A.M.
- 2017-02-09
Hello,
Do you work for the school?
Your post seems...well it speaks for itself.
If you do work for the school, why do you hire unstable teachers or office staff?
The dates old. Maybe you won't read it.
Trump diplomacy
- 2017-02-08
Dear Debbie, it's wonderful to be able to read your replies to your own correspondence. I hope I'm not interrupting your personal discussion.
I admire how exhaustively and generously you labor to inform us that you have no idea about what's been happening at the school for the past 8 years.
Fortunately, several other posters who have actually worked there during that time have been specific in explaining what a horrible joyless place Daqing Joy School now has become.
Thanks for the wonderful photo and the stroll down memory lane, hand in own hand.
Debbie Bailey
- 2017-02-08
Edited and updated 8th Feb 2017
I appreciate things may now have changed, however I feel I need to write an honest review regarding Jason, Ruby and Joy School in general.
I worked at Joy School Daqing from2008 to 2009. This was my first teaching role in China and I was nervous! Whilst I was still in the UK, Jason would contact me via email and phone to update me on my application/visa documents etc and tell me the next steps in the process. Jason also put me in touch with teachers who were currently working at Joy to iron out any worries or queries I might have.
On arrival at Harbin airport I was met in person by Jason and driven to Daqing in his 4x4. I was dropped off at my 2 bedroom fully furnished and modern 2 bedroom apartment. Jason arranged dinner the next evening for all the current and new teachers to meet and get familiarised.
Throughout my contract I was constantly in touch with both Jason and Ruby, to the point I had both their mobile numbers in my phone on speed dial just in case I needed any help whilst out and about on my own.
Whilst I was at Joy I can honestly say, Jason, Ruby and all staff members were friendly and would go out of their way to help you and each other with anything and everything!
I personally felt that all teachers were treated well, paid on time and offered overtime at other schools if they wished to do so, if you didn’t wish to do overtime then all you had to do was say no.
Jason arranged, attended and paid for regular get togethers’ for all Chinese and foreign teachers at Joy in the form of nights out, day trips and even a 7 day skiing trip.
Jason and Ruby did their best to be honest right from the get go; I originally wrote the job advertisement mentioned in this thread as at the time it was the honest truth.
On receipt of applicants Jason and Ruby would vet teachers as much as possible prior to offering them contracts, I and other foreign teacher were always on the other end of skype, chatting to potential teachers, asking and answering questions etc therefore I do feel for them with regards to the unfortunate circumstances of an individual male teacher which has been documented in this thread.
I’m thinking of returning to Joy Daqing in 2018 where upon I will write an honest follow up review if I do.
Debbie Bailey
England
The foreigner
- 2017-01-26
There were rumors of a former teachers mysterious death. I was able to
corroborate a few things. The Canadian national in question was unstable and tried to
commit suicide and spent some time in the hospital. After his time in the hospital he
died on a train from Daqing to Harbin the capital of the Provence. He was on his way to
the airport but never made it off the train! What's interesting is its only a two hour
train ride or so. Also he was being supervised! He left the hospital just fine. Alarm
bells! When I signed my contract with the school the insurance clause was specifically
covered for death on a train. Stay the fuck away from this school! A dishonest Chinese
woman with the name of Ruby is in charge of foreign teachers. She has probably changed
her English name since but who knows. Godbless
It looks like they are paying more to sweeten things up. Accidental insurance!!! Are they still using the same insurer? If anyone has information to report please do! It looks like the evil 'Ruby' and the gang are still running things.
'Ana' and not 'Ruby' but still has the same email. Nice Try Ruby and co.
Oh and if you try and silence me Great Offer From Joy Daqing, I'll post your contracts.
GREAT OFFER FROM JOY DAQING LESS WORK LOAD MORE SALARY
Posted By: Joy School <joydaqingruby@163.com>
Date: Saturday, 7 January 2017, at 11:38 a.m.
Hello from the tremendous city of Daqing China. My name is Simon from the U.K, I have been working for Joy School in Daqing for over 8 years. I am very happy with my decision to come to Daqing to work for Joy School. It truly is a great city to work and live in, and Joy is a good company to work for. The people are extremely helpful, friendly, and kind. I like Daqing and know you will too. I hope that you will join us. We are currently looking for English speakers from England, Canada, America, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and so on. We need 2 immediate teachers.
Daqing is the oil capital of China; it is located in the northeast in Heilongjiang province and is very close to the provincial capital city of Harbin. The air is good and the traffic is smooth, not as crowded as other big cities! The climate in Daqing is quite nice, hot in summer and cold in winter. Daqing is well equipped for the winter and everywhere has hot heating systems, the only time you will need to wear your coat and sweater is when you are outside walking, skiing or ice skating etc.
Although it is in Chinese you can use Google translate or something similar to help out.
Joy school has their own curriculum, text books, game files and tools like hammers, balloons, flash cards, dice, etc. The class size is small (between 15 and 20 children). Your classes will be assisted by a Chinese co-teacher (who speaks English very well). Teaching times are as follows: Tuesday to Friday between 5.30pm - 7.20pm Saturday and Sunday between 8.00am - 6.50pm. Monday will be your day off.
Joy has its special concept for children's English teaching. The children are from kindergartens and primary schools in the local area and we teach them English using methods such as games, songs, and stories. The programs are very well created.
Joy needs teachers who are hard-working, punctual, easy going and energetic. Obviously experience and a degree are preferable, but not essential as Joy has an excellent TEACHER TRAINING COURSE; English teaching guides are also available. In the early stages your Chinese co-teachers will observe your classes and give necessary guidance if needed, and there is always a Chinese co-teacher to be your assistant in the class. To be honest it's actually flexibility and a positive attitude that count.
The salary is 11000-13000RMB for 70 hours per month teaching, with 4 office hours a week (lesson planning) and 2 hours of class observing a month, extra teaching hrs over 70 will be paid at 100RMB/class.
Pay day is the 25th of the Month and I'm happy to say it is NEVER late.
On completion of a 12 Month contract Joy school will offer 9000RMB airfare reimbursement.
Joy school has holidays on Labor Day 1 day, National Day around 7 days, Summer Vacation(12-18days) and Chinese New Year(about 15days). All holidays are paid except summer holiday.
You will be entitled to free Chinese lessons (1 hour per week). Pls be kindly advised only people in Beijing and Heilongjiang can speak standard Mandarin.
On arrival you will get free accident and medical insurance.
All apartments are fully furnished with a TV, DVD player, refrigerator, washer, air-conditioner, microwave, utensils, free fast broadband connection, a queen sized bed with fresh clean bedding. All utility bills are paid for by Joy school. Your apartment is not shared.
So why choose Joy School Daqing?
The school is fantastic, the people are warm and friendly and the cost of living is not high, you can expect to spend on average 2000-3000RMB per month which leaves you plenty to save for back home or travelling. I can honestly say Joy School Daqing treats all teachers fairly and will go out of their way to help you.
Should you require further information including photos please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Ada.
joydaqingruby@163.com
(Ada, administration staff of Joy )
Hope to see you soon!
Video evidence coming soon...
Warning to all those seeking employment
Anonymous
- 2016-07-12
I once taught at this school. I won't provide a length of time or provide information about my sex for fear of retribution by the school because I'm still teaching.
I never met Jason (presudonym/English name) but I do know he's the owner/big boss. Some people said he's a nice guy and others would beg to differ. Though nobody ever spent enough time with him to know the truth. One of my coworkers mentioned the suicidal guy. Insurance fraud is possible. I wonder if they're still using the same insurance company.?
The Chinese administration/management of this school is as follows best to my recollection: Husband and wife team; husband dealing with local residency permits and school related errands, and the wife being the main teacher trainer. The wife was a force to be reckoned with based on all the Chinese teacher putting on their best face when she approached,observed classes,and general school surprise visits. This lady was the worst coming off very snotty and superior. She always presented herself as high class Chinese. I guess what I'm trying to say is she has a big ego. So it wasn't surprising everyone talked behind her back. The supervisor was named Ruby. When I first met her she seemed nice and later saw she really wasn't. The head teacher was really kind to me and worked very hard though too much work was placed on her shoulders which caused her stress and in tern caused the rest of us stress.
Every Chinese teacher is the main teacher. The foreigner plays second fiddle,if that. The foreigner is just the face,and the school doesn't really care as long as parents don't complain. This could be said of any English language school in China I guess. I did see many Chinese workers come and go. Teachers. Assistants. Receptionist.
By my last three months I hated worker their. They would often assign me to another school. The other school was an hour to half an hour away depending on traffic. I wasn't compensated for travel. Only when I was adamant about the issue would they address my issues.
This school is dishonest and does lie to teachers. They don't care and anything you say will fall on deaf ears. Fake people. Fake school. Deceivers. And the contract is written in bullshit. I wouldn't recommend this school.
Mrs.Fischer
- 2016-07-11
Steven can you please email me or Skype me @ Emmafischer13@hotmail.com
A few questions about the school. Thank you very much.
Alex
- 2016-07-09
I worked for a different private English school in Daqing. It's a tight community of foreign teachers. Joy school isn't the best choice. Two friends from Joy left before their contract was up. What I've heard from two personal friends in the ranghulu branch aren't good things. Coercion and intimidation tactics are used on unsuspecting teachers. I've heard about the Canadian and I really wouldn't put it past them. My friends told me about the insurance and all schools are required to purchase insurance for foreign teachers. Odd about the death on train coverage.
Daqing is a great city. It's growing all the time and there's always something to do. I had a great time and made lasting relationships. If one's considering this place there are a number of schools to choose from. Compared to other cities,this is one of the cleanest places relative to neighboring cities. Musing over it was good times.
From Daqing
- 2016-07-08
As Steven [edited] has pointed out , Joy does indeed have schools in the city of Daqing, all of which are very good i hasten to add. Unfortunately, this is where he has chosen to stop being completely honest. His post has been written to mislead you into believing that he, Steven, was a foreigner here in Daqing. You would also be wrong if you thought he was a foreign teacher. Steven is in fact Chinese and has never been a teacher, he was employed, with his wife, which he has also forgotten to mention, as ' office staff '. Another 'oversight' is that he left Joy school about two years ago !! Why you may ask , would he make a posting so long after an event ? Instability, stupidity or maybe the fact that a recent claim regarding his 'leaving' Joy school has been dismissed as having been made with no solid grounds. To add to this he has used what he himself claims as rumors, to make light of the very serious matter of the unfortunate death of a foreign teacher. Again , he has not told the truth. In the west his remarks would find find him before a court for both slander and defamation of character, particularly as he has 'named' people in his story, but has chosen to hide behind his English name, so brave !!
From Daqing
- 2016-07-06
Dear Steven,
It would seem that you are having difficulties remembering some of the facts. Have you also forgotten your real name ?
I may be able to help with that - Ding Shuangcheng - 丁双成.
Pleased to help.
The Joy school in Daqing are owned by a man no longer in the area because of police disputes. He goes by the name of Jason and have only seen him once at a retreat. He's still the owner but let's his underlings run the schools in three districts of the city. I was able to finish my hellish 6 month contract and got out quick. Chinese teachers quit and are replaced often. The working atmosphere is poison.They're really good with fake niceties. "Oh don't go please stay" "Oh that was a misunderstanding" "she was a bad teacher that's why she left" they treat teachers like trash in all honesty. There were rumors of a former teachers mysterious death. I was able to corroborate a few things. The Canadian national in question was unstable and tried to commit suicide and spent some time in the hospital. After his time in the hospital he died on a train from Daqing to Harbin the capital of the Provence. He was on his way to the airport but never made it off the train! What's interesting is its only a two hour train ride or so. Also he was being supervised! He left the hospital just fine. Alarm bells! When I signed my contract with the school the insurance clause was specifically covered for death on a train. Stay the fuck away from this school! A dishonest Chinese woman with the name of Ruby is in charge of foreign teachers. She has probably changed her English name since but who knows. Godbless