Job Discussion Forums

Afra · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 389

adorabilly wrote

bje · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 527

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

1. In the RAK the educational allowances from HCT do cover the expenses. They do not cover the bus, or uniforms, but do pay for the books.

As opposed to Dubai or abu dhabi (HCT, or ECAE) where you do have to pay out of pocket.... and may have to for rent in villas too... That is one of the reasons we chose the RAK.

2. As for the school, RAKESS... there are differing levels, based on different teachers... some teachers are extremely easy, and some are very intense... As a parent who is involved, I know exactly what my children are learning, and if I had a problem, I would have my children change classes... so I disagree with the assessment of RAKESS...

bje, I love the use of apparently in your post... apparently it makes the school look absolutely terrible... apparently there are so few children it is a wonder it isn't apparently taught in arabic. Do you have children there? Because I do. And so far I have no issues with their education.

the school has recently sacked (or he resigned depending on who you talk to) the prinicpal (I'm not sure of the reasons). So maybe, it apparently was poor, but a new principal, a new head of primary means that changes are on the way....

Now there is a second school a SABIS school of which I have heard terrible things... no apparently about it.

Afra · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 389

As bje points out, many teachers have transferred from RAK due to the lack of suitable secondary schools for their children; including teachers from some of those schools, who have ended up teaching at an HCT College in Dubai or elsewhere.

bje · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 527

MrScaramanga · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 221

Concerned Parent · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

It is hard to see the Sabis system as any kind of improvement. Are there many parents doing home schooling?

VS

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

That is interesting.

The original part of the post was about ECAE.

I offered my opinion and reasoning for turning down the salary offered and the location for RAK (pardon my improper use of THE in previous posts... after all I'm not an english instructor... my bad).

When compared to the other positions and ECAE in particular I offered my thoughts.

At which time it has become a "sit back and shut up sonny!" attitude from others.

But to address certain issues (and then close my part of the discussion).
1. I actually TALK to my children's teachers at Rakess.
2. I volunteer to help out in class (and do so for several hours a week)
3. Compared to homeschooling in China and public schooling in Japan, Rakess is a wonderful place. But I guess my standards might be somewhat lower than more "seasoned" expats in RAK.
4. As for the secondary level here, I have no information because my kids are all in primary.
5. I did read the newletter saying no transfers were available. And yet, I have also heard from several parents who have gotten their children moved when the classes were not up to their standards. I know that when I approached the principal with my concerns, he was very helpful.
6. As to starting a PTA, it is in the works and I have been VERY involved trying to get one off the ground. But I guess my lack of experience here, and of course my poor grasp of the subject (and of course my visits to etisilat... nice one to throw in there btw) have just keep me so out of touch with the regular people.
7. I never insisted that my opinion of the school was the norm. But to give blanket statements of "this is so bad" w/out first hand knowledge is ignorant.

And since we are off topic, I'm done with this discussion.

Concerned Parent · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

In fairness adorabilly, you have not been adverse to casting your own aspersions in this thread, nor of contributing your own off-topic posts.

Anyway, this off-topic post is still about the poor standards in RAKESS, not perceived personal attacks on you. As you talk to more parents and RAKESS teachers, you will learn more about the dissatisfaction of both with the school. There are many extremely talented and professional teachers at the school. Unfortunately they are long-suffering due to the principal's management style - Ask anyone about the teacher turnover and why the previous two heads also "retired".

Good luck with your efforts in trying to set up a PTA. Perhaps now the incumbent principal is serving out his year-long resignation period, he'll finally start to listen. I think you need to address the system of putting 3 or 4 fluent L1 English-speaking children in a class with 20 or so English learners (with varying degrees of fluency) and the potential for damage this has to the learning of the fluent L1 boys and girls in the primary years. Many parents have called for a class of L1 students. The principal has flatly rejected all calls for this.

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

bje · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 527

Adorabilly wrote:

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

I'm curious about one item you mentioned Adorabilly. You say you volunteer at your childrens' school several hours a week - is that during the HCT work week or after hours? I ask because HCT is usually very specific about how many hours instructors MUST be on campus (and this varies from campus to campus and even which faculty you're employed in).

In my experience, there were always those amongst your colleagues who were quite "good" at clocking others' time spent on campus (right down to when you arrived and when you left and how much time you spent in the lunch room).

Housing and schooling costs elsewhere in the emirates is a major issue, and perhaps you haven't heard the gossip that smaller emirates (like RAK and FUJ) may have their housing allowances reduced - because it's supposedly cheaper to rent there - to subsidize others in the system. (Good unsuppported gossip is always a mainstay at HCT Laughing

)

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

Hi Helen1.

My wife works for HCT. I am currently attempting to finish my MA online (that is why the lack of internet at our villa was such a big deal.... and is still an issue that creates a great deal of frustration for me because it goes in and out at random times... usually when I'm downloading pdf files, or uploading my homework to webct/vista.)

As such my time is very open, and I often spend about 2 to 4 hours a week in my childs class.

The school does not seem very inviting to how parents can help. After all there is no established PTA. I didn't ask the school. I didn't bemoan the fact there is no PTA. I just asked my childs teacher if I could help out. They were grateful for the parental involvement.