The International Schools Review Forum

I am thinking that the list of schools on the southern hemisphere schedule, meaning the school year begins in March, is small in comparison to the number on the northern hemisphere schedule. Does anyone know of a typical scenario of being hired by one of the southern hemisphere schedule schools while currently working at a northern hemisphere school? How is the schedule difference rectified in terms of contracts?

Thank you!

We currently work in Brazil. Our school year starts near the end of July--which is when our schools in China and Africa started. We end our school year around the 2nd week of June, which is also what we had in our former schools. In Brazil, however, their national schools have their "summer" break in December/January, so we have a 6 week"Christmas" break. Because of that, we don't have a fall break around October that a lot of international schools have. We do have Carnaval for a week in January/February, but no spring break. If you've taught internationally, it's a very different pace that takes some getting used to, but it does have benefits!

Thanks for the info, but I am speaking specifically about those schools that begin in February or March and end in December. Northern Hemisphere schools end in June, usually, so how would a person transition from a Northern Hemisphere school to a Southern Hemisphere school if they are still under contract until June?

Our Australian friends who have transitioned from northern hemisphere schools back to Australia take a 6 month gap. Those that have come from Australia to overseas teaching have often only had a week or so between jobs in June/July. It makes that first year pretty long for sure.

Most ISs follow a typical western calendar even if its different from the local calendar, if they didnt the international student body would lose half a year, setting students back from their western systems.

There really isnt anything to resolve as far as contracts, either your breaking contract to take the IS appointment or your waiting a term to start your new appointment between vacancies. Most of the ISs that have those type of calendars are local independent DSs, when breaking contract from a HOR DS doesnt mean very much.