History

In 1974 the Muscat English Speaking School had an enrolment of 60 children, increasing rapidly to 190 pupils by 1975. In June 1975 the school was notified that its premises were required for development by the Ministry of Communication. The decision was made to build a school on the current site in Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos, on land generously made available by the Government of Oman.

The new buildings in Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos, including the buildings we now use as the nursery, the main hall and staffroom, were completed in 1978. One of the first projects of a newly formed Association of Parents and Friends was to assist with the coordination of movement of furniture and equipment from Darsait to the new site.

Muscat English Speaking School occupied the new site in Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos on 1 April 1978 with 257 children in 14 classes. On the morning of 3 May 1978 Mr CJ Treadwell, the British Ambassador and president of the school, officially opened the buildings and asked for the children to be given one day’s holiday to celebrate the occasion.

By the spring term of 1984, there was a total enrolment of 591 children in 21 classes at the main Primary school. In the Secondary school, then located in a separate villa, numbers had risen to 50 children in four classes. In August 1984, an enthusiastic cast of children and teachers from the Secondary school travelled to Edinburgh to perform in the fringe festival. So successful was this expedition that photographs and an article appeared on the front page of The Times Educational Supplement in Britain.

On 14 March 1987, following years of development discussions concerning the need for school expansion, the British Ambassador, Mr R J Alston, Iaid the foundations for new buildings, to give space for the senior school to move onto the current site. At the beginning of the spring term, there were 29 class rooms, two halls, two music rooms, three science laboratories, two video rooms, an art room, library, a computer laboratory and special needs centre. The school also had a multi-purpose sports field with running track, football and rounder’s pitches, cricket practice nets and two tennis/netball/volleyball courts.

Achievements

In 2019, British School Muscat won both British International School of the Year and International School of the Year.

BSM's Founding Companies Still Operating in Oman

  • British Aerospace (now BAE Systems)
  • British Airways
  • British Petroleum Ltd
  • Carillion Alawi ( was George Wimpey & Co ltd )
  • Consolidate Contractors International Co Ltd
  • Darwish-Ast Group of Companies
  • Embassy of the United State of America
  • ENHANCE (was Matrah Cold Stores)
  • Halcrow (was Sir William Halcrow & Partners)
  • HSBC (was British Bank of the Middle East)
  • Mohsin Haider Darwish
  • Oasis Trading & Equipment Co
  • Oman Refreshment Co. Ltd (Pepsi)
  • Oman United Agencies (Travel )
  • Petroleum Development (Oman) Ltd.
  • Port Services Corporation SAOG
  • Qurum Contractors W.L.L.
  • Shell Development Oman LLC
  • Standard Chartered Bank
  • Towell & Co LLC
  • The British Embassy, Muscat
  • Trowers and Hamlin
  • Yahya Costain (Costain Civil Engineering Co Ltd)
  • Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo & Co (Oman)
  • Zubair Corporation/Zubair Kilpatrick