It is wonderful in summer but you can still visit for a holiday destination ;) Good luck with your interviews for School B.

I would like to know more about the 'formal' side - a fair I am attending seems to have these every night (three in total).

I have a friend who teaches at Engelska Skolan, near Stockholm. He is not American but a few of his co-teachers are, so they do hire Americans.
There are also a couple of American schools in London, both currently advertising.
Edit - I have just seen in your previous post that you have 2 years intl experience and an MA. That is what he had when he got the job, so it can't hurt to contact them.

There are no reviews for the British school on the paid side - just an old director's review (and I read those with a pinch of salt!)
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who knows more about it, or who has lived in Quito relatively recently.

I have read negative reviews on here of Berlin Villa Amalien Hoff, Berlin e.v. school and Berlin Brandenburg (though I know this is quite far outside Berlin). Are there any well respected IS schools in Berlin?

Bonn International School or Dresden International School may fit the bill for you. Both say they will consider non-certified teachers if you are experienced, etc, it's worth contacting them to find out whether that is true.

Very upsetting news, I can't imagine the pain her children and family are going through. She worked at Al Oula kindergarten in Abu Dhabi.

When I signed up with Search I had the same amount of experience as you, and I got interview offers during my first year of teaching - some schools won't even consider it obviously, but I think you will be able to present yourself well enough to cover the gap with others. Like overhere said, nothing to lose.

Datsyukian, I think whynot was having a little dig at the slightly dramatic original post. I do not think that was a serious post!

I have an upcoming interview with an IB school, but no IB experience. I've been doing a lot of research online but I would like to get a book to help me understand the IB better, too. So far most of the ones I have seen on amazon are about specific UOIs rather than a general overview - does anyone have a recommendation, please?

I know you're not applying to Search, but they accepted a friend who had just finished his NQT year (so, in his second year of teaching) - I wouldn't worry about getting two years on top of your NQT year.

Yes - very insightful reading!

This does not answer your question about the best location, but here is a link to another thread for a teacher who, like you, has a non-teaching spouse and 3 dependents. It contains some practical information, as that is probably the main consideration here. Good luck with your adventure. http://www.internationalschoolsreview.c ... f=1&t=4549

One recruitment agency contacted me recently to suggest I look into PYP training, ahead of a job fair next year. Apparently all the schools attending are IB only, and will not hire staff without IB experience or training. It is difficult as even online training seems to start at hundreds of pounds - I wish I could justify that much for my own CPD, but I simply don't have that money. I hope that Vernacular is right and there are some more accepting schools out there.

The image of the students celebrating their 'National Environment Day' on their website front page is actually from the Philippine School Doha, which rings alarm bells.