Springfield I wouldn't touch with a barge pole if you are a qualified teacher. They mostly employ teacher who are just out of uni or just with a TEFL in hand. Same goes for Singapore International Schools throughout Indonesia.

Also Welsey International schools is only for missionary types. They pay peanuts as you are doing it for god.

More for Jakarta
Sekolah Global Jaya
Binus International School Simprug (IB)
Binus International School Serpong


Java
SEKOLAH CIPUTRA SURABAYA
Surabaya European School
Bogor International School
Semerang international school
Yogyarta international school

Bali, Indonesia
Bali International School
Australian International School
Canggu Community School
Green School
Sekolah Pelangi

Elsewhere in Indonesia
Mandado International School
Medan International School
Caltex American School

The green school doesn't have a reputation as being good academically.
A number of friends who have children in Bali send their children to Pelangi (Rainbow) school instead. They have an environmental focus and strong academics too. Though I only believe it goes upto upper primary age. http://www.pelangischoolbali.com/

I started out by teaching ESL at 22 straight out of uni. Then after a few years I went back and did my PGCE and came back out at 28. :)

Jakarta, Indonesia most half decent tier 2 schools offer upwards of $3000 a month after tax for a qualified teacher.

Schools like BIS and JIS offer more and much better benefits. You can find BIS' pay scale and benefits on their website.

Kelapa Gading is a much better area that where the school was before. It's known for being a Chinese Indonesian area and there are lots of Korean expats living there too. Therefore if you like pork dishes you'll have no problem finding them there. There are lots of restaurants and malls in the area though not so many western expats.

The traffic as with everywhere in Jakarta is a problem. If you wanted to go to socialise in Central jakarta or South Jakarta it could take you quite a while to get anywhere. When I visited a friend in Kelapa Gading it took me 30 minutes to get there from South Jakarta and over 2 hours to get back!

It's a very new school so haven't really heard much about it. Although the location would put me off a bit as it's in North Jakarta near Tangung Priok which is a dump of a port. Although you are close to Ancol which is one of the better places in North Jakarta. If you are looking for an active social life you are quite far away (due to awful traffic) from where the expats bars and restaurants are.

[quote="PsyGuy"]No it wasn't a polytechnic it absorbed a poly and another college. ][/quote]

I agree it's no longer a poly. However there is still a snobbery amongst some people and businesses about whether it used to be a poly or not.

Information from the website I mentioned: History

Manchester Metropolitan became a polytechnic in 1970 and a university in 1992.
Initially developed from the Manchester Mechanics' Institution (1824) and Manchester School of Design (1838). L. S. Lowry attended.

So it was definitely a polytech.

Unlike what Psyguy said it did used to be a polytech college. However it's been a university since the 90's.

It's not a bad university by any means. You can have a look here for more details on their ranking in the UK and worldwide. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.c ... tropolitan

Which one Binus Simprug or Serpong?

The Simprug school teaches using the IB curriculum while the Serpong school uses iGCSE.

What would you like to know?

[quote="PsyGuy"]. About the only thing thats worse is Brits and their vegemite.[/quote]

Wrong nationality/food. You'll find that Brits like their marmite whilst it's the Aussies that like their vegemite.

[quote="PsyGuy"]It might actually be an often doing your student teaching or internship at the school, the issue is going to be if your program will allow it. Most states require that your field experience be in the state your getting certification. Your program might have international options or be able to work something out for you. I bring up the PGCE because it's all coursework.[/quote]

PsyGuy I think you have been misinformed about the PGCE. It is not all coursework based you also have to do a fair portion of teaching practice with observations too.

I think you are talking about the PGCE (i) which does not lead to qualified teacher status.

[quote="hallier"]Most folks I worked with found it relatively easy to find furnished places

Again, it is all about making contact with the school. For instance, there may be a teacher who is leaving who is leaving a fully furnished house that is within the allowance.[/quote]

I found my furnished house this way. It used to be rented by another teacher from the school. Ask the school to help you find accommodation within your budget most will happily help. You'll probably find the school has an agent they regularly work with.

One thing I always do when looking for a house in Indonesia is do a quick drive around of the nearby area checking for Mosques. I've lived next door to one before and while you get used to it and can block it out if I can avoid being too close I will.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Its $7480 per year Sinarmas pays the rent and service costs in advance for the rental term, the school then deducts the amount from your pay on a monthly basis for any amount over the housing allowance.[/quote]

Sinamas is in BSD so you should be able to get a lot of house for that money. I'm in south Jakarta by Pondok Indah (more expensive area) and I live in a 5 bedroom house which is 60million a year. So if the allowance is what is quoted above you should be fine.

I've met 2 people that have worked/ are working at the school. One hated it (she didn't go into details as to why) and the other is loving the school. However I don't know what campuses they were/are on in Jakarta.
From what I understand they are quite churchy.

I'd recommend posting the questions on the livinginindonesiaforum in the teacher chat. You'll likely get a better answer there.
http://www.livinginindonesiaforum.org/s ... gsa+school

As others have said it will depend on which school you are at. I'm based in South Jakarta so not far from where all the action is. However I'd prefer to live in one of the suburbs by BIS or Global Jaya as I like the green space which is lacking in south Jakarta. That's just my preference. However at the moment I like my minimal commute to work in the morning.

There are plenty of activities to do in and around Jakarta. I go on the Hash several weekends a month which is great as it gets me out of Jakarta and into the countryside to run. Oh and it's the cheapest place to drink beer in Jakarta ;p It's also gives you an instant and diverse social group.

I'm sure the safety issue will rear it's head at some stage. As a female who's been her since throughout a large part of my 20's on and off I've never had an issue with safety here. In many ways I feel safer than I did in the UK especially if you befriend your neighbours and people at places you regularly visit because they will look out for you. You just need to take the usually precautions that you would anywhere in the world as a woman.

While I'll happily admit that Jakarta isn't particularly my cup of tea it is growing on me. The rest of Indonesia I love and there is so much of it to visit.

Have an ask on www.livinginindonesiaforum.org this is the most popular expat site in Indonesia.

Good luck with the interview :)