Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha

Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha is a private school located in Doha, Qatar. It was founded in October 2001 with the support of Meerasahib Mahroof, former Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Qatar. The school is affiliated with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Qatar and runs as a nonprofit organization. The Patron of the school is the serving Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Qatar and a Qatari Sponsor, Yousuf Ahamad Al Feraidoni. The school is governed by a board of trustees.^[1]

SSLSD is an approved educational institute by The Supreme Education Council and is known as the Sri Lankan Community School. The school is also an Approved Examination Center by Edexcel International (UK) which grants students to sit for Edexcel IGCSE and IAL examinations. The school started as a nursery with 25 students. Over the years, the range of year groups offered expanded.

SSLSD now offers education from Lower Reception to grade 13, although currently Lower Reception and Grade 1 isn't offered due to an overflow of students. The school follows the Edexcel Curriculum. Students in Year 2 and Year 6 sit for the Key Stage I & II (SAT) examinations administered by Edexcel U.K.^[2]

SSLSD follows the London Edexcel Curriculum. Emphasis is given to activity-based and project-based learning. All curricular and co-curricular activities are directed towards the development of students to suit the international community.

The assessment system includes both internal and external assessments. Students are assessed internally through monthly and semester examinations, continuous homework, and class assessments. External assessment is done through Key Stage Examinations conducted by SAT, IGCSE, and IAL testing conducted by Edexcel International.^[3]

SSLSD believes that continuous assessment is the key to sharpening the knowledge of the students. The internally assessed examinations are conducted with standards in accordance to the British examination procedures. As the gravity of these exams gradually increase from lower to upper classes, the students are guided towards the public examinations.

The following examinations are available at SSLSD:^[4]

• Monthly / Weekly Assessments
• Semester Exams
• Edexcel International Primary Curriculum Exams (Year 6)
• Edexcel International Lower Secondary Exams (Year 8: Science, Year 9: English, Math and Computing)
• Cambridge ESOL Exams
• "My Language" Exams
• Edexcel IGCSE Exams
• Edexcel IAL Exams

SSLSD offers a wide range of awards for its students, including four main awards and other international awards.

The 4 awards are as follows:

• Highly Commended
• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold

International Awards include the following:

• Outstanding Pearson Learner Award, which is categorised into further 3 levels:

1. Highest Mark in the Country
2. Highest Mark in the Middle East (region-wise)
3. Highest Mark in the World

• Duke of Edinburgh Award

The awards are presented to the students during the Annual Awards Day, which falls between November and January, there is also an awards day done by the Ministry Of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) to present awards to schools nation-wide that follow the Edexcel or Cambridge curricula.

SSLSD presents a number of sports for its students, with all facilities provided by the school. Students can showcase their talents in the Annual Sports Meet.

The three teams or houses include:

• Garnet (Red)
• Topaz (Yellow)
• Emerald (Green)

The current champions are Topaz (Senior Sports Meet) and Garnet (Junior Sports Meet) of the academic year 2024/25.

SSLSD implemented a new shift system in the academic year of 2023/24 to facilitate a rise in number of students, in which students of grades Upper Reception and Grades 2 to 6 attended school starting 7:00 AM with their day ending at 12:30 PM, and students of grades 7 to 13 attended school starting 01:30 PM with their day ending 7:00 PM.

SSLSD currently does not offer schooling for students in Lower Reception and Grade 1 due to the shift system. However, the school's board of trustees (also known as the Board of Directors) has taken the initiative to start building a new school, which is currently is in process to facilitate the rise in number of students as it was approved recently.

SSLSD offers a range of extracurriculars, including:

• SSLSD Scouting
• IT Club - subdivided into 'Robotics', 'Designers', and 'Coding'
• AV Club - Also known as the photography club, the best performers are selected for the school's photography team
• Scrabble
• Chess
• Popular sports
• Duke of Edinburgh award

SSLSD was recognized by Pearson as an outstanding school for the results of the Edexcel International Primary Curriculum (iPrimary), Edexcel International Lower Curriculum (iLS), Edexcel International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE, also known as O/L or Ordinary Level) and Edexcel International Advanced Level (IAL, also known as A/L or Advanced Level) with 27 awards given to 26 students.^[5]

• Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha Website
• Pearson
• Edexcel
• Sinhala Tamil Language Foundation Website
• SSLSD Theatre Circle Website
• Ministry of Education and Higher Education (Qatar)
• List of universities and colleges in Qatar
• Education in Qatar

25°15′49.1″N 51°29′39.1″E / 25.263639°N 51.494194°E / 25.263639; 51.494194