhabit can be explained. Mathematics in society is relevant to everyone and is made rich through a multi-skilled approach which creates the desire to delve further into this discipline. In this way, the learning is not only enriched but it becomes challenging. Mathematics is a valued and necessary tool in many disciplines and challenges students in their studies to prepare adequately for their future careers.

There are numerous skills and methods which are taught to achieve the above aims. During the lessons skills in numeracy, algebra, shape and space and data handling are supported. Students are encouraged to analyse their methods, results and discuss alternative routes for problem solving. They are led towards independent learning via websites and investigations. Teamwork as well as independent work is integral to the learning to produce collaborative and confident students who can plan, adapt, communicate, make decisions and take responsibility for the outcome. Skills and theory are used in real life scenarios to show how mathematics is useful in everyday life. Achieving levels of competency are important together with the application of mathematical knowledge. The use of technology is highlighted during the courses whether it is a website search, the use of various programs, communication between students and their teacher or using different types of calculators with various functions. IT is used to support but not supplant numeracy. In Key Stage 3, numeracy is emphasised as an important skill to be applied in all the work. This is to give a strong foundation and to later facilitate learning of mathematics at Key Stages 4 and 5. Not only are students taught to master algebra and graphical skills, but the ability to plan, create relevant diagrams, to visualise a problem and explain the results is part of our education for transferable skills. This also includes comparisons of methods, analysis and decision making which is often addressed in teamwork and discussion.

Through a variety of teaching methods and a diverse curriculum, students are prepared to acquire the three aims.

Our vision for language learning at Doha British School is to develop students’ lifelong linguistic skills and nurture global citizens. Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. We want language learning to be fun, meaningful, and tangible but we also want to foster the additional skills that come from learning a language. Language students at Doha British School develop their resilience, open-mindedness, adaptability, memory, tolerance, appreciation and understanding of other cultures and their confidence. When students leave Doha British School, they can understand and respond to the foreign written language from a range of different and authentic sources, they have increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, accuracy, pronunciation, and intonation when communicating in the language, they can apply the new grammar in their writing and can respond to written work in that language, including literary works. We also want students to leave with a greater ability to communicate with others, greater employability, a motivation to see the world and broaden their outlook.

The MFL team at Doha British School is dynamic, passionate, and enthusiastic. The four key skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening are covered each topic and new and more complex grammar and vocabulary is introduced to enable students to use the language more accurately, confidently, and fluently. We are committed to our own development and work collaboratively to improve and engage language learning pedagogy to ensure that curriculum changes are evidenced based. The learning environment allows learning to flourish and competitions, quizzes and use of technology keep motivation high in the classroom. We integrate cultural reference to the target language country but also the wider Francophone and Hispanic community. Students learn to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.

The secondary Music curriculum at Doha British School offers pupils a natural academic and practical progression from Year 7 up to University, for a global community. We strive to offer our students with the opportunity to meet and exceed their academic potential as well as equipping them with a growth mindset for learning.

In Key Stage 3 our pupils cover a wide range of topics and elements of music. They are taught in mixed groups. There is a balance between theory and practice where the former feeds into the latter. The KS3 curriculum has been purposefully designed to enable students to choose Music GCSE as an option, equipping them with strong foundations to pursue their learning journey.

At Key Stage 4, we follow the Edexcel GCSE curriculum. Students use the knowledge and skills gained from KS3. Students study 8 set works, they also have to record 2 tracks and compose 2 pieces.

At Key Stage 5, we follow the Edexcel A-level Music curriculum. Students have to record a 8mn recital, compose 2 pieces, and study 12 set works.

Our curriculum is not just about the academic challenge. Throughout the academic year, plenty of opportunities are available to our students to play in front of an audience. From special events like the Winter Bazar, International Day, Graduation, and others to more formal recitals and full on school productions. There are also open mic sessions at lunch time where students can perform in front of their peers.

Curriculum Intent

Our Music curriculum is underpinned by the ‘DBS Ways’ and embodies our whole school approach to character education, providing a deep and rich experience for all.

Relevant

Music at Doha British School is at the cutting edge of the British National Curriculum and is reviewed and refined annually. This allows our students to access a curriculum that is relevant to current events around the world and become more progressive with research and technology. Each Key Stage lay the groundwork for the next stage of our students learning journey.

Our KS5 curriculum is relevant to universities globally and prepares students for degree programmes and higher education.

Rich

Music at Doha British School promotes a curriculum beyond the classroom through offering students a wide range of experiences to develop cultural capital. Music provides additional learning contexts with a variety of events throughout the academic year. In the classroom we embrace all the opportunities a global community offers to us, enriching our lessons through our differences and similarities that we bring to our DBS community.

Challenging

At Doha British School the music course is designed to meet the academic, personal and cultural needs of our students and better equip them for future challenges, while at the same time creating enjoyable learning environments that inspire and motivate. We focus on building strong characters who can face challenges in and out of the classroom, and who develop an inner belief in challenging themselves to improve everyday.

The PE development at Doha British school provides students with the opportunity to develop their physical, personal, social and cognitive skills through a high quality PE curriculum allowing the students to succeed and excel in a variety of activities.

We actively promote an appreciation of physical activities and encourage lifelong participation. Our KS3 curriculum covers activities within the categories of invasion games, striking & fielding, creativity, health & fitness and swimming to ensure that we provide an enjoyable experience, which inspires our students to have a passion for physical activity both in school and in the wider community.

At KS4 we offer our students the opportunity to further their passion for PE by studying GCSE PE. Students will be educated about the importance of anatomy & physiology, physical training and sport psychology. Students will be assessed in three practical sports, sit two exams and complete a personal exam programme. This learning is continued into KS5 where we are delighted to offer A Level PE which provides the students with a greater depth of knowledge in topics such as anatomy & physiology, exercise physiology, skill acquisition sports physiology and sport in society. This deeper learning at KS5 will prepare students for a potential career in the sports industry.

The aim of science is to develop curiosity, knowledge and reasoning so that students can better understand the world around them. Our curriculum embeds key skills and concepts using an evidence based approach, ensuring progress and addressing misconceptions from Year 7 right through to Year 13.

As a department we recognise the impact that the teaching of core subjects can have. That’s why our curriculum is:

• Focused on progression – We have adapted our curriculum in line with the latest research, so that we can challenge and develop our students from their first science lesson until their last.
• Rich – Our theme based approach to learning means that every topic we cover is linked not only to other science topics but also to other subjects. This approach develops our students’ ability to problem solve and think outside the box, and helps to prepare them for life after school.
• Real – We look at real life examples and applications of the theories and concepts that we cover, not only in Qatar but across the world. Our focus is on developing our students as scientists, not just teaching them how to pass exams.

Our AS/A level pathway provides a depth of content which gives students a strong foundation for further scientific study, and excellent subject knowledge. Our IB pathway provides a broader understanding of the real world applications and developments within science, and develops research skills which are transferable to further education. Whichever pathway is chosen, we have a wealth of experience and various specialisms within the science department, which enables us to support its popularity at sixth form.