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St. Francis Xavier School in Pakkret
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christmas



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 49

PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 1:05 pm    Post subject: St. Francis Xavier School in Pakkret Reply with quote

Has anyone ever worked for this school or heard of it. It is a Catholic school and offer 40,000 bat a month. It seems like they turn over staff regularly. Can anyone give me a heads up on the school or the area it is in. Appreciate it.
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perfectweapon



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 58
Location: Roaming the wild blue yonder

PostPosted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Christmas

It is if I remember correctly near the old airport or Impact area. They have a high turn over of staff, and I don�t want to say why, but I would never work for them even if they paid me 1 million baht a month. I took a course with a person that worked for them and he had nothing nice to say about them
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FUD71



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 7
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

perfectweapon wrote:


They have a high turn over of staff, and I don�t want to say why


Isn't that the point of this forum? To let people know about your experiences? Just give us your opinion.

Am I wrong?
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perfectweapon



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 58
Location: Roaming the wild blue yonder

PostPosted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Isn't that the point of this forum? To let people know about your experiences? Just give us your opinion.

Am I wrong?


You are correct, but what I heard is second hand information and it would be wrong of me to say anything bad if I have not personally experienced it correct? If you have nothing nice to say about somebody then say nothing OK, but as stated I would not work for them. They did have a website that had a white list and a black list and that school was always right at the top. I did hear that the website had to close down, as a lot of schools complained to some authority.

If you are really interested in finding out about them maybe a web search of your favorite search engine.
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FUD71



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 7
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="perfectweapon"]
Quote:
You are correct, but what I heard is second hand information and it would be wrong of me to say anything bad if I have not personally experienced it correct?


Fair enough.
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NigerianWhisper



Joined: 21 Mar 2009
Posts: 176

PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

perfectweapon wrote:
Christmas

I would never work for them even if they paid me 1 million baht a month.


Yes you would !
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perfectweapon



Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 58
Location: Roaming the wild blue yonder

PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NO NO NO NO I would not as I stated I have heard too many bad things about them. This is one that I would not work for not for any money very true.
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takgeyon



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 51

PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I worked at St. Francis 2 years ago. Currently, a relative of mine works there and she will not be renewing her contract this Spring. St. Francis is bad news. The head of the school is a Filipina Catholic nun and she hates westerners AND low level Filipino workers. She exploits the daylights out of the latter and wages nothing but grudge matches with the former. She has one guy, a Kiwi who is her lapdog and thinks there's something big in it for him. The thing is that sister %$^* will use you until she thinks there's no more utility and then she will yank the rug out. That's happened to more than one person as I've observed AND heard. The western teachers that are there hate it although most are a cool bunch. Also there are two Filipina gals in management who are lesbian lovers (not the good looking kind, sorry) and they constitute the heads of sister ^*^#'s personal gestapo. If one of them gets it in for you you've had it. they look for new recruits among the new filipina's they hire each term and then haze off all who won't "snitch" on the western teachers. Sister &&&* has called people persoanlly into her office and asked them to eavesdrop on the western teachers even offering them financial incentives for doing so. For the filipina this usually means exemption from the periodic "deductions" without explanation that happen to their monthly salaries, but not the compulsory "gift offerings" to sister &*&*&'s quarterly "feasts" as well as forced deductions for offerings to the Holy roman church etc..
trust me you don't want any part of St. Francis.
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rexbex



Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:40 am    Post subject: on stfx/st francis xavier school in pakret Reply with quote

i�m writing to affirm the last post, and expand on the conditions of working there. recruited and hired abroad, i was employed for the 2009-10 school year, finished the contract and sought other positions in bkk during the following 2 months. i declined further employment with the school and with others as the teaching/learning environments offered did not appeal to me�in brief, i was not interested in the role of the efl expat in thailand as my experiences informed, though i have read and heard of the experiences of others who have found theirs appealing. i am indeed still fascinated with thai culture, have made friends with my neighbors and their families while assisting in their el studies, and have learned some of the language. by far the majority of my dealings with the thai people was very cordial, very pleasant; the majority of my time with thai teachers was very instructive, very professional.

for me what stfx provided was:
�an opportunity to work with some fine expat and local colleagues and students
�legal working status
�full payment as offered

in general, what stfx does not provide is:
�a safe environment, as twice during my time there disgruntled expats
were on-campus, with one threatening violence and the other too incoherent to
be understood
�coherent curricula with stated objectives that foster language learning; in many cases, previously determined fundamentals were drastically altered according to the day, time and senior teacher involved in the discussion; �what�s decided on wednesday might not apply on thursday�
�a reasonable, non-abusive administration that is capable of expressing a code or facsimile of which that engages conscientious employees�thai, filipina/o and nes�in a commitment to continue with the program�long term or short

during my stay at the school, there were a total of 17 expats working in our office: 3 suddenly left this more stable thai ep�each of these doing so for personal reasons�1 to flee from possible consequences of infidelity to his local wife, 1 to protect his child from another kidnapping by his local in-laws and 1, who was admirably qualified, as a reaction to being deceived about the nature of the program as expressed during the placement interview; during the year there were 5 non-degreed nes, 2 as replacements, 3 as long-standing, with each of these intellectually incapable of earning a degree; 4 were inebriated at least once during school hours; 1 long-standing nes slapped a young child during class; 8 constantly voiced strong dislike of thai culture and society, admitting that they would leave the country immediately, should they be able to find placement elsewhere.

i calculate that 5 or the 17 would meet basic criteria for employment in education in their respective countries.

i wonder whether the school attracts the best nes.

prior to and after my time, known pedophiles and inet porn-addicts were employed there, some dismissed only after being discovered acting-out on school premises. sadly some remain.

i should reiterate what was previously posted regarding the filipina sister and her cohorts: she is in fact deeply troubled, a product of an abusive organization, the workings of which i witnessed on several occasions, of which almost all are aware. troubled too are the 2 filipina management and the kiwi.

one of the reasons that i chose not to continue with the school was determined by the projected increase of class sizes from 35-45 to 45-55 in the levels i was teaching, not that this is solely tied to the school but rather is indicative of the parents� lack of concern, which perplexed me. i was informed that thai parents of students at this level are not interested in such matters. also made known to me is that thai parents do not wish to have their children tutored even gratuitously to remedy deficiencies, which if true does not implicate the school. another reason for not wanting to work in thailand was that i wasn�t going to continue the effort to become conversant with the language�a very basic part of the efl equation for me.

i hear from long-serving expats that the programs and the environment have made progress over the past several years.
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PattyFlipper



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 572

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh goody! A St. Franny's thread! Haven't seen one of those for absolutely ages. The antics of the 'Nun from Hell' used to provide hours of entertainment on the TEFL boards during the late nineties. (Sits back and rubs hands in anticipation.)

Delighted to see that the hills are once more alive with the sound of the Reverend Dominatrix striking terror into the hearts of her farang staff. Very Happy
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rexbex



Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi pattyflipper, am somewhat appreciative of your post, though it seems uncertain that you have read mine�typos included. mine is an expansion of the previous, not a new thread, which was sent to give others seeking employment there additional details.

there is indeed a climate of informing about colleagues to create fear; how it�s structured seems to be consonant with the view stated by the previous writer. the informant in our office was rather transparent: she�d monitor then dash off to the staff rr, where she gleefully squealed in tagalog to the sister and/or the two management . i�ve been with catholic institutions in 4 countries, have noticed that informing is not uncommon. come to think of it , informing on colleagues was a part of many of the institutions�catholic or otherwise�in several of the countries i�ve worked in.

our squealer went a bit further, though, had other ways to annoy: she would stare and grimace at some, then cross herself excessively, walk away in disgust. so be it. my response to this, her cackling outside the door of my flat�on the same floor as that of her high school girlfriend�and other disturbing activities was effective, simple enough: dropped off at her office desk some materials about the church�s doctrines on her sexual orientation and salvation, mentioned that she couldn�t have her return ticket to heaven punched. never looked in my direction again.

as far as the fear that others experience, i�m unaware of these posts, so please send references.

as far as the sister�s treatment of others: why not secretly record such�her rantings, threats, belittling comments, lies�and send to her superiors, higher members of her order and the church? that would work.

well, come to think of it, it did.
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takgeyon



Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 51

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rexbex wrote:
hi pattyflipper, am somewhat appreciative of your post, though it seems uncertain that you have read mine�typos included. mine is an expansion of the previous, not a new thread, which was sent to give others seeking employment there additional details.

there is indeed a climate of informing about colleagues to create fear; how it�s structured seems to be consonant with the view stated by the previous writer. the informant in our office was rather transparent: she�d monitor then dash off to the staff rr, where she gleefully squealed in tagalog to the sister and/or the two management . i�ve been with catholic institutions in 4 countries, have noticed that informing is not uncommon. come to think of it , informing on colleagues was a part of many of the institutions�catholic or otherwise�in several of the countries i�ve worked in.

our squealer went a bit further, though, had other ways to annoy: she would stare and grimace at some, then cross herself excessively, walk away in disgust. so be it. my response to this, her cackling outside the door of my flat�on the same floor as that of her high school girlfriend�and other disturbing activities was effective, simple enough: dropped off at her office desk some materials about the church�s doctrines on her sexual orientation and salvation, mentioned that she couldn�t have her return ticket to heaven punched. never looked in my direction again.

as far as the fear that others experience, i�m unaware of these posts, so please send references.

as far as the sister�s treatment of others: why not secretly record such�her rantings, threats, belittling comments, lies�and send to her superiors, higher members of her order and the church? that would work.

well, come to think of it, it did.


The curent "Queen of Heaven" that is at the school has been caught red handed on a few occasions - one in particular where she was witholding wages from the filipina staffs' paychecks. Nothing has ever happened to her. The rumor goes around year after year that she'll retire or get canned but nothing ever happens. I am connected with a few people who have recently worked over there and nothing has changed if anything it's gotten much worse. It's the same old thing because to be honest the real power brokers are the two filipinas previously discussed and the Kiwi. Sister ##### takes what they tell her at face value and doesn't seem to realize or care that they are playing the two sides off one another and laughing all the way home. As far as the poster pattyflipper is concerned there have been at least two others besides the current nun over the years that have been the subject of discussion. The current one is the worst of news for the foreign staff as the previous ones, from what I heard seemed to give the Thais more trouble than anyone else. Sister ##### seems to be paranoid that he farang staff are always plotting some kind of insurrection, when in reality all they do is sit around and complain. One thing I noticed about the staff at SF was that all the teachers who were the biggest jerk offs were hailed as God's gift to the world af academia. In reality they were just good as leaving convincing paper trails.
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rexbex



Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:50 am    Post subject: St. Francis Xavier School in Pakkret Reply with quote

thanks for clarifying.

to clarify even further: the filipina nun is merely the head of the english department, as she has been passed over for the directorship on numerous occasions. one of the slapping contests at stfx results from the local thai-ep coordinator thinking that she should be the english department head, the nun thinking that she should be the director and on it goes. the pecking order for that program is: local thai-ep coordinatorfilipina informantkiwi and 2 management the nun. perhaps the local staff do indeed face more harassment than everyone else.

walk away, save yourself!


insurrection before resurrection? highly unlikely, as most of the expats are satisfied with their lives, however eventful they themselves have made them out to be:

f: �willllma! i�m hooooome!!�

b: �hiya fred! wanna go bowling?�


insurrection or resurrection? neither is necessary. documentation of events and transmitting them to the church does effect change, and this requires time. church authorities in se asia and europe are interested in hearing about abuses within, do respond but, thankfully, request collaboration and corroboration. are these forthcoming from the expats? i don�t think so. in their defense the long-timers have developed a defense-mechanism: almost everyone has a pet name for each of the school hierarchy, some are right-on.

what can be gained from this? hopefully, those interested in applying at stfx will gather something from these posts, then make informed decisions. on two occasions, switched-on applicants came to me after their respective interviews and, ummm, well, they never returned, never returned the school�s calls.

maybe i went to them. i don�t remember.



what happened to pattyflipper?
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MaryMC



Joined: 29 Sep 2011
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 11:06 am    Post subject: St. Francis Pakret Reply with quote

I�m amused to hear more about this school�these days, I dial into Radio W-E-I-R-D for updates. I don�t doubt anything negative written here and, for the year after separation, heard from continuing teachers of all nationalities what was going on, and heard all too much of the wrong things.

I left in mid-year to marry, and now work in another country. I sort of got used to playing Sheriff at the You�re-Really-Not-OK Corral, enjoyed working with the kids, but �.

I�ll say that the real trouble there was the administration, namely the Filipina nun and her goon-squad�the two fe/males and the Zealander, known to most as the �nit-wit��and the other �spies.�

Probably the strangest environment I�ve ever worked in, experienced many very disquieting events. Here are my top two.

While in the nun�s office after informing her of my decision to resign, she stood, reached through her habit, and snapped the waistband of her undergarments and began muttering the �f-word.� That was just the beginning of Her Wholly-Nuts� antics that meeting.

One starring a member of the info-clique�probably the one described by others�comes in at # 2. She became emotionally distressed by someone causally asking about her interest in junior- and high-school girls. She put her pudgy fists to her chubby face and mimed crying like an infant for about 10 seconds, took her tiny index fingers to wipe away the imaginary tears then propped up the corners of her mouth to smile as if everything was fine.

YIKES!!!!!
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Has anybody ever gone to the Bishop of the diocese and talked to him about her?
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