Job Discussion Forums

[vallillo1983]

Hey I am amazed to see so many people loving working in Spain, Can I ask, what do you guys do in the summer? Do you have to come back to the UK to work summer school for a month?
Cheers

[gmjones]

Amazing, I was just thinking the same thing...

I am currently sitting in an office in the UK temping for �6.50 an hour... will be here all summer I guess. I can't understand how teachers in Spain can afford to stay there all year round, I certainly can't and I earn a fairly good wage for there...

[Moore]

I got nailed by the summer thing the first year I was here: very little work in July, none at all in August, not much in September, then the first full pay packet at the end of October- it's not possible to save up anything like enough money to cover that sort of time without work.

There are a few ways to get around it/make it easier though...

First, try to pick up a few more classes in the months coming up to summer, in May and June: it's a pain in the backside doing too many hours for a couple of months, but it means that a) you earn a bit more and can put a bit more cash on one side, but more importantly b) you will increase the odds of having enough hours to live on right up to the end of July, and also more students to come back first thing in September

Second, make sure your students understand that you want them to work until the end of July, and that you expect them back at the beginning of September. Most students don't realize that if you don't work you don't get paid, and think it's all the same to you if they take a nice long break from classes: a bit of gentle explaining and they're pretty happy to only take one month off: they might moan a bit that there are less people in the office and with the shorter working day they don't have time, but most of them will continue (The only problem with this idea is that some companies have a limited budget for lessons: once it's used up then there's nothing until late September when the new budget comes through)

Third, always work for a couple of other schools apart from your main one: this means that in September you can fill your hours on a first-come first-served basis with schools you already know and trust and who will give you better hours/locations than a totally new school as they already know you.

Fourth, the dreaded summer camp: there are a lot of these around - the pay really isn't so bad these days and you can set yourself up with classes in July and September (the drawback here being that they're residential so if you have a Spanish girlfriend/boyfriend you don't get to see them much for two months. Also the teachers are a pretty young crowd: loads of fun if you're that age, possibly less if you're not)

Fifth, when you do get an offer of more work in September, make sure you know exactly when it starts and if it is absolutely going to exist (a lot of schools line up teachers for contracts which they might get, but the company itself is still choosing between them and a couple of other schools, so at the last minute it can fall through and you have a gap in your schedule you could have filled with something definite weeks before)

...I know that these ideas might sound a lot like stating the obvious, but this is the first year I've been able to live purely on my teaching wages and not had to rely on other work/savings to get by.

[gmjones]

Yes but what about if you have a 9 month fixed contract? I can't encourage my students to come back in September because I will most likely be teaching totally different classes... Also not allowed to work for other organisations due to contract.. ( It is a great school where I work, just difficult to get by on the salary...

[Moore]

A nine month contract? Definitely chocolate teapot time there mate! These schools really do take the p*ss sometimes. What exactly is the point of a contract that's not year-round?
I would try another school if I were you: any school who can't be bothered to look after it's teachers over summer, or won't even allow you the possibility of arranging with your students to extend their courses has to be a bit dubious.