International School Suva

The International School Suva is an independent, co-educational day school in Fiji that provides educational services for students from pre-school through Year 12. The school has authorization to use all three IB programs.

ISS has over 470 students from 35 countries. There are over 50 full-time faculty members.

Mission
The mission of ISS is to provide an excellent education in a multi-cultural environment where they develop the skills and values necessary to become positive and responsible global citizens.

Facilities
The International School Suva is located in Laucala Beach Estate which is just outside Suva. The school has modern classrooms, a library, 3 computer labs, a science lab, a full time counselor, a uniform shop, an ESL Centre, a multi-purpose hall that includes an 800 seat theatre, drama and music rooms and sporting facilities such as badminton, etc.

Curriculum
The International School Suva uses a mix of curricula. They have all three International Baccalaureate programs, and the PYP is the entire basis for the primary curriculum. The middle years curriculum has two components – the IBMYP and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education which the school notes complements the MYP. Secondary students have the IB Diploma Programme as well as the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) program. Students receive the Year 12 ACT Certificate if they follow the ACT.

Extra-Curricular Activities
The school offers a wide variety of extra curricular activities. Teachers sponsor these activities, and they take place either at lunchtime or after school.

Technology
ISS believes in integrating technology throughout the curriculum. The school has 1 computer for every 2 students, and each classroom has at least 2 computers. The school has fast broadband, and it is working on getting wireless broadband throughout the school. Students take regular computer classes through Grade 8; after that further technology classes are electives.

Professional Development
No information is available.

Employment
The school lists openings on its website. No other information about employment is available.

About Fiji
Fiji is one of those places that those of us who are enraptured with the tropics dream of as the ideal place to live. Fiji is an archipelago that consists of about 106 inhabited islands, including Viti Levu and Vanua Levu that account for most of the population.

Suva is the capital of Fiji. It has a population of around 140,000. Visitors to Fiji need to be aware of pickpockets and scams – isn’t that all too familiar these days in tropical paradises?

There are a variety of cuisines available in Suva, especially Indian food due to the large Indian population in Fiji. If you are a Western fast food junkie, you can find McDonalds and Kentucky Friend Chicken.

Fiji has a tropical marine climate with slight temperature variations throughout the year. The cyclone season is from November through April.

The American School in England is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school providing educational services to students from Nursery School through Grade 12. It is located just outside London and was established in 1955. The school has boarding facilities. TASIS is accredited by the Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

There are over 750 students that represent 40 nationalities. Of this 750 students, 600 are day students and 150 are boarding students. There are 100 teachers of which about 75% are Americans; the rest are British.

Mission
The mission of the school is to provide an outstanding international education and instill the values of responsibility, compassion, truth, and justice.

Facilities
The campus is 18 miles southwest of London; take a look at the photos on the school website. The whole place looks like my idea of an international school. Facilities include: sports fields; tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, gyms, a theatre, computer and science labs, three libraries with internet facilities, music rooms, modern classrooms, boarding facilities, and much more.

Curriculum
The curriculum is a mix of English and American curricula with some IB thrown in. The elementary curriculum is based on Core Knowledge. The school is a college prep school with high standards and high expectations. TASIS England offers the American high school diploma with Advanced Placement courses, as well as the IB Diploma. There is an ESL program.

Extra Curricular Activities
The school has many competitive sports teams for senior students including basketball, rugby, soccer, cross country, volleyball, baseball, softball, tennis, lacrosse, cheerleading, golf and dance. Other activities include drama, art, music, and special interest clubs.

Technology
TASIS England has a complete network that links all parts of the school together. There is wireless coverage around the campus including in the boarding facilities. The IT program focuses on creativity and communication; students learn about technology in the context of projects for classes such as math or history. This is a school that understands and employs an integrated approach to IT.

Professional Development
Teachers are expected to complete professional growth requirements yearly.

Employment
TASIS The American School in England is looking for teaching candidates that are skilled, experienced, and highly qualified. Teaching candidates need to have at least three years’ full-time experienced with at least a BA, although advanced degrees are preferred. Teachers who do not hold an EU passport need to have at least three years of consecutive teaching in an American curriculum school in order to qualify for a work permit.

The school is especially looking for teachers with IB, AP and boarding school experience. Teachers at TASIS The American School in England are expected to also serve as advisors, coaches, sponsors of activities and chaperones for weekend trips. Additionally, about 20% of the faculty serve as faculty residents in the dormitories. Detailed teaching responsibilities are listed online.

Teachers who are US citizens are exempt from British Income Tax for the first two years. Teachers have to pay an 11% tax for the National Insurance Contribution (similar to US Social Security). Salaries are competitive and are determined by the Headmaster based on experience and qualifications. Teachers receive credit for up to 16 years of experience.

Benefits include: private health, dental, long term disability, personal pension, full tuition for school age children, up to £1000 relocation expenses, and all housing and utilities and meals if the teacher is part of the boarding team.

Applications for employment are online. If you are interested in applying for a position, you should send a letter of application, a resume, and the application form to: headmaster@tasisengland.org
or send a fax to: Headmaster: +44 1932 560493
or post to:
Headmaster
TASIS The American School in England
Coldharbour Lane
Thorpe
Surrey TW20 8TE
England

About London
What is there to say about London that anyone who would want to be an international teacher doesn’t already know?

Finding a position in an international school is generally more difficult than getting a job teaching English. The overseas teaching field is highly competitive. Most schools attend one of the main hiring fairs which are held several times a year. You can expect to need to have at least two years of experience and a current teaching credential. Many schools have IB programs and want IB experience. Some schools only hire Americans, others only British or Australian, but generally you will find a mix of nationalities in international schools especially in the large ones like Jakarta International School, Singapore American School, or the International School of Bangkok.

The main teaching fairs are run by International Schools Services, Search Associates, the Council of International Schools, and Northern Iowa. I only have experience with ISS and at that I only attended one fair in 1989. Fairs are usually quite crowded; teaching couples have an edge generally on single teachers as they can split up and cover twice the ground. Single parents are at an extreme disadvantage when looking for jobs overseas. Even singles without children are not hired by some schools. A lot of this has to do with housing considerations. You can find specific information on each of the organizations mentioned above on their web sites along with online forms that you can fill out or download. One other site that you may want to consult in your search for teaching positions is TIE – The International Educator. TIE publishes a newspaper that has job listings as well as articles about teaching overseas. You can also use their online services.

Once you have some experience teaching in an international school, you enter into a rather small world and you have a good chance (if you’re good at your job and have had good experiences with your principal and/or superintendent/director) of getting a job without attending a fair. I’ve obtained my last two positions this way: once by having a former principal hire me directly, and the second time by having him recommend me for another job. This saves you the considerable expense of attending a fair, not to mention the hassle and stress that goes along with these cattle markets.

How much do overseas’ jobs pay?

Salaries vary widely in overseas’ schools. Generally teaching English pays considerably less than working in an international school. English positions in Bangkok run from around 20,000 baht per month to 50,000. At the current exchange rate of about 40 baht per U.S. dollar, that means you would be making from between $500 to $1250 per month. Not a whole lot of money. As I mentioned before, jobs in Taiwan, Korea and Japan pay more.

International school positions pay more, but there is a wide range in salaries depending on experience and location. Generally the more favorable the location, the lower the salary. Schools in South America and Africa usually don’t pay as well as schools in the Middle East. The small ISS or company schools in remote locations usually pay quite well and have some nice travel benefits. School ads in the ISS and TIE newspapers often have salary ranges listed. In some countries you have to pay local taxes on your salary; this is often picked up by the school, but occasionally it isn’t. Americans teaching overseas don’t have to pay taxes on the salary that they earn outside of the country. A nice overseas salary would be something in the mid 40s range, tax-free of course.

Housing and other Perks

Housing is a big issue for overseas’ teaching. Housing is usually provided or at least compensated for. I have lived in small bachelor type apartments, ranch style type houses that you would find in a US suburb, a really dingy flat in Pakistan and then in a much nicer three bedroom one while working at the same school. One of the most common complaints from teachers is about their housing.
Some schools offer free cars, some will provide interest free loans if you want to purchase a car, while others have no transportation allowance included. At LAS, we were provided a car for $50 a month which went for service, insurance and fuel costs. Health insurance is usually provided for, and some schools offer retirement benefits while many don’t.

Are there positions in developed countries or only in remote or “dangerous” locations?

There are international schools just about everywhere in the world. All of the major capitals of the world have international schools and most of them are quite large. Jakarta International School, for instance, has several thousand students and hundreds of teachers. My current school has 53 students and eight teachers. As I mentioned above, some of the remote schools pay quite well in order to attract teachers. Schools in Pakistan pay well because of the problems of attracting teachers to a country that is considered by many to be dangerous, although this is far from true.

What is it like teaching overseas?

That varies from place to place. Big high-powered schools in major capitals with a student body whose parents include CEO’s and diplomats tends to be fairly stressful from what I have heard, but working in small schools can be just as stressful because of close parent contact and high expectations and demands. I’ve worked in a middle-sized school and three small schools, and I’ve enjoyed both experiences. My own preferences led me not to want to work in the larger schools, but I know teachers who have spent decades working in large schools and love it. There are certainly many more opportunities for entertainment, night life and shopping when you live in a large city.

Generally you can expect to have many of the same problems that you would have in a school in the States with homework, parents and administrators. You can also expect not to have to worry about gang violence, crazed people coming in off the street to shoot up the school, and all the other traumas of urban existence in the U.S. Some schools will have a large population of non-English speaking students. Drug problems may exist in larger schools, but are generally absent in the smaller schools.

Some schools follow a U.S. curriculum, others have an international one, and still others have a mix. Lahore American School followed a U.S. curriculum even though by the time that I left the school our student population was almost entirely made up of wealthy Pakistani students.

Teaching overseas offers a lot of opportunities for travel. For example, while I was teaching in Lahore, I would go back and forth to Bali on vacation and usually transited in Bangkok which I really enjoyed. Many of the teachers there explored the incredible Pakistan countryside and also vacationed in places like Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam which were all quite accessible from Lahore except during the war in Afghanistan.

Teaching overseas can be a great life.

The Australian International School Saigon was founded in August 2006 and is an independent, non-profit, co-educational day school. The school provides educational services for students from Early Childhood (age 2) through Secondary School (Grade 12). AIS is a candidate for the IB PYP. Senior students will be able to do the Cambridge International Examination A Levels in the future.

AIS has over 400 students representing 21 countries and over 30 international teachers.

Mission
The mission of AIS is to provide a high quality education that helps students become intelligent, caring and inquiring people.

Facilities
AIS is one of those international schools that is spread out around the city; that is, there are three actual sites where students attend classes. The Primary School has two sites in the APSC Compound in District 2, and the Secondary School has a campus in District 3.

Facilities for the Primary School include: large well-lit, air-conditioned classrooms, a library, tennis courts and a swimming pool. Facilities for the Secondary School include: wireless access in all classrooms, a swimming pool, a landscaped campus, tennis and basketball courts, a playground with sporting equipment, a science lab and an English Language Center.

Curriculum
The curriculum at AIS is academically rigorous while flexible enough to be fun, creative and innovative. AIS is a candidate for the PYP. Secondary students (Years 6-10) use the New South Wales curriculum. Students who wish to enter the Secondary School need to pass an entrance examination.

Extra Curricular Activities
After school activities for Primary students are offered three times a week. Teachers sponsor these activities. They include: chess club, acting and drama, arts and crafts, photography, soccer, Aussie football, yoga, foreign languages and more.

Secondary activities include: debate, drama, chess, band, musical instruments, global action, foreign languages, and a variety of sports.

Technology
The school believes in the integration of technology into the curriculum.

Professional Development
No information is available.

Employment
Most teachers at the school are Australian, but the school does hire expatriate teachers with international experience. The school is looking for teachers that are: creative, highly qualified, experienced, familiar with modern teaching approaches and strategies, familiar with integrating technology into the curriculum, work well with children and their parents, and are enthusiastic about living in Vietnam.

AIS lists available positions on the school website. The school accepts applications throughout the school year, but the main recruitment period is between December and February. An application is available online.

You can apply by completing the application form and by sending it along with your CV to the Principal at principal@aisvietnam.com.

While salaries are not listed on the website, it is noted that the salary is “competitive after-tax.” Benefits include; an accommodation allowance, medical insurance, annual airfare home, free tuition for dependent children, relocation allowance and a contract completion bonus.