The International Schools Review Forum

You guys have been so helpful, I thought I'd ask you all for another bit of advice...

I live abroad because of my husband's job. He doesn't have a specific contract length, but generally people are transferred after 5 years. That means we are likely to leave at the end of 2011, but for other reasons our transfer might get pushed back a year. It's possible I'll know more details in the summer, but in all likelihood I'll find out in November!

My question is, should I be honest about this when renewing my contract? My first instinct is not to say anything because I honestly don't know what will happen, but I don't want to be unprofessional. I also don't want to mess up my chances of a decent reference, esp. b/c I'm just getting into teaching. One possibility would be to suggest that I change from primary to secondary, so it would be less traumatic for the kids if I had to leave? My head is pretty laid back so I'm not too worried, and I didn't get hired through an agency, but still...

Reading from your other post , you are not on a overseas contract so your visa is tight to your husband right? Which means when he leaves you also to live correct? If not, one possibiltiy would be to stay at your school finish the contract and join your husband later. That is what I have done at my last school but i was on an expat contract. My husband had to move mid March for his new job but was not prepared to break my contract. So I stayed until end of June with our 2 kids. It was a 3 month separation but thanks to skype we were able to keep in touch, he could talk to our older who was 4/5 s year old at the time and see our baby who was 6 months when he left.
But of course, this solution is not everyone 's cup of tea.

if you have no choice or desire but to leave in the same time as your husband, I would not tell anything to the school unless you have a pretty good relationship with the SMT and can trust them. I also would avoid talking about it to anyone you know where you are, international schools are a very close community and gossips travel very fast.

Actually, if you are on a local contract, living mid contract is not as bad. it's not as if you 've been enjoying a full expat contract. The thing you need to know is what you would lose like july like end of year bonuses.