So which school is number 1 in Saudi?

I'd always thought it depended as much on the school as the country.

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Ah, a secret Eton. Yes, of course.

Just to you and your circle ;-)

Heard of this group before ?

G20 Group of Schools
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20_Schools

Members include - amongst others - Eton and Exeter. There's only one member school in Germany. I'll let you guess which one it is ;-)

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Lots of locals here have not even heard of it. That said, I'm sure it's
> wonderful. But Germany really doesn't have an Eton--it's not a culture big
> on that kind of thing.

They wouldn't have heard of it necessarily. As we pointed out earlier, the German elite are very wary of advertising their wealth. That doesn't mean that they don't have elite schools that they send their children to. Foremost among those is Salem - with everything that comes with that.

Interestingly the Germans I know have all heard of it. But maybe we just move in different circles ;-)

PsyGuy wrote: @Thames Pirate
> If you were locked in a room and you couldnt leave until you named an IS/DS in Germany that was as close to an Eaton or Exeter which IS/DS might that be??

Thames Pirate wrote: @PsyGuy
> I would flatly refuse to play your game. But have fun with that.

Come on TP, stop squirming and answer the question. Or could it be that I am right and you just don't want to admit it ?

@majorreaction - definitely worth keeping your application options open. The worst that can happen is they put your resumé in the trash.

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Not among locals. There have even been some pretty awful negative reports. It has
> an outsider's elite status that falls flat within the host country.

I guess it depends who you talk to. Europeans, and Germans especially, really don't like those with money. For someone to send their child to an expensive private school instead of the local Gymnasium attracts a lot of criticism, both of the family and the school. It's not for nothing that wealthy Germans tend to hide their wealth.

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Perhaps, but Lund, Torgelow, Solling, Birklehof--they are generally all lumped in
> that category. Plenty of people--rich locals included--that have heard of one but
> not another of those. I don't know that there is a single school that tops the
> charts.

Their fees are all lower than Salem's. Some of them by about €12k per year. Salem has an international reputation amongst the world's elite that the others don't either.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @ Thames Pirate
>
> What would be the Eton or Exeter of Germany?

Salem was founded by Kurt Hahn, who also founded Gordenstoun - the school that most of the British Royal family attended.

It's Germany's most famous boarding school. It is what I believe you might call, an 'elite' school.

Some of their alumni are:

Cleo von Adelsheim (b. 1987), actress and hereditary princess of Oettingen-Spielberg
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921) (He later attended the British Salem School at Gordonstoun, as did his sons)
Queen Sofía of Spain
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark — daughter of king Paul I of Greece and princess Frederica of Hanover
Begum Inaara Aga Khan (as Gabriele Thyssen)
Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (b. 1934), major general and eldest son of count Claus von Stauffenberg
Alice Ricciardi-von Platen (1910–2008), - and author of the world's first documentary about the mass killings of disabled and mentally ill persons by the Nazi regime
Golo Mann (1909–1994), writer and son of Thomas Mann
Monika Mann (1910–1992), writer and daughter of Thomas Mann
George Mosse (1918–1999), historian and grandson of Rudolf Mosse
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (1916–2010), German political scientist (though she earned her Abitur in Göttingen)
Ferdinand, Prince of Bismarck (born 1930), head of the princely house of Bismarck

Thames Pirate wrote:

You will want to move away
> from big agencies for this; look instead for smaller schools, often
> boarding schools--schools like Louisenlund or Schloss Salem.

Are you sure about Salem ? I'd heard that it was extremely competitive. Maybe next the OP should apply to Eton College in the UK or Exeter Academy in the US if they fancy a jaunt in one of those countries ?

Heliotrope wrote:

> As far as the actual topic of this thread is concerned, from what I remembered these
> are always hardest to fill with someone the recruiter gets really excited about:
>
> - Maths, especially HL
> - ICT / DT
> - Chemistry
> - Physics
> - Economics
> - Librarian
>
> For most of the rest, niche vacancies aside, it's usually not a problem to find
> someone great, assuming it's for a good school.



I heard that getting school counselors was quite tough too.

That was almost exactly my package as a classroom teacher at my last school.

It can't be that much of a challenge for schools to be given a space where they can just upload their pay scales and benefit details ?

Thanks for taking the time to reply - I really appreciate it. TBH it falls roughly where I expected - apart from the studio bit. I haven't know anyone that's lived in one of those since I left college.

Can I ask you where you are? Are you both in WE?

a studio . . ?! Is that a serious consideration for experienced international teachers in Western Europe? Is the standard of living that low? I've never been provided with anything smaller than a one bed apartment, and usually 2 bed.

I wasn't looking for exact figures as I get that you have to pay for your own accommodation, but I was just hoping for some idea. What would a good salary in WE look like ? So if you take home 3 -4 k, and pay about 1 k for a flat, you'd take home about 2 -3 k per month - if you were at a good school ?

Heliotrope wrote:
> Where in Western Europe?

I'm flexible - France, Spain, Italy, Germany, UK, Benelux, Scandinavia etc. I'm guessing salaries are better further away from the Med.

> Some countries are way more expensive than others, and in some countries
> saving will be hard while in others less so.

I can work out the savings - just wondered where pays well after tax and accommodation apart from Switzerland.

> What kind of lifestyle do you have?
> Do you travel a lot? Do you like to eat out? Will you use public transport or would you buy a car?

I guess that would depend on how much I could earn net after paying my rent and bills :-)

> Are you single? Or have a trailing spouse, or a teaching spouse? Kids?

I'm married, no kids. OH doesn't teach but is self-supporting financially.

> Do you think you would have a shot at top tier schools in WE?

Maybe - I've 15 years experience, and have a decent enough resume.

> And I wouldn't ask about what you take home in salary, but what the savings
> potential would be.

I can work that out once I know roughly what the salary would be.

> Without all this info: savings potential will be lower in WE, but at some schools you can still save while still do some
travelling and some eating out.

What does a good net salary look like in WE countries after accommodation ? Can you take home €3000 / €4000 / € 5000 per month ?

What would a 'good' salary in Western Europe be? (net and after housing)

I'm in a fairly developed past of asia in a good (but not famous) school and take home about US$5k per month. Would that be possible in europe?