The International Schools Review Forum

Hello, I read one review on ISR about HIS. I wonder if anyone has any info or experience with this school. Any info about Hangzhou in terms of livability would be much appreciated a well.

Thanks in advance,

I have a couple of friends who teach in Hanzhou and some more who teach in Shanghai with SCIS. They all seem to love it. I trusted them and will be joining those in Shanghai next year (I will have to get a new log-in name).
Hanzhou is actually a really nice city. It has a lovely lake and lots of traditional tea houses. I taught in Beijing for two years and we took a school trip to the Hanzhou region to study tea culture. I thought it was a delightful city.
Actually China is quite wonderful, asides from the pollution. The people are really curious about you and really down to earth. I am excited to return next year.
Good luck on your search.
Jeff

Friends at SCIS Hongqiao recently told me that the housing allowances for some SCIS teachers on the Pudong and Hangzhou campuses were reduced. This is all second hand information, so take it for what it is worth.

Hangzhou is a beautiful city, when not smogged in. The lake is very scenic, the city seemed easy to get around and most importantly it is easy to get out of the city and into the country. If you want a bigger city experience then the bullet train can get you to Shanghai quickly. Flights are cheaper out of Hangzhou, you can fly AsiaAir to KL for cheap.

It's Hangzhou people. Never worked there, but occasionally have made the trip from Ningbo. It's a beautiful place when the sun is shining.

I would love to hear more detail about SCIS. My wife and I are attending the Cambridge fair with SA and hope to interview with them. All the research I've done has been very positive.

I have an interview with them. Any other info available about this school out there? My interview is with the Hangzhou campus.

I have not been able to find much of any info...

It seems the reviews have taken a downturn this year...any news on that out there? They're looking for a HS Music teacher and it SEEMS one could be on 39,000USD (equivalent to about 26,000RMB?), which seems possible, though I haven't dug into the details yet...

[quote="ChoirGuy"]It seems the reviews have taken a downturn this year...any news on that out there? They're looking for a HS Music teacher and it SEEMS one could be on 39,000USD (equivalent to about 26,000RMB?), which seems possible, though I haven't dug into the details yet...[/quote]

Make sure you ask about the new expat tax that is finally kicking in this month apparently. It will cost all expats an additional 1000rmb per month and we are expecting to have to make back payments back to July (details to be worked out).

Essentially we are now required to pay into the local insurance and retirement system. We will supposedly have the honor of using local hospitals and may someday/somehow get our retirement contributions back. Happy days.

Honour of using their hospitals??? Well, anybody can walk into a local hospital in china and seek treatment. They are extremely good, after all, execution awaits incompetent doctors. Maybe untrained at using their super fancy modern equipment, but definitely know what they are doing.

One issue will not change, how will you communicate effectively with them. This will probably apply to getting back your retirement contributions....good luck

Any recent info on these schools? The reviews are rather bipolar and I'm not sure which to believe.

Neither, the truth is somewhere in between. The bad reviews are the ones with an axe to grind and the good ones are admin cheerleaders. I still wouldnt go though, why take the risk unless your desperate.

Yeah, that was my take too. There's not a balanced review on the site. That many people out for blood is scary though. Hopefully I won't end up that desperate...I'm definitely not there yet.

This site and forum arent about balanced, objective reporting. Its a dumping ground for complaints that otherwise would have no other venue to address their grievances.