I have a friend there, he seems to like it. Been there about 4 or 5 years.

@ alecsmario
Why don't you start a thread about that school?

Thank you for all your help. Please stop bickering. I don't really care what tier anyone thinks the school is.

I understand the money isn't great. I would not be going to St. Andrews in order to save. I just wanted to know if its become a horrible place to work at since Cognita took over or if its still a relaxed sort of place with not too much pressure. Seems like it used to be?

I have learnt tons at the school I am at, so I don't need to be in a school that is going to teach me stuff. I feel like every day has been PD, it is overwhelming really. I don't care if tech is that great or not either. I am at a 1-to-1 school, interactive whiteboards and all that. It hasn't made my life easier, in fact I have to spend more time preparing at home and then still be a performing seal in the classroom. Tier 1 schools are overrated!

An article about Cognita from the Guardian paper in the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... ?fb=optOut

Isn't housing cheap in that area? Or am I wrong, I am just guessing? I know there is no saving to be had there. I had thought it was a relaxed atmosphere, fairly well run and not a heavy workload. Plus you can live by the beach. Was it ever like this?

I wouldn't want to go there if its Cognita though because it will be a lot of work and no money.

I'll start panicking in March, well maybe February. For now I am looking forward to the holidays. Worrying about a job doesn't actually make you get a job, so what's the point of worrying.

Some of my friends use job fairs, some don't but they always find jobs in good schools when they decide to leave. I use job fairs but I am aware that there are a lot of good schools which just advertise and get teachers. Some schools don't start recruiting until later in the year.

The recruitment agencies have created a bubble effect for us. They want us to feel like all the good schools are within their bubble and in order to get a job we must be a part of that bubble.

Has this recently happened?

I know they took over a school in Saigon and apparently it has changed a lot. Many teachers are leaving.

Captain Underpants, I love it. This made me laugh so much.

Thanks for the story. I am pretty sure you wouldn't want to be at that school, all the bosses having seen him in his underpants and you dying with embarrassment. You'd never live it down.

I have seen that this school has jobs for me, however there seems to be a lot of jobs going at this school. So is everyone leaving or is the school expanding?

There is 1 review which is positive but I wonder if it was put there recently to help with the recruiting.

Ichiro, can answer please, maybe under a different name? You had written something about the school before but you've deleted it.

I will be grateful for any information from anyone.

Thanks.

The Peace Corp obviously doesn't seem to think you need to know much to be a teacher. Is it just a matter of having white skin so automatically we know more than the Africans?

Thanks for the link. It was interesting to read.

No need to be nervous, it just means you probably won't get a job early in the recruiting season, not that you won't get a good job.

I am in a 'top tier' school and didn't know anyone here, we were just a good fit for the school at the time. Now we are leaving and don't want to be in a similar sort of school so my recent contacts won't help as they all went to similar schools to this one. Though the heads tends to have contacts in lot of schools so that may come in handy.

Majority of people get jobs around the time that job fairs start or later in the year, not before. I am going to a job fair and probably will get something there. And if not, there will still be 6 months left to find a job.

I like this forum but it sometimes makes us feel like everyone but us is inundated with interviews and job offers and that just isn't true. A few people are but most of us aren't.

I agree with hallier. At my school, some people have done Skype interviews and some have jobs already. Most of the interviews have been because of them knowing someone who is at the school. They always talk of the teacher network. I think that the majority of early recruitment is due to this.

After that, the schools start looking more intently at the CVs they have received or the ones on Search.

How come you were training primary teachers in South Africa when you aren't a teacher yourself? What were you training them to do?

Anyone?

Anyone?