To Foreign Colleagues contemplating working for Suzanne Scruggs at Sushan English in Shenyang. Don't !!!!!!

My colleague and I worked for Suzanne Scruggs for one year. Both of us are well qualified and experienced primary school teachers in our home country.

* Suzanne Scruggs uses her Iranian husband and his family as a form of "control" when foreign teachers question her lack of honesty. One middle aged Australian female teacher was so afraid to give notice that she fled to the airport alone. She telephoned Suzanne from the airport to give notice just as she was boarding her flight back to Australia.

* Payday was often a juggling act as Suzanne drove around the city trying to collect money to pay foreign and Chinese staff. Payday was often late leaving staff to borrow money from friends to buy food.

* Accommodation has to be seen to be believed. Filthy apartments in the slums of Shenyang cannot begin to describe the living conditions offered to foreign teachers. "This is China, get used to it" Suzanne would laugh.

* All gazetted public holidays are expected to be "made up". This means that foreign teachers would effectively not be given the public holidays as stated in the contracts.

* Classrooms at one of Suzanne's schools did not have heating or cooling. My colleagues and I would teach wearing our coats, gloves, scarves and woolen hats as the classroom temp. was -10c !!!! The students ranged in age from 5 years to 16 years. They would sit shivering and shaking from the classroom cold. Parents were unaware that their children were suffering as the parents waiting room was always heated or cooled.

* "Deductions" were often made from salaries and Suzanne called these "fines".

After years of international teaching experience, I must say that Sushan English in Shenyang China is the school to avoid.