DO NOT ACCEPT A JOB AT THIS SCHOOL

All of the above comments are correct as I have just finished a contract at this "so called school". Any teacher who is considering a teaching position at this school I would highly advise you not too. If you are serious about education and you want to teach students in a good learning environment then this is not the place. The school is more interested with making money and accepting students who have poor english into their programs.

My name is David Mounter and I was head of Economics and Business Studies at the school for the past year. I resigned from my position as the school is an absolute joke and we never discussed education or trying to improve the students english. I resigned from my position and completed all assigned tasks early in the new year. I did my job professionally and the school never paid me my three weeks vacation leave. The school does not honour contracts, and the contract you sign is not worth the paper it is written on (trust me the health care is non existant, you don't want to have to go to hospital at this school.

The head of Human Resources is called Phillip and he is a liar. He promises you all these benefits and delivers none of them when you arrive. When you get to the school you need to find your own apartment, there is no assistance with Visas and no orientation. I have been a secondary teacher for over ten years in Australia and overseas, and this school is a total mess. They will not assist you in anyway possible.

Most of the foiregn teachers were not working there legally last semester. They had tourist Visas or business Visas and the school hardly helped the foriegn staff with any Visa issues. Phillip claimed it wasn't his resposibility and his collegue James (on the school payroll, will only help you with Visas if you slide him some money under the table). The school is corrupt and I wouldn't send my son or daughter there if they are a native speaker of english or an esl student.

When I tried to collect my flight allowance I wasn't paid the full entitlement. Plus the human resources staff wanted to see my credit card statement. What a joke I'm not going to show you that, that school would use it fraudulently. I beg you don not accept a position at this school, don't even do an interview with the school. Most of the foriegn trained teachers are leaving this summer and the school is having problems getting properly qualified teachers.

Axcis employment and Academics Ltd in the UK will not recruit for this school. Due to the serious problems with the school not paying salaries correctly and not honouring contracts. I can verify these with emails as I have discussed this with the recruitment agencies. If you email me on davidmounter @ hotmail.com I will forward you emails from these UK based organisations. They have a good reputation and refuse to place teachers here due to Nanshans poor performance with helping teachers with Visas.

The head teacher at the school (is a so called Vice Principal, yeah right), Tim S[edited[ is his name and I thought he was a decent guy. Tim just says yeah, yeah it will be fine then when it comes to the crunch he has no power. The Chinese Elite Mr Lan and Phillip run the school and foriegners have no say in how to run the school. Tim is just a puppet of the school and he doesn't do his job effectively. Plus at the end of the day he will not help you, he is only worried about saving his own arse.

Teaching at the school is terrible and the rooms are really dirty, they are never cleaned and the smell. The computers and the software rarely works and the chairs the students sit on are awful and loud. The teachers staffroom is never cleaned and the head of history had to pay a cleaner to clean the office one day. What a joke when you have poor working conditions and you have to teach in the students filth and rubbish.

In the summer time the heat in the classrooms is unbearable and the air conditioners rarelt work. If they do work they are not efficient and its like working at a sweat shop. Phillip said after many requests from staff they would fix the acs it never happened. I fell very sorry for my former collegues as summer and the heat approaches again. Guys I really feel for you, but we know they wont fix the ac units.

The one person who I do miss working with is Youcef Said. He is the new head of Curriculum and learning at the school. A very nice man and a great collegue to work with. Once again Phillip and Tim have tired his hands and made his job impossible to do. Youcef is an excellent educator and the Chinese admistration wont listen to him. Sorry mate like I said to you late last term, its like talking to a brick wall. Take a job elsewhere were you can use your talents if you are passionate about teaching.

Plus finnally do not accept jobs from Hays Shanghai Office. Victoria Zhang is the consultant who placed me in this position. I told Hays I had Visa problems and the school would not help me. Victoria didn't offer any assistance and failed to answer my phone calls. Do not use Hays recruitment service in Shangahi as you will end up in a poorly run and administered language centre like Nanshan Bilingual. Once again I can verify her lack of help on Visa and pay issues. Her email is victoria.zhang@hays.cn if she contacts you with a position give her a verbal spray. She liars and will not help you in any way, plus dont trust Hays they are terrible.

I hope this email helps future teachers to stay away from Nanshan Bilingual School. If you are even offered an interview kindly decline. I hope this does help foriegn teachers and even Chinese teachers from accepting a position at this school. If you do you will be ripped off and out of pocket, they will not honour the contract. Please feel free to email me on davidmounter@hotmail.com and I will answer any questions I have first hand knowledge of this place. I hope this helps future teachers to choose other schools. Please don't work at this terrible school.

DM