Topic: Describe the current condition of the international school building you work at.
We all probably wish we could be working at a brand new, purpose-built school, but that is definitely not the case at most international schools. Some international schools are even situated in buildings that weren’t designed for schools at all. Some international school teachers have been told that their school will temporarily be housed in a non-school like building, only to find out 10 years later that the schools is still there!
Then there is the director/school board that officially decides to build a whole new building for their international school. Sounds great and exciting at first, but the process of getting new building takes years and years! Not so exciting then for the international school teachers that plan to leave the school after a couple of years. Though sometimes the new building plans just disappear and never end up even happening at all.
Some teachers (and students) get lucky and finally get their new purpose-built building, but only to find out that it is located in a part of the city that is basically in the middle of nowhere. Some of us might want to sacrifice and keep working in the old building that was closer to the center of the city!
It is important to note that not all of us desire to work in a super new school building, some of us like the older feel and quite enjoy working in a building that has a lot of character and history. But there is nothing worse though than having a classroom that is not the right size, not able to accomodate certain new technologies, has mold problems, etc.
So, go ahead and vote to describe the current condition of the international school building you work at. Go to the homepage of International School Community and submit your vote today! You can check out the latest voting results here.
The survey results are in, and it seems as if most visitors and members of International School Community who voted have the Middle East as the region in the world they would most NOT want to move to next.
Well, what is so undesirable about living in the Middle East? The really hot weather basically all year round? The vast difference in the culture in comparison to your own? The local food is not to your liking? It could be any number of reasons why most of our members voted that the Middle East is the place they would most not want to move to next.
Being that many people don’t want to move there may present a problem for international schools in that region. How can the schools find quality candidates to move to their Middle Eastern country and work at their school?
One major attraction for candidates looking for a job at an international school is the salary and benefits package. And it is widely known that many of the international schools in the Middle East (Non-profit ones and For-profit ones) offer excellent benefits with tax-free, very high salaries as well. I guess though that disregarding how high the salaries are or how amazing the benefits package is, many international schools teachers will still turn a blind eyes to an opportunity to interview at a school in this region.
Let’s remember though that there are still many international school teachers that are interested in working in the Middle East; some might even put working in the Middle East as their number one choice. Those who put ‘saving money’ as a top priority are likely to consider working at an international school in the Middle East. Those who also are career-minded will find a number of ‘Tier 1’ school in that region which can even be quite competitive in which to even get an interview.
International schools in the Middle East are also known for their flexibility to hire single teachers with dependents, teaching couples with dependents, and single teachers with a non-teaching, trailing spouse. Not all international schools around the world will be able to hire these types of candidates. Not every teacher with dependents though desires to have their children grow up in the Middle East region (i.e. they will most likely be living in compounds…which is not to everyone’s liking.).
If you are a single teacher, maybe the Middle East is also not the best place for you to move. It might be hard to find/going out on dates there. It might be hard to meet the locals, but it also might be difficult to find other expat people to go on dates with since a high number of them might already be married.
Luckily on International School Community, we have a City Information section in the comments and information part of each school’s profile page that discusses many aspects of the city/region for each school. One major reason to help international school teachers know more about where they would like to move to next is the weather. Fortunately, we have a comment topic related to weather called:
• Describe the city’s weather at different times of the year.
Taken from the school profile page.
There have been many comments and information submitted in this topic on numerous school profiles on our website.
One International School Community member said about working at : “For six months of the year, the Eastern Province has beautiful weather – from about mid-October to mid-April, ideal for outside activity. After that, it begins to get hot and from July to September it is very hot and sometimes very humid – generally oppressive. That is when everyone is very grateful for the fact everything is air-conditioned. Fortunately, school is out for much of that time and everyone who can leaves the area. From mid-October, the temperature starts to cool off and the Arab winter can be very pleasant, even requiring a few light wool sweaters and socks at night. In years when there is a fair amount of rain, especially when it comes in December or earlier, the desert blooms and everyone with a car packs up their tents and heads out to enjoy the flowers , watch the baby camels, and view the glorious night time sky undiluted by city lights.”
Another member said about working at : “Always good except for rainy season, which changes around each year. It can last for 1-2 months.”
Another member submitted a comment about working at : “From November to April, the weather is cool (22 to 28 Celsius), with little rain and lots of sunshine! You do get occasional thunderstorms though.”
If you are currently a premium member of International School Community, please take a moment to share what you know about the weather in the different regions/cities of the world at which you have worked. You can start by logging on here.
Stay tuned for our next survey topic which is to come out in a few days time.
On 25th June 2012, I was fortunate to visit a school in South East part of London at a place called Peckham. Peckham holds significance as during the London riots it was a hotbed of violence. It has a mixed racial community of Africans, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, and people from South East Asia.
Mr.Phil Mayo (see above photo) explained about the sign “Peace at Peckham” made creatively by the pupils of JD after the riots with all used polythene bags, rags and waste paper. The pupils from a mixed racial background strongly wanted to convey the message of peace to their community thru this sign.
John Donne School is situated in the heart of this vibrant, exciting and multi-cultural area and is a community primary school, which is part of Southwark Local Authority where the admitting body is the London Borough of Southwark. JD as it is popularly known among people is an exceptional school of London. I got to see many facets of a school and different approaches adopted by their academic faculty. The learning derived in spending half a day at JD has not only been enriching but enabled me to gain a better insight at the teacher student dynamics which I would have not explored earlier.
Let me take you thru a journey of discovery thru JD……
Reaching school at 7.15am I waited for Mr. Chris Souvlis (South London Schools Internationalism Support) who played a crucial role in coordinating this visit. As UK rules for visiting a school are very strict and without an official invite from a school no person is allowed to enter. Mr. Souvlis was a contact of another contact Mr. Chris Williams (Comenius Expert, British Council Ambassador for the East Midlands) who has been a vital link for the ISA and without whose assistance this visit would not have been possible.
Being early gave us time to discuss various school projects undertaken by Mr. Souvils. At 8am we met Mr.Phil Mayo (Pastoral Manager) at JD who was very welcoming and eager that I viewed their assembly which was scheduled for 8.30am in a large hall with no stage where about 200 pupils had gathered. The Assembly was conducted by the Deputy Head teachers Ruth Moyler & Simon Wattam on the theme London Olympics 2012 and started with a piece of music “Chariots of Fire”. After which the pupils were asked to identify that piece of music. They showed high awareness and a lot of hands went up giving the right answers. The various sports to be played at the games were then mimed one by one by Simon and Phil. This was a very interactive assembly where all the pupils were enjoying and learning simultaneously. The energy and enthusiastic manner with which the teachers conducted this was a visual treat.
This reinforced my belief that enthusiasm in a person is not only infectious but also a energy booster for the pupils. The school provided 5 pupils with wrestling tickets for the Olympics which was a real time treat for them. Purple badges were given for full attendance; the child who was a star of the week was announced to motivate others to be regular at school. The school had also purchased new special Olympic themed tyres which were displayed on the play ground and the students were excited to explore the same. They were asked to respect school property without damaging it.
After this wonderful assembly we wrapped up for a school tour. Seeing various creative classrooms decorated with artwork by pupils was a total “WOW moment” for me. What impressed me more was they were from the 1st-5th grade and with the help of their teachers they brought out the best of their creativity. This ability of the teachers to capitalize and bring out the best from them was awesome. By giving those options to choose from it enabled them to become independent and smarter. The teachers’ found innovative ways of teaching which boosted the pupil’s creativity.
Speaking with their 4th grade teacher was informative as she shared while teaching a particular topic for the month all other subjects would be correlated with the main theme. e.g. While she was doing Africa as the main theme even the art and craft was correlated in which animals were made in a jungle setting.
This creativity extended to different subjects and with various teachers as I spoke with the English and Math Teacher Mrs. Jabbar. Who introduced math in the form of various games where the pupils were learning but best of all they were looking forward to the classes. Creating interest is all in the hands of the teachers by being innovative and different.
Mr.Phil shared that JD was an example of an exceptional school where the staff were very involved with the pupil’s welfare as they were coming from different multi cultural backgrounds. Some were from broken homes or having one or no parents. All pupils would eat breakfast at school and no one would attend class if they had not eaten. The councilor’s room was a place to express their feeling through drawing, colouring, writing or just talking. Parents could also join in on the discussion over there. They had a very unique way of punishing a pupil who had repeatedly been naughty. There were made to fill out a questionnaire where they would actually reflect upon their behavior. It was called the 5 W’s form. This way of punishment really worked as it enabled the child to really think about their behavior and not just brush it aside.
I learnt and saw so much in the span of half a day that the overall experience and learning was nothing short of awesome in every way.
Charmaine Vida Tayal
International School Award Coordinator, Facilitator Projects, Khaitan Public School Sahibabad, India
Thanks Charmaine for sharing your visit with us! Currently we have 71 international schools listed in India on our website, with many of them having comments and information that have been submitted on them. Check them out here.
