The International Schools Review Forum

Any suggestions for how to appropriately mention a dependent when you're applying to a school directly?

Mention it in your cover letter.

In your cover letter:

"My wife, who is not a teacher, and I are very excited about the prospect of moving to ......"

And be clear. If your wife won't be working, say it, so the school won't be worried that they can't provide her a job. If your child is in grade 3, say it so the school can reserve a spot for her. Etc.

The last line of my cover letter reads, "husband to.........., father to ......... and ............

Be upfront. I don't want to waste my time on a school that won't work with a family.

Yeah, I have a trailing spouse and I mention it in the cover letter. I'm positive about it and tell them what she'll be doing while I'm at work and how she helps/supports me. I also mention it in the biographical portion of the SEARCH application.

Outside the USA and some very progressive countries, its the rule to include a brief statement of your demographics including age, gender, race, nationality, and family status, preferably at the beginning of the letter (the introduction) right after youve stated your name.

"Roger Smith, 28, male, Caucasian, British, married with two children."

Not sure I would mention 'caucasian'. That's something they need to find out after they have evaluated everything else. I guess you could say the same for nationality too, but I do mention that, because it does influence the way you think and perceive things. More important is where you trained, not where you come from.

I also don't mention age. They can work it out for themsleves if they are that hung up on it, and I'm not of an age where it's an issue.

Sincerely

Livingston Michael Ahmed Hiroshi (but everyone calls me Ginger) :-)

I've seen some aps where a trailing spouse writes a supportive statement. These typically describe what the spouse intends to do while in the country, how supportive they are of their spouse's work responsibilities, etc.

I wouldn't say it's necessary, it might even be a little over the top, but it's never hurt an application. As a recruiter, I need to know that the trailing spouse has a realistic expectation of what their life will be like if they come to my country. This kind of statement certainly does the job.

@Iambog

A school needs to know if your age will prohibit you from getting a visa. A school needs to know if you require a visa, in the case they can only recruit certain nationals (the most common being those requiring an EU passport). As weve discussed the issue of racism and discrimination in several topics, it doesnt change the reality that for a significant segment of the IS population, a western teacher means a white teacher, and thats what they want.