My name is Gareth Jones, and I also work at Southern Cross. I've been at the school for nearly a year, and I'm perfectly happy here. I've been treated well by management, I'm paid what I was promised and on time, and they also gave me a pay rise (as promised) after the initial three month trial period. They were very helpful with the visa, and refunded all the costs that I'd incurred. On top of this, they provide free health insurance and paid holidays. Very few English language institutions in Ecuador offer these conditions. The teachers are very friendly and welcoming, and everyone is invited to social activities and parties - I'm not aware of any cliques. On top of that, they're always willing to share ideas and help each other out. I have no reason at all to complain about the school owners - I feel I'm very well treated by them. I attend Spanish classes, and the reception staff are very helpful when arranging my timetable, so that the classes I teach don't clash with the ones I attend. In terms of the experiences that I've had, I've taught KET, FCE and IELTS classes, and I've also delivered CLIL courses for secondary school teachers who teach bilingually. I'm also going to train as an examiner for the Cambridge English exams (this is the only school in Ecuador that can offer this opportunity). All of this will be great on my CV in the future, but I have no plans to move on right now, because I'm happy here. I can't comment on the school before my time here, of course, but I have good reason to believe that the negative comments about Southern Cross on this website were made by an ex-teacher with a huge chip on his shoulder, who was underperforming and had his hours reduced because of frequent complaints about him by students (the same guy may also be making comments under different user names). I also saw these negative comments just after I started working here, but they don't reflect my experience at all. So please, take these comments with a huge piece of salt. I'd be happy to recommend Southern Cross to any English teacher who's thinking of coming to Ecuador.