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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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 Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:57 am Post subject: |
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>I applied to the education department of the HK government and they passed me on to the school that contacted me. Does that mean it is or isn't the official NET scheme?
Sounds like it is official. Perhaps it's the first time the school has wanted to apply a NET rather than the first time they could apply for one.
Have you flicked through some of the other posts here? Most of your questions and already answered, and you 'll pick up a lot more info along the way. Such as:-
>Do you have to spend all of the housing allowance or can you only spend some of it on rent and pocket the difference?
You can do what you like with it. I rent at HK$7500 and keep the rest.
>Does it go direct to the landlord from the government or does it get paid into your account?
The money goes to your account and you organise the rent payment yourself.
>The school is in Tuen Mun. How much is a semi-decent pad there?
Of course, depends what you want. I used to live in Gold Coast near Tuen Mun at HK$8500 for a 2 bed 735sqft flat. Tuen Mun is usually cheaper.
And for extra info:-
My summer's about 7 weeks.
Officially I can leave at 4.30, but usually end up doing stuff till 5. Locals sometimes have to go to Cantonese meetings from 4-7pm. My kind Panel Head gets me out of it by arranging a speaking class with the 7th form 4-5.30pm instead and then I can leave. |
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Peter Wales
Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| oxi wrote: |
| Locals sometimes have to go to Cantonese meetings from 4-7pm. |
What time do they start in the morning? |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:02 am Post subject: |
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| Peter Wales wrote: |
| oxi wrote: |
| Locals sometimes have to go to Cantonese meetings from 4-7pm. |
What time do they start in the morning? |
Technically - working day is 8-430. Typically many stick around till after 6. Such meetings as above are once or twice a month. |
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RiverMystic
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 1986
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:18 am Post subject: |
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| oxi wrote: |
My summer's about 7 weeks.
Officially I can leave at 4.30, but usually end up doing stuff till 5. Locals sometimes have to go to Cantonese meetings from 4-7pm. My kind Panel Head gets me out of it by arranging a speaking class with the 7th form 4-5.30pm instead and then I can leave. |
I think some of the stuff I am reading here is simply not the norm. I have been in three different high schools in HK, and never got more than 4 weeks off. You have sumer duties if you are a secondary NET, and then the school will probably ask you to return to school a week or more before the term begins.
Again, about meetings. Two of my schools insisted on my attending Cantonese meetings, and yes, Friday night was the preferred night - five hours was about standard. Trust me, the mind-boggling tedium has to be experienced to be appreciated. If this happens I recommend studying transcendental meditation, with a focus on out-of-body travel - one of only two ways to cope mentally with the sheer boredom. The other way is suicide. |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| oxi wrote: |
| My summer's about 7 weeks. |
I know, and have known may NETs, but never met one who had such a long summer holiday. I'd guess, for the reasons pointed out by RM, that five weeks is about the norm, with six in a good year (my wife's summer hol varies from year to year!). |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| Marcoregano wrote: |
| oxi wrote: |
| My summer's about 7 weeks. |
I know, and have known may NETs, but never met one who had such a long summer holiday. I'd guess, for the reasons pointed out by RM, that five weeks is about the norm, with six in a good year (my wife's summer hol varies from year to year!). |
Fair enough, it's my first year as a NET. I may yet discover my holidays are not what I hoped for. The written dates are July 13th - August 31st. I have met a couple of other NETS who have said they get 7 weeks, but I've met more that get less.
I'll keep my fingers crossed. |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| Ah yes, but you don't usually get the stated dates. As RM says, most NETs (secondary ones at least - I don't know any PNETs) have to do 'summer duty' - which might occupy a week of the hol, and nearly all schools (I think) require teachers to return at least a week before the kids. |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:17 am Post subject: |
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| Marcoregano wrote: |
| Ah yes, but you don't usually get the stated dates. As RM says, most NETs (secondary ones at least - I don't know any PNETs) have to do 'summer duty' - which might occupy a week of the hol, and nearly all schools (I think) require teachers to return at least a week before the kids. |
Thanks for the info. I can live with that. I've heard one or two NETs say they've been expected to do their summer duty in the middle of the holiday, rather than the start or end. Do you happen to know if that happens to many NETs? |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| Summer duty in the middle of the hols does happen, though from what I can gather most schools are understanding towards their NETs on this, knowing that they probably want to head overseas for the duration, and try to work it so that you can do it at the beginning or end. Still, might be worth your while to make discreet enquiries... |
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Smoog
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 137
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| Peter Wales wrote: |
| What's this about length of holidays? I thought it was 2 months off in summer, a few weeks off at Xmas and New Year, a week off at Easter, and all the Chinese holidays and odd old British 'bank' holidays? Surely holidays dont change froms school to school? Also I thought schools finished at 4 in HK. Can't all teachers leave at 4pm? |
Summer holidays are from mid-July to August 31. As a NET (indeed as a professional teacher!), you'd be expected to come in sometime in the last week of August for planning meetings etc. This gives you basically 5 weeks Summer break (though it might be less - see below)
Xmas and Easter is usually just 10 days or so.
CNY, being more important to the locals (equivalent to how we in the West view Xmas as a family get together) is usually 2 full weeks.
Unfortunately (this is the 'see below' bit), you can't always guarantee this. Schools can decide themselves when the breaks will be - and, invariably, you will find that the principals, when deciding on the breaks, don't take into consideration their teacher's needs and well-being.
For example (and these are real examples I've, or other NETs have had), you might find the Monday and/or the following Friday a school day with the holiday break in between. This gives you just 10 days holiday which is barely enough time to get home and back. The entire time you're left thinking, "If we had that Friday and Monday off, we could have 16 days break!"
A point made even more salient when one considers the number of days being wasted during the rest of the school year (like the day after Sports Day is a day off - why not hold it on a Friday and assign the 'day off' to a later date?)
For example, the start date for Xmas break just gone was anything from Thurs 18th Dec to the Wednesday 24th Dec and the return date Friday 2nd to Tuesday 6th.
Also, principals may, apparently on a whim, decide that the best time to hold a PD day, staff meeting (I once had to come in for a meeting on the 20th of August, thereby cutting my holiday short by 12 days), parents-teachers meeting or school open day (or anything really) is in the middle of a holiday break. One poor NET this school year was expected to come in on Xmas morning for a meeting!
Schools finish at 4pm: yes and no. Official classes finish at, or before, 4pm. But most, if not all, schools have after-school homework classes that can run til 5.30pm. NETs aren't usually expected to be part of these (unless it's something specific: I'm doing a 6 week, 90minute drama activity, class Wednesday afternoons, 3-4.30pm, at present) and are usually allowed to leave around 4. But again, it varies from school to school. My last school I had to stay til 4.15pm every day. My present school I can leave at 3.45pm. This is regardless of when my last class is.
Similarily your sign-in time will vary from school to school. At present I have to be here at 7.45am (even though my first class isn't til 9am). My last school I could turn up at 8.30am. |
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Peter Wales
Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| RiverMystic wrote: |
| Two of my schools insisted on my attending Cantonese meetings, and yes, Friday night was the preferred night - five hours was about standard. |
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Peter Wales
Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:03 am Post subject: |
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| oxi wrote: |
| Marcoregano wrote: |
| oxi wrote: |
| My summer's about 7 weeks. |
I know, and have known may NETs, but never met one who had such a long summer holiday. I'd guess, for the reasons pointed out by RM, that five weeks is about the norm, with six in a good year (my wife's summer hol varies from year to year!). |
Fair enough, it's my first year as a NET. I may yet discover my holidays are not what I hoped for. The written dates are July 13th - August 31st. |
I have been told that the calendar dates for holidays only apply to students, not to teachers. Dont all schools have similar school holidays? Nevertheless, NETs seem to have different holidays. |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:32 am Post subject: |
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| Seems you overlooked Smoog's rather good summary of the hols situation above... |
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farang
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: gweilo |
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| Peter Wales wrote: |
What's a 'gweilo'? |
鬼佬
It's the most common Cantonese term for white foreigners. Literally ghost/devil person. Can be taken as derogatory - but it's used as a term of self-reference by white folks quite a bit these days, so it has lost its sting. The politically correct term in HK English is Caucasian, or 西人 sai yan = Westerner. |
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beaker81
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| I've recieved news that I've passed the interviews and the written tests for NET. Anyone on this forum interview in Vancouver? |
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