Job Discussion Forums

[culfy]

Hi everybody

I've noticed a few posts from people who've been offered places at ELS Bell in Bydogoszcz. As this my own destination this autumn, perhaps we should get in contact (if this is where people make their eventual choice) with each other, exchange details etc. It might make that difficult first day less awkward if people felt they knew each other before first day.

Any views on this, please contact me.

[elblagski]

Ludka Katorska owns Els bell Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Warsaw, Gdynia and maybe another one although i forget. She is the kind of person who is only interested in cash, the good hard stuff. I worked for bell gdansk in 99-2000. Not a happy experience. They do not pay tax for their techers (see my posting about paying tax) and I was basically fired because I asked about it too much. Other teachers did too, but it's funny how they shut up about it when offered a DoS or ADoS job.
Lots of paperwork and crap money. Oh by the way the conned me out of my overtime payment. I had the forsight to write down all my hours and went through them with the Dos. According to my calculation which involved simple addition which even a monkey could do it turned out that I was about 1000zl short. Needless to say i didn't get it. I also was conned by their accomodation guy DAREK who swindled me out of some cash to do with my flat.
By all means work for this school but expect the worst and don't forget to keep your mouth shut. This is the way Ludka prefers it.

Be careful

See also DODGY SCHOOLS LIST posting on this forum for schools to avoid

Elblagski

[chris_f]

no message

[elblagski]

Glad to hear you had a good time there Chris although I find that hard to beleive. I don't know how good your Polish is but that's something that Bell take advantage of in a very big way. i.e. you not knowing the system etc.

Just out of interest did they pay your tax? Do you have an IFT 1 form to prove it? Is it genuine?

I have met L. Katorska on several occasions. The last time was when she came to the school basically trtoubleshooting. I found no honesty there. Unfortunately it;s not inher interest to be honest.

Just because you don't know you were screwed doesn't mean you weren't.


Elblagski

[nocturnalme]

Culfy,
Hi! I'm starting in Bydgoszcz in September too so feel free to get in touch. I was working with a few Polish people/teachers in Poland, and they rated ELS-Bell. Some of them had been teaching with them for 3-5 years, so it can't be all bad. I've got another mate starting with them on Lodz too.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see! Each to their own and all that.....

See ya soon,

Steve

[ATeacher]

elblagski, interesting read, ........but the tax system doesn't work as you've explained, at least not now. You sound like your being overly harsh, and you haven't really explained how or why these things happened. You are the only person I've heard about or spoken to who feels this way. Knowing about the pit-falls in advance is nice, but, to be honest, in this case I don't know what to think.

You're last comment makes me wonder..... having spent a year in Poland teaching you should know there are an awful lot of not-good schools, far worse than anything Bell or schools like it could achieve, even if they wanted to! Didn't you here the stories of teachers from other schools not getting paid at all? Teachers arriving and being told they don't have a job? There are endless horror stories. As yet I've heard none about any Bell school. In fact, it's probably the school I've heard the most positive comments about.

[Khrystene]

Sorry I also asked in another forum, but I will ask here too...

Is Bell Poznan as bad as other Bell schools have been said to be?

Thoughts...?

[gregoryfromcali]

I've worked at two different Bell schools and I've got nothing but positive things to say about them.