Former Teacher in Haimen, Jiangsu
- 2015-11-22
Yes, your right. I was ashamed of Giraffe Schools staff in Haimen, Jiangsu. At first the administrator told me the school was located in Nantong city in Jiangsu province. But the day I flew in they told me to bus it to haimen but I asked them why, it should be nantong. But they lied to me and used the scape goat lure to say its a district of nantong when its actually 45 mins outside of nantong. The staff were immature and rude twits in the 20s. I could not get into their communication with each other. They forced me to work 10-12 hours many days when it should be 24hrs a week. They cheated my pay two months and I decided the hell with them, so I grabbed my pay and left without notice or they steal 80 percent of my pay by the contract which is criminal. The town Haimen is the worst town I ever been to in China. So finishing 9 years was good and bad at the end.
Haimen is a very dangerous city, full of suicidal drivers, noise pollution, boredom and no good places to eat. I was told another guy and his wife left because the school was not fair to him also. I would advise anyone not to work for Giraffe school in Haimen for a ft time contract or they will do the same thing what they did to me. Avoid Haimen, Avoid Giraffe in Haimen. Thanks to all who have read this
Mark Bowman
- 2011-11-15
So, still talking about the Sunlight kindergarten in Fu'an.
Ningde sunlight kindergarten (same owners) was good and i enjoyed it on the whole.. dont have any problems with that kindergarten.
Current kindergarten in Fuan (fuan anglo chinese kindergarten (maybe with sunlight in there as well somewhere))
well, when i first arrived i was given the bosses apartment, however having 1 room and all the bosses stuff in it wasnt great, so i went to a hotel (myself, mother in law, wife and daughter)
after a month- 7 weeks of me renting the hotel room we got moved to a new apartment, this one was on the complete other side of the city, miles and miles away (well 4km)
the building is a office building but the top 2 floors have been converted into bedrooms (and the very top floor has the kitchen and washing machine on)
the windows are single glazed and you have a big hole in the wall anyway so keeping the warmth in during winter is tricky / impossible.
the building is on the main 104 road out of town, which sees allot of traffic (mostly trucks rumbling into the citys building areas with supply's) this can shake the building as the road outside has just been dug up and is not a muddy bumpy mess. this wakes up my daughter and then i get no sleep.
there is a night market just out side the door, open from 9pm-9am, this isnt the quietest thing in the world, the horns of people moving around is also enough to wake up my daughter.
the city its self i dislike as does my wife, the teachers in the kindergarten are nice and pleasant, we have a laugh which is always good.
every monday at 7pm, you will have to go to school for 5 minutes (4 classrooms with teachers in who already know the english words they will teach that week), you walk into the first one and say I ice cream, then walk out and to the next one, h horse, hat, then the next classroom G goat garden, and the last classroom.
I got annoyed of having to go to school, spend 5 minutes there while the teachers said the words.. (lit i would walk in and say what are we teaching this week, and they would reply with what we are teaching, once i know they can say it i can leave).
to get to school you can either take a bus (45 minutes) or buy a ebike and go that way (15-20 mins) none of which is supplemented by the school.
so i missed 3 of these meeting as it is a complete waist of time. i found out today that form missing 3 x 5 mins i was going to be fined 300rmb from my pay.....
so i am not amused at the moment.
i would like to feel that i am being treated well and to be honest with you, i just dont feel well treated here.
mark
- 2010-08-24
Dear teachers.
Regarding looking at the first post then to the second post and then to my posts.
I would like to make it Clear that the original post from David about the Giraffe English Language School, is in no way related to the second post from Tomas about the Sunlight kindergarten so is in no way related to my posts.
When I first looked up the school it only showed me the second post from Tomas and I replied to that post.
The second posting I talked about I cannot seem to find on the system now, maybe its still there maybe its been withdrawn.
So I would like to make clear that I have no experience with, or intend to comment on David's character or abilities as a teacher and the Giraffe school.
mark
- 2010-08-17
well.
Its been what, 6 months.
sorry to say my blog got shut down (china's fire wall)
Problems so far,
NILL
so i think you are either the teacher that hit a kid and got fired (for hitting a kindergarten kid i would try and get you arrested)
Or the teacher who left and then tried to get a job again but was refused.
There is nothing wrong with the school or the administration and the city is like any small city in china, i wouldnt say it was polluted, not compared with shanghai or Shijiazhuang.
Umm, well what can i say, the kids are great, the teachers are good, and the administration is top star, (even given me an advance on my wages so i can have a nice holiday)
so, to sum up. A*,
also i see another post, written a few days before your post. something tells me they are both you.
PS im signing up for another year.
mark
- 2010-02-24
hello thomas.
Well i have just moved from shijiazhuang hutchin school, (which is a good school, no problems at all, have helped me allot when i needed help) to Ningde, Fujian,
Sunlight anglo chinese kindergarten.
so far so good, good house, which has been newly decorated and still have people coming and going fixing things that break,
i have been on a few day trips already with the boss of the school. (i have seen temples and been to tea houses and the best pizza place in ningde)
they picked me up at the airport at 1am (after my flight was delayed by 4 hours) and have provided me with a PA/ Minder (cant be to sure with westerners, need to make sure we eat)
My PA/Minder has shown me good places to eat and drink and comes round every day to make sure im alive and not lonely.
So far i would have to say i have had well above average treatment for a employee.
I know the two sunlight kindergartens are the same company but i cant see why you have complained,
you haven't giving any information on why (this is why i decided to take the job regardless of your post, and give a true account of what its like here. if there are problems i will name them)
I am a very fair person and i understand if i am late to work i get fined, maybe this is something you had a problem with?
I will give a fair account at the end of the year of how the year has evolved and if it keeps up with how i have been treated at the moment then i will sign up for another year.
Any way, i do updates on
www.chinaandmark.blogspot.com
you cant see this site in china unless you are using a good VPN. it was made so friends and family can see what im going through and if i am happy.
thomas
- 2009-12-21
beware of fu an , fuan , fujian sunlight kindergarten and cambridge. bad city, dirty and very unfriendly, no services and no manners . filthy streets. the school will cheat and not respect teachers, beware all teachers.
I would like to give a warning about a new school in Haikou that I
worked at for around 10 weeks. The Giraffe English Language School has
its' parent organisation in Taiwan and is trying to penetrate the
market on the Chinese mainland.
I asked to be released from my contract after it became obvious I
could not work with the person designated to be my supervisor. There
was a severe personality clash and this person had obviously no
teaching experience from the impossible demands placed on me. The
directors of the school agreed to release me from my contract and paid
me one month's salary. I was asked to return to collect my outstanding
pay the following month.
When I returned to collect an estimated 3,000 RMB, I was told
that they had received legal advice to impose a fine on me of
US$500.00. I then proceeded to discuss this issue with the directors
and could not negotiate any compromises with them so I went to the
Bureau of Foreign Experts, to seek advice and arbitration, last week.
After one week of receiving no advice from the F.E.B., I went to see
them again this afternoon for an update.
I was told to make a written report on the incident and outline all
the relevant details. Shortly afterwards, I received a phone call from
my current employer and was warned off from taking any further action.
I was accused of having threatened the F.E.B. and would be in serious
trouble if I proceeded with this matter. It was even possible to be
told to leave China! Threatened the F.E.B. ??? I'm dumbfounded!!
I suspect that the school has bribed an official(s) in the F.E.B. for this
situation to have occurred. Giraffe has no licence to operate as a school
or to employ Foreign English Teachers I have since discovered.
I would like to share this experience with as many new and current
teachers as possible, in a discrete manner. Can you help me with this
task?