The International Schools Review Forum

I've been at my current school for 5 years, and all of my SEARCH references are from there.

I have tried to find contact info for my previous school, which is closed now, but I can find nothing from the head/principal (I do know he left education, but I didn't know the school was going to close and of course now his old "school" email doesn't work: I have no way to find him). Is this going to be problematic when a new school does their background check? If so, what can I do? The school that closed was tiny, and there was really only one admin (principal/head) who actually supervised teachers, as opposed to doing office work.

Also, a school where I worked 9 years ago has had 100% admin and teacher turnover since I left, and I have just learned that the one admin contact I had from that institution is now deceased. What do do?

Usually, schools tend to verify your performance with your current supervisors if you have worked at least 3-4 years, provided you have documentary evidence from past schools. They don't dig so much into 9-10 year old schools, provided your criminal record is clean. If they really insist, ask a senior colleague to write one for you and explain to them your special circumstance. Honesty can go a long way in teacher recruitment, particularly even when schools' own practices are not so ethical.

I would concur with @fine dude, recruiters want to mostly talk with current/recent leadership and if youve been at your current IS for 5 years assuming they say nice things about you, everything else is pretty much 'buried'. Just give them what you have and give them a shrug if they ask later, everyone in IE understands that most edus move around and quickly get lost. Focus on securing a a couple supervisory refs from your current IS and remember to get personal emails and contact info in the future.