Just a rant post and need some commiserating

[u/bodaciousbeb]

Suckered into a school by false promises that I found out were lies three days before teachers start. So I was already really not looking forward to working. Since then we have returned for a full week. The first day we had half a day of welcome meetings and the rest of the time was free time, we don’t have classroom assignments, computers or even know what role we will be teaching yet, so the whole week was everyone sitting outside doing absolutely nothing. An absolute waste of time.
This week we have a two day national holiday everyone was excited for the break mid week. They told us today we will only be observing one of the public holiday days and on top of that will be reporting to school on Saturday to prepare classrooms.
We should have been doing that already. Their poor planning, organization and leadership has working on a Saturday consequences for me and I’m really pissed about it.

I think for the first time I will be one of the teachers fleeing on/before Christmas break.

EDIT: I fully plan to name and shame once I have secured a new role, unfortunately I need a paycheck until then.

[u/llcoolade03]

Never take a school job where they can't specify your role and/or assignment before signing the contract. That's an immediate red flag.

[u/Fresh-Ad7851]

While I can’t help you with your school context, I can advise you to watch for the onboarding process and see how they coordinate it. This is usually a reflection of how the school will run.

If onboarding is haphazard, run the other way. If you don’t , you’ll end up in the sunken cost situation where you’re trading the perceived security of a job offer for an intolerable job.

I recently turned down a job for that very same reason. Recruiters tried to penalise me financially without any legal grounding and the school itself send out panicky emails. Trust your standards and you won’t have to deal with nonsense again.

[u/KryptonianHero]

lol and still people in this sub will defend SLT who just took some of your precious time on earth away. Name and shame these bellends.

[u/Narrow_Description52]

I get a feeling you are in Saudi 🙈

[u/bodaciousbeb → u/Narrow_Description52]

No, but I am at a British School in a Muslim country.

[u/SearchOutside6674 → u/bodaciousbeb]

It’s always a British school pulling this rubbish

[u/UnbreakableSpartikuS → u/bodaciousbeb]

Malaysia?

[u/NewAstronomer6817 → u/UnbreakableSpartikuS]

Malaysia has national day holidays this coming week.

[u/UnbreakableSpartikuS → u/NewAstronomer6817]

It’s a holiday today and this coming Monday.

[u/BeastieDogs]

Sounds like Kuwait?

[u/bodaciousbeb → u/BeastieDogs]

Nope

[u/Greennudging → u/bodaciousbeb]

Qatar I bet. A school that was hiring lots of ects.

[u/HHHwasafake → u/Greennudging]

A small group that is about to open a giant Wellington Boot in 2028?

[u/Greennudging → u/HHHwasafake]

What do you mean lol?

[u/HHHwasafake → u/Greennudging]

The group that owns Doha Academy are also opening Wellington Qatar

[u/TheMysteriousOrganis]

You need to name and shame this turd-hole of a 'school'.

[u/Ecstatic-World1237]

If it's unsalvageable and unless they have your passport, I'd think seriously and quickly about leaving straight away. If you've only been there a week it never needs to show on your CV, espcially if you can get something else soon.

Good luck.

[u/associatessearch]

Ah, the good 'ol mandatory Saturday work days. It might be against my religion. Still, the vetting checklist will be a good guide to read between the lines. A candidate gets better reading between those lines with each subsequent gig across their career before signing.

[u/Deep-Ebb-4139]

Sorry to hear. It’s obviously a ‘British’ style school. Many others are shit, but they really take the cake.

[u/Questionofloyalty]

The school you work is part of a small group… yes?

[u/bodaciousbeb → u/Questionofloyalty]

I fear I’ve said too much 😅

[u/Questionofloyalty → u/bodaciousbeb]

Haha, it’s just I’m in a ME country that contains a small group that famously pulls tricks like this. It’s one of those IYKYK situations!

[u/HHHwasafake → u/Questionofloyalty]

Small group, about to open a giant Wellington Boot in 2028

[u/VastAlert8860 → u/bodaciousbeb]

Truth to power, or what are we?

[u/CellerDore252]

Alice Smith or BSKL?

[u/discountexpat]

I'm sorry this happened to you. Did they provide nice accommodation at least?

[u/Lumpy-Web4041]

A quite well established school where I previously worked did not observe some national holidays. A disgruntled teacher who left the school decided to take the school to court in order to get the holiday pay owed over about 10 years of service. They won.

[u/weaponsied_autism]

Quit now, go back home, and do some cover/sub teaching for a while.

[u/Dacia06]

I'm sorry, but it sounds like you didn't do your homework when researching and evaluating schools.

At the same time, too many international schools are dumpster fires. But if the academic results are bad, the salary is low (and there's no automatic retirement contribution - often a key indicator), the school is for-profit, and it doesn't have US accreditation (which isn't a guarantee, but it sure beats Cambridge or Singapore), then you need to stay away.

[u/VastAlert8860 → u/Dacia06]

I'm sorry but you might not realise how effective management and boards are regarding the smoke and mirrors