Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting point?

klooste
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:21 pm

Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting point?

Post by klooste »

Hi all!

First off: thank you to the site owners for providing a forum for professional teachers to collaborate. This website has ended my constant Google searches, and long waking hours of nigh-coffee-sipping in order to find a decent school abroad.

I have got a contract offer from Maple Leaf international education systems, situated in Wuhan China. I've read some reviews on here, and I am quite pleased. But I do have a few questions: would this school be considered a tier 2 or 3? Here's the perks:
45k Canadian dollars/year
1500 dollar flight reimbursement
Baggage
and 50% off tuition for kids.

My credentials:
Bachelors of Education secondary (fresh out of university).

I have lots of volunteer which relates to working with children and youth.

I have also worked as an instructor for the Engineering Faculty at my university (relates to teaching, I hope?)

The only thing I lack is full time teaching experience within a classroom. I actually have my "future" eyes set on the Beijing International School (I hope to apply in a few years, once I've paid my experience dues). So I'm wondering is Maple Leaf a good stepping stone school? Also, has anyone heard ANYTHING about the school? Has anyone on this forum taught at Maple Leaf?

Thank you in advance. Please don't give me garbage posts about finding a job in my home country first before I go abroad... the jobs in Canada are scarce, abroad is my only option. I have lived in Taiwan, and China before (I actually have a girlfriend in Guangzhou at the moment). I'm more so looking for a way to build my resume/experience so that I can get into tier 1 schools in the future (and moreover, I believe many international schools actually favor candidates who have taught abroad).

Please share your thoughts

yong qi
eion_padraig
Posts: 408
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by eion_padraig »

Tiers is a bit arbitrary, but I'd definitely say tier 3. The money isn't bad even if you have to pay tax and housing. Wuhan is a lot more affordable than BJ, SH, SZ, GZ. Not a bad place to get your initial 2-3 years, but there are better places to go after that.

I'd say the value of the experience you get will depend a bit on which part of Maple Leaf you're working for. Will you just be working with the Chinese nationals or will you be working with students from lots of backgrounds? It looks like they're running a couple of different programs.

You may know that Wuhan has awful pollution. On the up side, I really like the food from that region of China and the high speed train in between Changsha and Wuhan will make travel to GZ easy.

Good luck.
grdwdgrrrl
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by grdwdgrrrl »

Just FYI. Living anywhere outside the tier 1 cities is a big challenge. You'll really need some language skills. Think about arriving early and getting oriented and get some language learning going.

Suz
IAMBOG
Posts: 388
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:20 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by IAMBOG »

There are a few teachers at my school who used to worked there. It pays well and the accommodation is really good (one of the teachers described it as the most luxurious place he has ever lived). Wuhan however sounds like a bit of a dump. Somewhere to get some experience and move on.

You mention a 50% tuition waiver. That would be a deal breaker for me on two fronts; 1. That could amount to a substantial amount of money and 2. I wouldn't want my kids to go to a school with zero expats in it (this is ok at elementary, but I wouldn't do it at high school level).
klooste
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:21 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by klooste »

eion_padraig wrote:
> Tiers is a bit arbitrary, but I'd definitely say tier 3. The money isn't
> bad even if you have to pay tax and housing. Wuhan is a lot more affordable
> than BJ, SH, SZ, GZ. Not a bad place to get your initial 2-3 years, but
> there are better places to go after that.
>
> I'd say the value of the experience you get will depend a bit on which part
> of Maple Leaf you're working for. Will you just be working with the Chinese
> nationals or will you be working with students from lots of backgrounds? It
> looks like they're running a couple of different programs.
>
> You may know that Wuhan has awful pollution. On the up side, I really like
> the food from that region of China and the high speed train in between
> Changsha and Wuhan will make travel to GZ easy.
>
> Good luck.

Thank you for the response! Where do you recommend going "after" Maple Leaf? Have heard anything about the school? =)
klooste
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:21 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by klooste »

grdwdgrrrl wrote:
> Just FYI. Living anywhere outside the tier 1 cities is a big challenge.
> You'll really need some language skills. Think about arriving early and
> getting oriented and get some language learning going.
>
> Suz


Thanks for the warning! I speak pretty decent Chinese. My gf doesn't know how to speak English, so I think I'll be fine =D. Anything else you can add about the school (or city of Wuhan)?

Thanks in advance for your knowledge!
klooste
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:21 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by klooste »

IAMBOG wrote:
> There are a few teachers at my school who used to worked there. It pays
> well and the accommodation is really good (one of the teachers described it
> as the most luxurious place he has ever lived). Wuhan however sounds like a
> bit of a dump. Somewhere to get some experience and move on.
>
> You mention a 50% tuition waiver. That would be a deal breaker for me on
> two fronts; 1. That could amount to a substantial amount of money and 2. I
> wouldn't want my kids to go to a school with zero expats in it (this is ok
> at elementary, but I wouldn't do it at high school level).

Interesting response! I'm glad to hear that fellow teachers have used Maple Leaf as a stepping stone. Is Wuhan a dump? What makes you think so? I know the pollution is the Red (or is it purple)? But I plan on creating my own HEPTA air filters, as recommended by the Beijing Doctor. I selected Wuhan for frugal reasons (plan to save about 25K Canadian so that I can make some "investments" on Canadian soil), and language learning reasons (hope to gain fluency in Chinese while I develop my career abroad). I don't have kids; I just wanted to see if a 50% waiver was anything substantial?

Thanks for your information! =)
tangchao
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:16 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by tangchao »

If housing allowance were included I'd say it's a good deal. If that's all there is to it, then it's really mediocre. Are they offering medical insurance?

Wuhan isn't all that bad. You may also be able to brush up on your French while you are there as most of the expats work for Totale.
IAMBOG
Posts: 388
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:20 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by IAMBOG »

I believe accommodation is provided for the first year, then you have an option of taking a housing allowance after that.
Yantantether
Posts: 168
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:41 am

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by Yantantether »

IAMBOG wrote:
> There are a few teachers at my school who used to worked there. It pays
> well and the accommodation is really good (one of the teachers described it
> as the most luxurious place he has ever lived). Wuhan however sounds like a
> bit of a dump. Somewhere to get some experience and move on.
>
> You mention a 50% tuition waiver. That would be a deal breaker for me on
> two fronts; 1. That could amount to a substantial amount of money and 2. I
> wouldn't want my kids to go to a school with zero expats in it (this is ok
> at elementary, but I wouldn't do it at high school level).


Actually this in NOT OK at Elementary either. Ask any parent who has had to sit and watch their child feel like an outsider day after day! Not good at all.
grdwdgrrrl
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by grdwdgrrrl »

We had three kids in local kindy and primary school, they all responded well except our oldest who has always had issues with authority. No way in middle school. It becomes entirely exam focussed after primary.
IAMBOG
Posts: 388
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:20 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by IAMBOG »

Our daughter has been in a school of Arabic speakers for her whole school life (she's eight). She has been very socially successful. She still doesn't speak Arabic though. Our other daughter is two and attends a toddler class. All the other kids are Arabic speakers. Our daughter's Arabic is marginally better than her English. Ideally, we would like them to be in a more mixed nationality setting, but that being said, they both thrive in their current environments. However, we would like to get them into a more mixed setting in the future, particularly when they get into their teens and need more freedom.
Lastname_Z
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 12:17 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by Lastname_Z »

Interesting that someone posted this, because I was going to do the same. I'm going to the exact same school. Thanks for posting this thread. I'm glad people answered it.

My language skills are definitely not there, however, so I'll have to brush up on Mandarin (and apparently French).
sitka
Posts: 87
Joined: Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:15 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by sitka »

I am an ex-MLIS teacher, although not at the Wuhan campus.

The established schools (Dalian, Tianjin and Wuhan) are tier 2 schools. The recent expansion schools (Luoyang, Chongqing, and the 2 Shanghai schools) are arguably tier-3 schools, but with a few more years to establish themselves I suspect that will change. At the other flagship schools, the students are roughly 85% national and 15% international (largely from South Korea, Russia, Mongolia and Japan). This may be lower at Wuhan as it is further from any border.

The salary is roughly comparable to a teacher back home (if you don't include the pension), and is paid in Canadian dollars. This makes it easy to send money back to Canada, but also means the salary becomes worse as the RMB appreciates. I made less (in RMB) in my last year than I did in my first year despite several raises. Taxes are roughly 13%.

Considering I pay approximately $2000 a year for housing, I don't find the lack of accommodations in the contract a big deal.

The flight allowance is actually more generous than $1500. The school will pay the entire cost of the flight, if they book the flight for you. $1500 is what they offer if you choose to book the flight yourself (for example, if you'd rather travel over the summer rather than return to Canada).

The workload is on the high side (in terms of contract hours, actual working hours, and class sizes). The past 2 years, we have worked about 10 Saturdays throughout the course of the year. However, the vacations are long (5 weeks for the Chinese New Year, and two other 9 day vacations), so there are extensive opportunities to travel compared to other international schools in the area.

I have nothing but positive thing to say about current administration from top to bottom. The current principal at Wuhan is a great guy (although he won't be there next year as he is transferring to the Foreign National School).

I'd argue it is a great place to launch your IS career, especially as a new graduate from BC.

I hope this helps - if you have any other questions, feel free to give me a PM.
klooste
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:21 pm

Re: Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting poi

Post by klooste »

Lastname_Z wrote:
> Interesting that someone posted this, because I was going to do the same.
> I'm going to the exact same school. Thanks for posting this thread. I'm
> glad people answered it.
>
> My language skills are definitely not there, however, so I'll have to brush
> up on Mandarin (and apparently French).

Lastname Z! Nice to meet a fellow cohort (is this where I ask you to add my Facebook? ;)?) Seriously though, it would be nice to get to know someone before we cross the pond to a foreign land (albeit my gf should cushion the culture shock a little bit)! Thanks for posting. PM me if you want to get in touch (or exchange Linkedin profiles at the very leaste)?

be well
??
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