Almost any person -teacher or recruiter- looking at a C.V. with 2,2,2,2,2,2 will expect the next stay will be another two years and they'll very likely be correct in that assumption. I have seen teachers like that pass through my first schools and Heliotrope is right: this is not someone who will want to settle down. Certainly not a coin flip situation anymore after the third two year stay.

Leaders and recruiters commenting here are just being honest and helpful. Avoiding risk is part of their job and if you want teacher to stay longer you hire the ones that have done so before. You seem to be the only one doing the fear mongering here.

I have been part of recruiting for my new school for the first time in my career and Shadowjack is right: upward trajectory and longevity will help your chances.

shadowjack wrote:
> The issue is that I can find people with low-level leadership skills - EE
> Coordinator, CAS Coordinator, etc. But if they are 2, 2, 2, 2 then I will
> wait for the people who might not have those low-level skills, but stick
> around longer, because I can create opportunities for them to grow (and
> have). So the 2/2/2/2 with some upward trend is still someone more likely
> to leave after 2 years than someone who will stay, grow their skills, and
> make my school better.
>
> PG can argue it's better, but it's not inspiring confidence in me as a
> recruiter at a decent school to take a flutter on that hire.



This is what happened at my last school and also happens at my current one: people that have been at the school a couple of years are promoted from within after they show what they're capable of and how well they fit within the school - for leadership positions 'fit' is more important than for classroom teaching.
We don't hire any teachers that would have a 2,2,2,2 on their resume and we do pay a substantial bonus if people resign for two years instead of one after their first contract.

I always thought the good international schools provide students a better education than schools back home (US or UK), but I've only ever taught international. A colleague of mine is of the opinion the quality is about the same, and your chances of getting your kid into a good uni are also about the same.

What do you think?
Apart from the international experience, is there an educational benefit of having your child go to an international school rather than a domestic school back home? Or might ISs maybe even be worse for them?

Everything that has been mentioned are things I would like to know about a school, so yes to everything.
Some of these things will not fit in the current scoring rubric format though, and some things should be optional but I think that's already the case now I think.
I would like the option, once a review has been posted, to discuss it below the review. For example, some reviews I have read seem to be written by SLT, so I think it would be useful if others can comment on a review pointing this out, so nobody is fooled by a misleading review. Others contain disprovable falsehoods that can easily be rectified by a comment.

With regards to 'Average number of years an IT stays at the school', yes that would be useful, but as Thames Pirate mentions, an average only says so much. Maybe if you rephrase the question so that 'lifers' that stay because they're married to a local and have little choice other than staying are left out of that equation, but that would be hard. Maybe ask what percentage of teachers leave after one contract or less?

I've noticed that for a lot of the SLT positions, schools like to hire from within if they have a good internal candidate.
For the top position they sometimes prefer to look for an external candidate, but have also seen some deputies being promoted to the top spot as well.

I've read many topics since joining this forum in March and lots of it is really interesting & helpful. However, most of the time I'm just wondering: who is this @PsyGuy clown?
He's almost always wrong but still posts more than all others combined. He just keeps repeating falsehoods, and formulating a well-structured and error-free sentence seems to be beyond his abilities. Imagine having someone like him on your debate team.
At first it was amusing, like a class clown can be, but he's not funny and he's actively spreading misinformation. I'm glad some people are pushing back but it only seems to be encouraging him.
I'm not on many forums so I'm not too familiar with internet trolls but he seems to be one: insecure, and not half as smart as he would like to be. I feel sorry for his students.

I agree with Clarita: Switzerland def isn't dull. The cities don't have the most exciting nightlife but there is a lot to do. You won't be bored.
I enjoy life here in Switzerland and my parents live just an hours drive away over the border in France which is hugely convenient.

Also agree with Clarita that you can't save much. But that was kind of why I started this topic to begin with.
The only reason I'm leaving after this academic year is because I now need to start saving some serious $$.

Main message: don't come to Switzerland to save $$, and don't expect the posh boarding schools to be the superb schools some people see to think they are. None of them are great places to work.

jschott wrote:
> Good God. I would never work at a boarding school, even if it were in heaven. For
> crying out loud: Torture.

Torture sounds accurate.

PsyGuy wrote:
> I dont know who is saying you can save a lot of coin? I cant find that
> reference in the post. While I dont distinguish boarding ISs from other day
> ISs or other ISs in general, what I did state is that you can make 6
> figures, and I stated that because its true. I realize there are different
> position on the issue @Sid focuses on cost of living, @Heliotrope focuses
> on savings, and I focus on salary.

As I said in my original post I couldn't find the post where this was said. I posted this post because my friend said he had read on the ISR forum that Swiss boarding schools are good places to work and that teachers can save a lot of money there.
Since both those things are very wrong I thought to post my warning so others will not walk away from this forum with the same idea.
You can focus on salary all you want but most teachers are interested in what they can save.
At my next school -in SEA, moving this Summer- I will earn only half of what I'm making now BUT I will save at least 3 to 4 times what I can save now. And I'm at one of the best-paying international schools in Switzerland and I have a modest lifestyle.
There are many reasons to come to Switzerland but don't come to Switzerland -or anywhere in WE- to save $.

Rhysboy wrote:
> EyEyEy wrote:
> > Rhysboy wrote:
> > > Does this apply to all international schools in Switzerland or just
> > > boarding schools?
> >
> > Heliotrope said it already but ill repeat: only the boarding schools need to be
> > avoided. The person saying that these are good schools where you can save lots
> of
> > money is wrong.
> > The regular non-boarding Swiss int schools are generally high quality except for
> > savings potential.
>
> But I’ve heard that teachers salaries are high to offset the cost of living?

Yes that's why the salaries are so high. I make enough to pay rent groceries etc. But at the end of the month there's not a lot of $ left to save. Every recruitment cycle we get new teachers that were blinded by the salary but they learn about cost of living very quickly. Some are shocked. For some this is reason to leave after contract #1 but plenty stay longer because Switzerland is a nice place to live even if your savings account doesn't grow.

unsure wrote:
> What I said was that there are some notable exceptions to the "avoid
> Swiss boarding schools" rule. It's true that many of the super
> expensive schools are shockingly awful babysitting services for the hyper
> rich. However there are some excellent Swiss boarding schools. Just be very
> careful when you're accepting a post.

Since my last comment I've heard one person at my school say there's one boarding school here that isn't awful. You'll still not save anything but at least it's an ok place to work where teachers are respected.

Rhysboy wrote:
> Does this apply to all international schools in Switzerland or just
> boarding schools?

Heliotrope said it already but ill repeat: only the boarding schools need to be avoided. The person saying that these are good schools where you can save lots of money is wrong.
The regular non-boarding Swiss int schools are generally high quality except for savings potential.

For whoever is still considering a job at a Swiss boarding school: contact a teacher currently working there and they will tell you that you won't save and most will tell these are not great schools to teach at even if money is not important to you.

Moving this Summer and exploring where to live in my new city.
What commute do you find acceptable and does that change the longer you live somewhere?

I can take over a friend's lease there but it would be a 45 minute commute which I think I will be ok with but maybe after doing that for a year I might think differently. I really don't like moving house so I would rather pick a place now where I can stay for many years.

I am leaving my school after this year to move to Southeast Asia and I'm just selling everything here and buying second-hand or new stuff over there. Saves me the trouble of having to ship it all and don not want to wait months there till it arrives. Some destinations might not have certain things though and if that is the case I would ship it but I doubt there are countries where they will not sell tv's and also doubtful the prices will be so high that it justifies shipping it.