The British School of Bucharest has, as I have pointed out before, many good points, but the lack of staff stability is not one of them. The question is why. One could just use heaps of adjectives but that would not be creditable or verifiable. So I have chosen to tell the stories of many staff members to illustrate the problems. These stories are true, credible and verifiable.
The response from BSB has not been to challenge the statements made, because they know that what has been written here is true. Instead they went on a fishing expedition to try to flush out the authors so they could denigrate them. So there was a comment published by Tommac alias the principal, which made many false statements about the 3 staff members she thought were behind this blog, in the hope that they would get a response that would identify the author. She thinks she knows but she hasn't got it right yet.
I have no doubt that parents and staff have all been told who the administration thinks is running this blog and have doubtless they been fed a lot of terrible stories about them, as the dishonest comments by tommac showed. In stories yet to come it will become very apparent about who is telling the truth and who is not, because that, is one of the issues that has to be dealt with at BSB.
The purpose of anonymity is to focus attention on the issues, without that BSB managers would shoot the messenger (as they have already tried to do) instead of heeding the message.
It is not my intention to denigrate the fine pupils or staff of BSB, the problem is not with them, the intention is to alert prospective and current staff to the problems in the school management. Forewarned is forearmed.
The problem at BSB is with top management and the solution is in the hands of the parents.
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Friday, 15 June 2007
P & P's Story
P & P were an older couple with a lot of international experience and came a long way to get to BSB. P was a very meticulous chap. He wrote down his questions before his interview and then wrote down the answers he got.
Specifically they wanted an apartment with particular characteristics and were prepare to pay up to a 1000 euro a month extra, to have those facilities. He asked if they arrived 10 days early would they be able to look for an apartment then, so they could be settled before school started. He was assured by the owner that there would be no problem meeting this request.
He also asked about the units that were to be taught and was he able to change the unit, history for example to one more appropriate to the children he was teaching or were the units prescribed. The principal told him he would be free to use his own units if he wished.
So, P & P arrive in Bucharest 10 days early and get shown to an apartment. OK but not what they wanted. Then they find that they cannot go apartment hunting until the owner, Corina arrives back from holiday, and when was that to be you might ask, well it was the evening before school started. The teaching staff of course were all on deck for the week before to get orientated and to be prepared for the children.
Consequently the first chance to look at apartments was after school on the first day of school. They were taken to see 5 apartments, non of which remotely matched the facilities they had requested. Then the had a 3 hour KS2 staff meeting that went to 9pm where everything was dictated to them including the history units - absolutely no changes allowed. This was the final straw so they resigned and left a month later.
They were incensed that that had been so blatantly lied to by the Owner and Principal. Had they been told the truth about the cost of apartments they were seeking or the difficulty of meeting this requirement they they may have still come, but not with the expectations that they had.
P was also not prepared to tolerate the dictatorial style of the KS2 coordinator who was much younger and far less experienced than he was.
5 staff left in the first month
P & P were the first of 5 staff to leave within the first two couple of months of the school year. The other 3 were the result of having young children and being put in apartments unsuitable for young children.
In one case the wife was out in the suburbs with no transport and 3 kids, some quite young, so she up and walked and the husband for the sake of his marriage followed a month or so later.
A & P if you are out there and feel like contributing please do so.
Specifically they wanted an apartment with particular characteristics and were prepare to pay up to a 1000 euro a month extra, to have those facilities. He asked if they arrived 10 days early would they be able to look for an apartment then, so they could be settled before school started. He was assured by the owner that there would be no problem meeting this request.
He also asked about the units that were to be taught and was he able to change the unit, history for example to one more appropriate to the children he was teaching or were the units prescribed. The principal told him he would be free to use his own units if he wished.
So, P & P arrive in Bucharest 10 days early and get shown to an apartment. OK but not what they wanted. Then they find that they cannot go apartment hunting until the owner, Corina arrives back from holiday, and when was that to be you might ask, well it was the evening before school started. The teaching staff of course were all on deck for the week before to get orientated and to be prepared for the children.
Consequently the first chance to look at apartments was after school on the first day of school. They were taken to see 5 apartments, non of which remotely matched the facilities they had requested. Then the had a 3 hour KS2 staff meeting that went to 9pm where everything was dictated to them including the history units - absolutely no changes allowed. This was the final straw so they resigned and left a month later.
They were incensed that that had been so blatantly lied to by the Owner and Principal. Had they been told the truth about the cost of apartments they were seeking or the difficulty of meeting this requirement they they may have still come, but not with the expectations that they had.
P was also not prepared to tolerate the dictatorial style of the KS2 coordinator who was much younger and far less experienced than he was.
5 staff left in the first month
P & P were the first of 5 staff to leave within the first two couple of months of the school year. The other 3 were the result of having young children and being put in apartments unsuitable for young children.
In one case the wife was out in the suburbs with no transport and 3 kids, some quite young, so she up and walked and the husband for the sake of his marriage followed a month or so later.
A & P if you are out there and feel like contributing please do so.
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
For parents
Despite the negative aspects for Staff, BSB is probably still the best school in Bucharest for those wanting a British Education.
The kids are great, the majority of teachers are really good, the parents are very supportive and rapport between pupils and teachers is excellent and the resources are improving all the time.
So what is the problem. The problem is best illustrated by asking the question - Why do so many teachers leave every year.
International Teachers are a very mobile lot, they frequently move from country to country and rarely stay more than 5 years in any one place. As a consequence the annual loss of teachers from international schools is up to 30% a year. Less than that average over a period of years would indicate a school where staff are very happy, greater than that indicates that there are some problem with the school.
At the end of the 03/04 year I believe that Jo Wells was the only returnee, I dont know the number for 05/06 but for the 06/07 year the turnover was about 70% . Five staff left within a month or two of arriving at BSB and the rest left at the end of the year. Prior to the coup to oust the old principal staff were frequently leaving over weekends or at holidays.
Stability in the teacher workforce is important for continuity, particularly with respect to discipline and what is expected of the children as well as classroom continuity.
When BSB addresses the issues that cause teachers to leave then that will make it the best school for everybody. So why do they leave.
Apart from those who have decided to move on anyway the major reasons come down to three issues.
Working illegally in a country, the workload created by the KS2 coordinator and the management of the school (poor distribution of workload, lack of meaningful staff meetings and an abrasive dominant control of staff). A lot of the problems are caused by Corina but unfortunately the principal nearly always sides with the owner.
For one of those teachers who left within the first few months of the 06-07 year the straw that broke the camels back was the KS2 coordinator. I know of other staff who have stayed at BSB but asked for transfers out of KS2 in order to avoid the demands of this KS coordianator.
The working illegally situation may have changed now that Romania is partly in the EU. But other issues would best be worked through with the present staff. Unfortunately this requires an open honest meeting where there would be no repercussions on staff for being frank, given the personalities of Jo and Corina this would be unlikely.
For instance there was a staff member who asked the principal for a reference for another school. She did not get that particular job but BSB refused to renew her contract for the following year (also refused to explain why - they simply kept brushing off the fact that they had not given her a new contract to sign).
This is appalling, International teachers do move on and when an opening comes up for them which is better suited to their skills or is a promotion or experience broadening job then they should be helped to apply and appreciation given for the work they have done for BSB. What a terrible predicament to put a teacher in, teachers normally need a reference from their present principal but if they ask Jo Wells for it and do not get the job then they are denied reemployment at BSB as well.
Allowing difficult pupils into BSB
Another aspect of BSB that has already had a detrimental effect on BSB and could get much worse, is the change in enrolment policy (or failure to implement the policy they have would be more correct).
In the past new pupils were required to undergo some tests tto determine if they were suitable students for BSB, but in the last year or two several have been allowed in who have had severe learning difficulties and have also been very disruptive in class. Dealing with these students makes the teachers task very difficult and generally lowers the standard of discipline in the school as well as significantly reducing the class time the teacher has for the rest of the class.
One such student caused such mayhem that what was a good working class became very difficult to manage and the performance of the students dropped off markedly.
There is also a problem in English speaking schools of allowing too many local students into the school. As a rule of thumb when local students exceed around 25% of the school roll then they start to communicate in the local language instead of English. This then starts to have a very serious effect on their ability to learn english and to use if fluently, it also excludes non local children from their conversations. BSB has been largely free of this but when I left it was starting to creep in quite badly in some classes.
The solutions - Well only the parents acting collectively would have the clout to cause any real change- BSB has the potential to be a really great school, but it needs Corina to pull right back out of the day to day management and interference with the teaching staff and allow a well qualified manger to come in and do a proper job of administration. It also probably requires a new principal.
Well that is enough for today.
The kids are great, the majority of teachers are really good, the parents are very supportive and rapport between pupils and teachers is excellent and the resources are improving all the time.
So what is the problem. The problem is best illustrated by asking the question - Why do so many teachers leave every year.
International Teachers are a very mobile lot, they frequently move from country to country and rarely stay more than 5 years in any one place. As a consequence the annual loss of teachers from international schools is up to 30% a year. Less than that average over a period of years would indicate a school where staff are very happy, greater than that indicates that there are some problem with the school.
At the end of the 03/04 year I believe that Jo Wells was the only returnee, I dont know the number for 05/06 but for the 06/07 year the turnover was about 70% . Five staff left within a month or two of arriving at BSB and the rest left at the end of the year. Prior to the coup to oust the old principal staff were frequently leaving over weekends or at holidays.
Stability in the teacher workforce is important for continuity, particularly with respect to discipline and what is expected of the children as well as classroom continuity.
When BSB addresses the issues that cause teachers to leave then that will make it the best school for everybody. So why do they leave.
Apart from those who have decided to move on anyway the major reasons come down to three issues.
Working illegally in a country, the workload created by the KS2 coordinator and the management of the school (poor distribution of workload, lack of meaningful staff meetings and an abrasive dominant control of staff). A lot of the problems are caused by Corina but unfortunately the principal nearly always sides with the owner.
For one of those teachers who left within the first few months of the 06-07 year the straw that broke the camels back was the KS2 coordinator. I know of other staff who have stayed at BSB but asked for transfers out of KS2 in order to avoid the demands of this KS coordianator.
The working illegally situation may have changed now that Romania is partly in the EU. But other issues would best be worked through with the present staff. Unfortunately this requires an open honest meeting where there would be no repercussions on staff for being frank, given the personalities of Jo and Corina this would be unlikely.
For instance there was a staff member who asked the principal for a reference for another school. She did not get that particular job but BSB refused to renew her contract for the following year (also refused to explain why - they simply kept brushing off the fact that they had not given her a new contract to sign).
This is appalling, International teachers do move on and when an opening comes up for them which is better suited to their skills or is a promotion or experience broadening job then they should be helped to apply and appreciation given for the work they have done for BSB. What a terrible predicament to put a teacher in, teachers normally need a reference from their present principal but if they ask Jo Wells for it and do not get the job then they are denied reemployment at BSB as well.
Allowing difficult pupils into BSB
Another aspect of BSB that has already had a detrimental effect on BSB and could get much worse, is the change in enrolment policy (or failure to implement the policy they have would be more correct).
In the past new pupils were required to undergo some tests tto determine if they were suitable students for BSB, but in the last year or two several have been allowed in who have had severe learning difficulties and have also been very disruptive in class. Dealing with these students makes the teachers task very difficult and generally lowers the standard of discipline in the school as well as significantly reducing the class time the teacher has for the rest of the class.
One such student caused such mayhem that what was a good working class became very difficult to manage and the performance of the students dropped off markedly.
There is also a problem in English speaking schools of allowing too many local students into the school. As a rule of thumb when local students exceed around 25% of the school roll then they start to communicate in the local language instead of English. This then starts to have a very serious effect on their ability to learn english and to use if fluently, it also excludes non local children from their conversations. BSB has been largely free of this but when I left it was starting to creep in quite badly in some classes.
The solutions - Well only the parents acting collectively would have the clout to cause any real change- BSB has the potential to be a really great school, but it needs Corina to pull right back out of the day to day management and interference with the teaching staff and allow a well qualified manger to come in and do a proper job of administration. It also probably requires a new principal.
Well that is enough for today.
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
A's Story
To answer some comments first. The previous story is not overdramatised. I did not refer to this KS2 coordinator as a paranoid narcissistic because of a grudge, I used it because the symptoms fit exactly (it is a medical term). These blogs are written for teachers. It is important for teachers to know what sort of environment they are going into.
As I said in my first post, the kids at BSB are great and the classroom teaching is very rewarding. However under the hood things are not good .
A's story below is not unique, other stories will follows:
A's story
A was an Aussie. Now that should not be a real problem but for BSB it was. Mainly because BSB does not like making their staff legal and it was a bit harder to do this for Aussies and Kiwis than for Brits. Other Bucharest schools appeared to have no problem getting legitimatzas for Aussies and Kiwis.
However, A was being brought to Romania to replace P, who left after only a month (but thats another story). She was told that her visa requriements would be provided and be with her airline ticket at Sydney. She arrived (from the outbacks) to find that no, she had to go to the Romanian Embassy to get a visa, so the school paid for her to fly to Canberra and back, so delaying her flight to Bucharest. Cost the school (parents) $400 for an office stuff up.
Next she has the incident with the computer mentioned in the previous blog. Then she was assaulted while entering her apartment, after which the school shifted her to a more centrally located apartment. She then heads off for a Christmas holiday in Paris. At this stage her first pay had gone through and she expected the next pay to be OK. Unfortunately the school office made another administrative blunder and her pay did not go through. The result was that she was almost stranded in Paris with only 20 euro. fortunately friends baled her out until the school fixed the problem. The initial response of the Owner was "what do you expect me to do, I am on holiday"
However that is all very small beer compared to what follows.
After Xmas the school claimed that her application for a work permit / legitimaza has been denied. The owner tells A not to worry they will cover any fine etc. A then finds that her 30 days overstaying her tourist visa are nearly up and she asks to go our to renew her visa. She is told not to go so that now, as well as working illegally in Romania, she is is to become an illegal immigrant as well.
The effect of being an illegal immigrant is that you get a big red stamp in your passport showing that you are banned from entering Romania for 6 months - this then affects any application for a visa to other countries.
A declared that she was going as she did not want to be illegal.
This is the letter she got in reply (word for word).
14th March
Dear A
As of yesterday I have been informed that our second application with the Romanian work department regarding the vacancy of a teachers job for an Australian citizen has been refused. This means we will not be able to reapply to the Ministry and for you it will not be possible to apply for a long term visa.
For both parties to forfill the current contract it will not be possible for you to leave Romania until the weekend following the 30th June.
Although the situation is beyond the control of the school we shall be responsible for paying the requested fine that will be incurred in June when you leave Romania.
I would request that you sign and date the second copy of this letter as an indication of your acceptance of the terms outlined above.
Regards
Corina Corda
President of the Board
Junior Foundation Focus
This meant she was to have no holiday outside Romania in April (visiting Europe was part of the reason she accepted the job), It meant a reentry ban which would effect application for visas to other countries and it meant that she would be an illegal immigrant who could be detained and deported if discovered as well as working illegally. It also means that you are totally beholden to the owner of the school without any legal remedy open to you.
When A said she was going to renew her visa anyway, she was told that if she left the country she would be sacked.
A was not the only staff member in this situation. The other person was P a New Zealander who had been teaching at BSB for over a year. P and his partner started working through Romanian lawyers and after an incident with a school inspector Corina decided she would pay a bribe and get both people out at Easter to get new tourist visas.
P went off to Switzerland to get his while A went to Budapest. In Budapest they told her to get lost because while she had used the 90 days of her visa the 180 days before the next one could be issued were not up. She then went to Bratislava where the Romanian embassy was not so strict and they started to process her visa application. Unfortunately Easters - both Catholic and Othodox (separate dates) got in the way and the upshot was instead of taking 3 days she spent all of her holidays plus about 3 school days in Bratislava waiting for her visa. All this could have been avoided had Corina (the owner) not deliberately manipulated things so that these staff had to use their holidays to get the visas. There were several other administrative stuff ups by the school as well which I will not bore you with the details of.
Now if you think that is not enough, When poor A goes to change the date she is flying home she finds that the school booked her return flight in february !!! Now would you expect that if the school were providing the tickets for you to work from October until June that they would book your return flight after school finished, of course you would. If for some reason they had to book it in February you think they would at least alert the recipient that she would need to change the ticket date before end of Jan, well they did not do that either. You might also say that A should have checked the return date when she received the tickets - but then how many of you have thumbed through the wade of paper that makes up the older tickets to check the dates printed on the ticket itself - very few. So here was another monumental stuff up by BSB Office staff - and not I might add atypical.
And what did the principal Jo Wells do, well in the main she supported Corina, not the staff member.
As I said in my first post, the kids at BSB are great and the classroom teaching is very rewarding. However under the hood things are not good .
A's story below is not unique, other stories will follows:
A's story
A was an Aussie. Now that should not be a real problem but for BSB it was. Mainly because BSB does not like making their staff legal and it was a bit harder to do this for Aussies and Kiwis than for Brits. Other Bucharest schools appeared to have no problem getting legitimatzas for Aussies and Kiwis.
However, A was being brought to Romania to replace P, who left after only a month (but thats another story). She was told that her visa requriements would be provided and be with her airline ticket at Sydney. She arrived (from the outbacks) to find that no, she had to go to the Romanian Embassy to get a visa, so the school paid for her to fly to Canberra and back, so delaying her flight to Bucharest. Cost the school (parents) $400 for an office stuff up.
Next she has the incident with the computer mentioned in the previous blog. Then she was assaulted while entering her apartment, after which the school shifted her to a more centrally located apartment. She then heads off for a Christmas holiday in Paris. At this stage her first pay had gone through and she expected the next pay to be OK. Unfortunately the school office made another administrative blunder and her pay did not go through. The result was that she was almost stranded in Paris with only 20 euro. fortunately friends baled her out until the school fixed the problem. The initial response of the Owner was "what do you expect me to do, I am on holiday"
However that is all very small beer compared to what follows.
After Xmas the school claimed that her application for a work permit / legitimaza has been denied. The owner tells A not to worry they will cover any fine etc. A then finds that her 30 days overstaying her tourist visa are nearly up and she asks to go our to renew her visa. She is told not to go so that now, as well as working illegally in Romania, she is is to become an illegal immigrant as well.
The effect of being an illegal immigrant is that you get a big red stamp in your passport showing that you are banned from entering Romania for 6 months - this then affects any application for a visa to other countries.
A declared that she was going as she did not want to be illegal.
This is the letter she got in reply (word for word).
14th March
Dear A
As of yesterday I have been informed that our second application with the Romanian work department regarding the vacancy of a teachers job for an Australian citizen has been refused. This means we will not be able to reapply to the Ministry and for you it will not be possible to apply for a long term visa.
For both parties to forfill the current contract it will not be possible for you to leave Romania until the weekend following the 30th June.
Although the situation is beyond the control of the school we shall be responsible for paying the requested fine that will be incurred in June when you leave Romania.
I would request that you sign and date the second copy of this letter as an indication of your acceptance of the terms outlined above.
Regards
Corina Corda
President of the Board
Junior Foundation Focus
This meant she was to have no holiday outside Romania in April (visiting Europe was part of the reason she accepted the job), It meant a reentry ban which would effect application for visas to other countries and it meant that she would be an illegal immigrant who could be detained and deported if discovered as well as working illegally. It also means that you are totally beholden to the owner of the school without any legal remedy open to you.
When A said she was going to renew her visa anyway, she was told that if she left the country she would be sacked.
A was not the only staff member in this situation. The other person was P a New Zealander who had been teaching at BSB for over a year. P and his partner started working through Romanian lawyers and after an incident with a school inspector Corina decided she would pay a bribe and get both people out at Easter to get new tourist visas.
P went off to Switzerland to get his while A went to Budapest. In Budapest they told her to get lost because while she had used the 90 days of her visa the 180 days before the next one could be issued were not up. She then went to Bratislava where the Romanian embassy was not so strict and they started to process her visa application. Unfortunately Easters - both Catholic and Othodox (separate dates) got in the way and the upshot was instead of taking 3 days she spent all of her holidays plus about 3 school days in Bratislava waiting for her visa. All this could have been avoided had Corina (the owner) not deliberately manipulated things so that these staff had to use their holidays to get the visas. There were several other administrative stuff ups by the school as well which I will not bore you with the details of.
Now if you think that is not enough, When poor A goes to change the date she is flying home she finds that the school booked her return flight in february !!! Now would you expect that if the school were providing the tickets for you to work from October until June that they would book your return flight after school finished, of course you would. If for some reason they had to book it in February you think they would at least alert the recipient that she would need to change the ticket date before end of Jan, well they did not do that either. You might also say that A should have checked the return date when she received the tickets - but then how many of you have thumbed through the wade of paper that makes up the older tickets to check the dates printed on the ticket itself - very few. So here was another monumental stuff up by BSB Office staff - and not I might add atypical.
And what did the principal Jo Wells do, well in the main she supported Corina, not the staff member.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Staff Management
Do you have staff meetings at BSB ---- NO
Well not the sort of staff meetings where staff contribute to the discussion or where any decision might be altered by comments from staff. Not the sort of meeting where staff ever get to vote on any issue.
Oh no, staff meetings are to be avoided at all costs, unless some overwhelming matter arises that requires the staff to be lectured on some issue.
The system used by Jo Wells (also uses Puddy-Wells as her surname) is that of a senior management team (herself and the KS coordinators) who meet weekly, plus individual weekly meetings with each if the coordinators. From there, diseminated downwards only, are weekly key stage meetings, some of these are quite democratic but KS2 are not.
The KS2 coordinator is a total control freak.
One staff member was told at interview, Yes you can make up and use your own history uit if you want to. No No No says the KS2 coordinator - you must do this unit and this one only (despite limited to non existant resources for the said unit).
You must mark in green pen
You must present me with a weekly plan showing everything you plan to breathe for the next week.
You must then go over it after the week and highlight in green things that went well, in red things that did not and in yellow things you could improve. (sorry if I have the colours wrong)
Her weekly staff meetings are one way sessions only.
When the report format was changed she insisted on have a box for comments and a font size that allowed 340 words. Unfortunately teachers feel they have to fill such boxes so the outcome of ten reports or so on each child was a huge dossier of meaningless words. And if yu take the kid for music or DT or art and have only seen them 6 to 8 times then you still have to fill in this box. Fortunately some rebels forced the box size down and the font size up before the next set of reports - its still excessive though.
One teacher, who had been employed to start in October, due to another wiser teacher resigning, arrived to find that she had only three weeks to get to know where her kids were at and to have these reports done. She asked for a laptop to take home at the weekend to work on the reports (the school had half a dozen for use by staff), "No you cannot" says the KS2 coordinator, "can I have extended time then" she asks. "No, must be in on time"
Another staff member, hearing of the plight loans her her computer and then goes to make the point to the principal ,Jo Wells, that the KS2 coordinator was being pretty tough.
Do you think she was listened to, sorry no. She got soundly abused for undermining the KS2 coordinator.
The problem is you see, that because the KS2 coordinator is a paranoid narcissistic, she is great mates, really great mates with the principal so that the principal will not hear of any complaints against her friend.
I could go on for a long time but I am sure you are getting the flavour of the management at this school.
If you want more info, look out for upcoming staff experiences
Well not the sort of staff meetings where staff contribute to the discussion or where any decision might be altered by comments from staff. Not the sort of meeting where staff ever get to vote on any issue.
Oh no, staff meetings are to be avoided at all costs, unless some overwhelming matter arises that requires the staff to be lectured on some issue.
The system used by Jo Wells (also uses Puddy-Wells as her surname) is that of a senior management team (herself and the KS coordinators) who meet weekly, plus individual weekly meetings with each if the coordinators. From there, diseminated downwards only, are weekly key stage meetings, some of these are quite democratic but KS2 are not.
The KS2 coordinator is a total control freak.
One staff member was told at interview, Yes you can make up and use your own history uit if you want to. No No No says the KS2 coordinator - you must do this unit and this one only (despite limited to non existant resources for the said unit).
You must mark in green pen
You must present me with a weekly plan showing everything you plan to breathe for the next week.
You must then go over it after the week and highlight in green things that went well, in red things that did not and in yellow things you could improve. (sorry if I have the colours wrong)
Her weekly staff meetings are one way sessions only.
When the report format was changed she insisted on have a box for comments and a font size that allowed 340 words. Unfortunately teachers feel they have to fill such boxes so the outcome of ten reports or so on each child was a huge dossier of meaningless words. And if yu take the kid for music or DT or art and have only seen them 6 to 8 times then you still have to fill in this box. Fortunately some rebels forced the box size down and the font size up before the next set of reports - its still excessive though.
One teacher, who had been employed to start in October, due to another wiser teacher resigning, arrived to find that she had only three weeks to get to know where her kids were at and to have these reports done. She asked for a laptop to take home at the weekend to work on the reports (the school had half a dozen for use by staff), "No you cannot" says the KS2 coordinator, "can I have extended time then" she asks. "No, must be in on time"
Another staff member, hearing of the plight loans her her computer and then goes to make the point to the principal ,Jo Wells, that the KS2 coordinator was being pretty tough.
Do you think she was listened to, sorry no. She got soundly abused for undermining the KS2 coordinator.
The problem is you see, that because the KS2 coordinator is a paranoid narcissistic, she is great mates, really great mates with the principal so that the principal will not hear of any complaints against her friend.
I could go on for a long time but I am sure you are getting the flavour of the management at this school.
If you want more info, look out for upcoming staff experiences
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Sick leave with pay
Leave with pay for medical or accident purposes.
In the contract you sign there is a clause that states that sick leave with pay is subject to Romanian Labour laws.
This looks very innocuous until you need it. Image having an accident in Bucharest or being assaulted and needing treatment or time off school for several weeks without pay.
To be entitled to sick leave with pay you need:
It is a requirement of Romanian labour law that an employer is responsible for seeing that their employees are hitched up to a Romanian Family doctor at the start of their employment.
When we were there only 6 of 20 odd international staff got legitimatza and most of those only got it in February /March and only if they were staying for a second year.
Net result is that most staff are not covered should they have the misfortune of an accident or illness while employed at BSB
In the contract you sign there is a clause that states that sick leave with pay is subject to Romanian Labour laws.
This looks very innocuous until you need it. Image having an accident in Bucharest or being assaulted and needing treatment or time off school for several weeks without pay.
To be entitled to sick leave with pay you need:
- Legitimatza
- Work permit
- To have been enrolled with a Romanian family doctor and to have been checked by them months before any health problems arise. (this is NOT going to clinics like Biomed (Corina (the owner) will tell you otherwise but she is lying)
It is a requirement of Romanian labour law that an employer is responsible for seeing that their employees are hitched up to a Romanian Family doctor at the start of their employment.
When we were there only 6 of 20 odd international staff got legitimatza and most of those only got it in February /March and only if they were staying for a second year.
Net result is that most staff are not covered should they have the misfortune of an accident or illness while employed at BSB
Friday, 8 June 2007
Educare director is a big time crook
Last time I talked about the legitimatza situation but forgot to mention that I am not sure what changes may have come about due to Romania joining the EU. You can be sure that
whatever Corina and Jo tell you , will not be correct, but you will need to find out for yourelf.
The Director od Educare Consultatants. Mr Axel Wend.
Educare is the British paper company that you are technically employed by, so that you can get your wages in pounds or euros without paying Romanian tax.
If you do a google search on Educare and Axel Wend you will find that he has been named as one of the main people involved in mail order scams of the megabucks variety. He is also named as the provider of funds behind political corruption in the Czech Republic (to the tune of 50 million euro.
He is also invovled in money laundering.
So when the staff started to be paid by a very small obscure bank in Nicosea (Cyprus), two banks, Royal bank of Scotland and Lloyds wrote letters of warning to the staff using those banks asking them if the payments were legit. Their legitimate concern was that those staff were receiving laundered money. They are almost certainly correct. Corina is not known for her honesty.
Coming issues:
Sick leave - how Corina works to ensure you dont have any.
Power Freaks - who run some parts of the school
staff who were forced to become illegal immigrants
whatever Corina and Jo tell you , will not be correct, but you will need to find out for yourelf.
The Director od Educare Consultatants. Mr Axel Wend.
Educare is the British paper company that you are technically employed by, so that you can get your wages in pounds or euros without paying Romanian tax.
If you do a google search on Educare and Axel Wend you will find that he has been named as one of the main people involved in mail order scams of the megabucks variety. He is also named as the provider of funds behind political corruption in the Czech Republic (to the tune of 50 million euro.
He is also invovled in money laundering.
So when the staff started to be paid by a very small obscure bank in Nicosea (Cyprus), two banks, Royal bank of Scotland and Lloyds wrote letters of warning to the staff using those banks asking them if the payments were legit. Their legitimate concern was that those staff were receiving laundered money. They are almost certainly correct. Corina is not known for her honesty.
Coming issues:
Sick leave - how Corina works to ensure you dont have any.
Power Freaks - who run some parts of the school
staff who were forced to become illegal immigrants
Sunday, 3 June 2007
British School of Bucharest
Hello
This is the first post for people who are teaching at, or who are considering teaching at the British School of Bucharest, Romania.
First let me say that the kids are (or were) really great to teach and the school probably has the best reputation for Bucharest International Schools. However for staff there are some serious issues that are not made known to you until disaster strikes.
Over the next few weeks I will detail the major issues with this school.
Legitimatza
To work in Romania you must have both a work permit and a legitimza. BSB has been very very bad at getting these for staff. In the past most staff had to do a border run every 90 days but since it has joined the EU this will no longer be needed.
Be aware that the failure to get staff legitimatza is deliberate despite what the owner might tell you.
The legitimatza is needed to be legal but it is also required in order to get paid by the school should you have an accident or be ill and away from school for any period of time.
You also need to be aware that in 2004 the owner and the then deputy principal Jo Wells mounted a coup against the then principal. Having gotten into bed with the owner, Corina Anastasiu (nee Corda) the new Principal Jo Wells has compromised her position and is basically a lacky of the owner. This means she will support the owner, not the staff.
Next time - the story of two staff who where made illegal immigrants (as well as working illegally)
This is the first post for people who are teaching at, or who are considering teaching at the British School of Bucharest, Romania.
First let me say that the kids are (or were) really great to teach and the school probably has the best reputation for Bucharest International Schools. However for staff there are some serious issues that are not made known to you until disaster strikes.
Over the next few weeks I will detail the major issues with this school.
Legitimatza
To work in Romania you must have both a work permit and a legitimza. BSB has been very very bad at getting these for staff. In the past most staff had to do a border run every 90 days but since it has joined the EU this will no longer be needed.
Be aware that the failure to get staff legitimatza is deliberate despite what the owner might tell you.
The legitimatza is needed to be legal but it is also required in order to get paid by the school should you have an accident or be ill and away from school for any period of time.
You also need to be aware that in 2004 the owner and the then deputy principal Jo Wells mounted a coup against the then principal. Having gotten into bed with the owner, Corina Anastasiu (nee Corda) the new Principal Jo Wells has compromised her position and is basically a lacky of the owner. This means she will support the owner, not the staff.
Next time - the story of two staff who where made illegal immigrants (as well as working illegally)
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