Hi Geoguy- some schools don't have geography as a subject by itself- sometimes humanities covers geography in combination with social studies. Depends on which system you are looking at, British, American, IB etc. A PGSE qualification seems to be a respected qualification in International schools. I don't know about the American qualifications at all. All the best, good luck!

Hi there, welcome aboard! Yes - you can probably guess from my name on here that I'm an art teacher. You will be able to apply for primary and secondary art positions. I don't think your little child will be a problem at the moment due to their age, if dependents are a worry for a school, as they won't be in school for a while. While it can be a bit harder for single teachers with dependents to get a foot in the door sometimes compared to teaching couples I'm confident you will find something wonderful out there if you give it a go! You have lots of experience so I say go for it!

Hi, sometimes schools get busy and sometimes the HR dept people are unaware of how on edge people get before they get their contract in their hot little hands. If I were you I would contact or Skype the Director or Principal (whoever is at the top) and put your cards on the table- you need to get an a definite answer. Don't bother with emails at this stage to HR. Good luck.

I have taught in two PYP schools in Early Years and Primary, and in Early Years we did four, and in primary six. I don't think there is any negotiation as to the number you have to do, but there is flexibility with timing, for example you can do one all year long that you dip in and out of, and then five more structured units of inquiry.

I respectfully disagree with the previous poster. Having read a fair amount of PG's posts, it would seem as if he likes to appear knowledgeable about almost every country and every school in the world. He posts so often that I seriously doubt he has time to actually work anywhere. I take everything he states with a large grain of salt and usually just scroll past his posts as I think he is a troll, using this forum to stir up trouble.

This particular case is one that I am familiar with as I have done a lot of reading, followed it in the media and have friends who work at the school.I honestly believe the two men are innocent, and probably the cleaners too, and I stand by my opinion and wish for a good outcome for them all. I doubt that PG has done much honest research and is simply spouting his viewpoint to cause trouble.

Sorry you are feeling that way. I know who you are talking about and I just tend to scroll past any of his postings as he tends to talk a load of BS. I think if you are new to the board you could get caught out believing some of that particular person's rubbish but old timers on here know to ignore him. It is a pity that so much on here gets high jacked, and he must certainly have a lot of spare time on his hands.

It is such a sad situation for those two guys plus the cleaners who clearly are all innocent. I'm not going to argue with Psyguy's opinions as I am not sure how much he has actually read about the case. I hope that justice prevails, or at the very least good sense does, and that they all get out of jail.

Not sure I agree with Japan in terms of safety- what about natural disasters and the contamination from nuclear plant explosions in food, water and soil? I personally would not want to live there because of the food issues. I believe it is also an expensive place to live so not sure about savings potential.

Hi I am pretty sure that with Search, your membership fee is used up either at the end of a three year term or as soon as you get a new position, whichever comes first. I think that is in the contract.

Thanks for the replies. We did get a Chinese National to send it overseas for us, they can do 50 USD a year which is great! Whew what a relief.

Hi I really need some help with this problem from ex-pats who have successfully done this. I have had standing orders that meant money went home each month and only left a little bit of money left over in China. We lived on my partner's money. Now I have been paid my final pay with bonuses and overtime, and the amount is too large for my tax receipts so they are saying I can't send it out of the country until I get my recent tax receipts in three months time. We are leaving China next week and I don't really want to keep my money here for a few months. Any suggestions of how to transfer funds from here without tax receipts as I don't want to take a bag of cash out as that is problematic. Also my partner shipped his tax slips in our shipment this past weekend!!! just to add to the stress of it all.

Not sure about their package but I do know that Shanghai is not a cheap city to live in unless you are happy to eat local produce from wet markets etc. We don't because we worry about soil quality and pesticides, food scares with plastic etc, so we buy organic and imported food and spend more on food every week than we would in our home country. Going out here is also very expensive, to eat, drink, socialise. We pay around 8,000 RMB a month rent but it is not near the city centre, and the place is nice, but not near anywhere cool and taxis are cheap unless you have to go far to find some fun, then the taxi fares can add up quickly. Metros are super cheap but shut down early- we went to a concert and when it finished the metro was closed already, so 11pm or so and you have to get a taxi.Power costs a lot- aircon etc costs quite a bit and heating in wintertime too- sometimes 1,000 RMB per month or more. I am sure you can live here cheaply if you are willing to live more "locally".

I can't understand how people could be so heartless and put their pets down rather than re-homing them or taking them. We are taking our 3 rescued Chinese cats with us to Singapore - costing us an arm and a leg but they're family!

We are a family of four and send all my salary home to pay bills back home, and live off my husband's wage of 20,000 RMB , and we live pretty well. We buy imported fruit and vegetables and wine, treats etc from the Western stores. We have one overseas holiday a year (school pays our airfare) and a few in China holidays, plus pay for music lessons for our kids and clothes, toys etc- although we eat at home and do not go out very often to bars or restaurants. I'd say 46,000 RMB sounds like a fantastic salary for one person's wage and you would be able to live pretty well. Consider though the air pollution and the lack of transparency of food safety/ cloning, pesticides, bleaching etc.

Hi it is a growing school with growing population and growing facilities. It has been around for around 8 years I think. It runs all three IB programmes, and is being accredited by WASC in the next year or so. Kid population is mainly European, some Asian (Korean, Japanese , Indian, some Chinese-mix) sprinkling of others. Good mix of nationality in the teachers too. Package, housing and medical cover, plus flights is decent. Far away from Pudong but plenty to do in Hong Mei , French Concession, and near school there are new malls going up.