The International Schools Review Forum

Can anyone tell me anything about the British School Beijing (Secondary School) located in Shunyi? What is Shunyi like to live in? And life in Beijing in general? I get varying reviews from people in general about Beijing, plus BSB seems to get an overall negative view from teachers.
Any comments would be great. Thanks!

They are a REAL British school. They are authorized by the DFE's (OFSTD) ISI to offer the British national curriculum.

That said the experience's dont rate as highly to the experience of Dulwich and Harrow. The admins are the biggest complaint I hear as they never support teachers, and ultimately side with the parents whether its directly or through the board of governors . Its not that its bad, its just very 'traditional'. I would go on but this is one of the rare cases where it wouldnt be fair, because its not an international schools, its a British school, unlike the other schools that are international schools with British traditions and environment.

Beijing is great to live in, its big, cosmopolitan, metropolitan, and dirty. People complain about the air the most. Its the kind of city that your personal life can easily makeup for a bad school. Its easy to get lost in the crowd, as a foreigner, there are many, and your not the exotic oddity you would be in a rural town. Imports are easy to come by. There is a lot to do, even from the pure tourist stuff. Great social and night life. You could live her a lifetime and never see everything.

There are already a bunch of posts on Beijing on here.

Thanks! Much appreciated. I saw that there are bunch of posts on the site but I have not seen any in particular about BSB. The school reviews by other teachers seem very negative. As you say, work is half of the experience when you are abroad and living in the city itself is the other half.

Thanks

Hello,

I cannot comment directly on a teacher's experience but both my children go to The British School of Beijing, one in secondary and one in primary. It is a lovely community in Shunyi. The PA are very involved in the school, they are very friendly and knowledgeable about the community and living in China generally.
I have always found the teaching staff very happy to help, they go out of their way to make sure you know everything and answer any questions about your child's progress - so my guess is that they must be happy in their jobs to do this!

Shunyi is a rural area, lovely and quiet - perfect if you have kids. It is also not too far from town if you want to explore and as PsyGuy says, great social scene, night life and so much to do.

I hope you have a smooth move to Beijing, welcome!

[quote="PsyGuy"] its not an international schools, its a British school, unlike the other schools that are international schools with British traditions and environment.[/quote]
Really? It's not an international school? International schools use the curriculum of a western country. It may stick to the functions or practices of the home country more rigidly (if indeed it does), but it is still an international school.

I work for a Canadian International School. We use the curriculum of a particular province and follow it as we would in province. All teachers have to not only be Canadian certified, but also certified in that one particular province. Does that mean i don't work at an international school? Hmm, nobody has ever suggested that before.

I dont know specifically which school you work at, but if the program and the environment was that off a canadian school, Id feel comfortable saying that yes, your a Canadian school overseas.