LucidLucifer

I've visited Prem a couple of times and have always been quite impressed with their set up - I can't comment on any of the other CM international schools from experience. Without doubt though, all the genuinely top-tier schools are in Bangkok, but as HooHaa has said, they are not cheap. If you can't afford them and actually care about your child's future, it's time to look at options other than staying in Thailand. Do not even for one moment consider putting them through the state system, and the same goes for Thai private schools and their bilingual programmes.

https://invisibler.com/lulzsec-and-hidemyass/

Read and change your mind.

Using HMA to cover your identity while hacking corporate websites is a slightly different proposition to using it to access websites restricted in LoS.

BIS did have a good reputation up to a few years back,not anymore, take a closer look at Headstart, you may think it's worth the move.

nontabury has taken the words right out of my mouth. BIS' reputation is on the wain whilst Headstart's is on the rise. I know on a professional level a number of staff there and they are excellent teachers and leaders - it's well worth checking out.

Honda City S Automatic. One European owner, bought from new in July 2012

- 420,000 ono
- 39,900 KM
- Excellent condition with full Honda service history

- ABS
- Metallic grey
- Full leather interior
- Rear parking sensors
- Keyless entry with answer back
- MP3 player
- Alloy wheels
- Steering mounted audio controls

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/automotives-vehicles/cars/2012-honda-city-s-automatic-332127.html

Thanks for the reply, although the route we have taken isn't the adoption route, so to speak. We began that through the Child Adoption Centre but it was becoming increasingly drawn out. We instead applied directly to the courts through our lawyer, who did a fantastic job in a fraction of the time.

We are now her legal guardians/parents under Thai law. It isn't quite the same as having adopted her, although the difference is only slight. I hope that makes sense.

My wife and I have been granted by the courts the legal guardianship of our grand-daughter. All parental responsibility has been withdrawn from the mother, who up to that point had sole legal custody. We are now, under Thai law, her legal parents. I am British and wife holds dual Thai and British nationality.

My question is, what position does that leave us in with regard to applying for British citizenship for her?

We went through the whole guardianship process for her long term stability, not to get her back in to the UK, but I am wondering. Due to my work, we are all relocating back to Europe in a few weeks. We already have a Schengen visa for her and all our documents have been legalised by the relevent embassy in order for her to be granted an EEA family permit. If we then choose to take her to the UK to live we can exercise our freedom of movement treaty rights and do so anyway - however, if we can get her a passport without doing the 5 year qualifying period back at home, it would certainly be a bonus.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can give us on this....

Lots of nonsense here.

Certified and qualified teachers will get up to 150k.

26 periods is a professional workload. Lazy teachers who manipulate themselves into doing less should both be ashamed that they get highly paid and look at their definition of 'professional'.

If you think 26 periods a week is 'heavy', choose a different type of work.

Johnnie is completely right...... with the exception of the 'highly paid' statement......

26 periods is about the norm. In the UK you would be allowed 10% non-contact time for PPA (planning, preparation and assessment). Despite what many people think, a 55+ hour working week is fairly normal - 60+ is the case if you are a dedicated professional that cares. What happens in the classroom is just the front end of what goes on behind the scenes - admin responsibilities aside, planning and preparation is a bottomless pit - there is always something more you can do, but there needs to be a cut off point otherwise your teaching suffers - it's a balance.

OP, PM me on the school you have just been offered a contract with - my school were interviewing EAL teachers this week and I may be able to advise you.

Camillian Home for children - well run and doing fantastic work.

http://www.camillianhomelatkrabang.org/

There is a new international school opening up in Hua Hin (Hua Hin International School).

From what I hear the people running it are all ex-Patana who later went on to found the St Andrews schools.

With that background, I would fully expect them to do a good job.

Varanasi in India. You're likely to ether love it or hate it, but it will certainly leave an impression on you - there is nowhere like it on earth.

If you're interested in Buddhism, combine it with trips to Sarnath and Bodh Gaya.

Further afield, but If like me and your interest is wreck diving, Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon should surely be on your to do list.

Question:

Would you categorize an English language teacher as some one who actually speaks and reads English to an acceptable level?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

No I would not. I would categorise them as exactly as they are - someone who can speak and read English to an acceptable level. Just because you can do that does not make you qualified to teach. Do you not understand that teaching is a skill that in itself needs to be taught and practised, and even then there is no guarantee you will be good? Quite frankly, to think otherwise shows a clear lack of knowledge of what quality teaching and learning is.

I'd go for the job, work on the TESOL degree option and get legal as quickly as possible.

You don't seem like you want to follow rules though, and I would advise you to drop that attitude right away as someone can grass you up.

I certainly wouldn't tolerate the OP at my school, and neither would other senior management. I am finding it a little hard to believe that the job offer is at even a mid-tier international school.

Do you feel better now you have that off your chest?

So sad, and I bow to the brave firefighters. There are many on TV that are so anti the 'nanny' state of western countries, yet (in many cases) it often saves lives.

Surely that must be the most important thing?

There are plenty in England....where they belong and should stay!!!!!

Do you also think that all Thai restaurants should stay in Thailand?

Early learning is a crock, as long as they know the letters of the alphabet(s) and can read a bit, they are fine for high school.

Junior/infants schools in the west are more about play and socialisation.

Without question, your statement is the most ill-informed I have ever read on TV - congratulations, that really takes some doing......

Now, please tell me you were being sarcastic and it went over my head......

Now, er... let me tell you what I think as an adolescent, David.

I have quite a few biracial younger cousins who are like me, but as far I can I see the Western-educated ones are just as stupid as the ones who go to school here. I don't think the school itself really matters greatly. I suppose it does matter if you send them to a really bad school, as it could become a disincentive to further learning in later life, but you can counter that by homeschooling them, or encouraging them to learn most of what they really need to know outside of school.

I've talked to Edinburgh and Cornell students in the past, and many of them are stupid arrogant ****s, so even Western schools don't teach people all that much.

Your statements couldn't be further from the truth. It's simple - bad schools do not give children the required knowledge and skills to maximise their potential, good schools enable children to fulfil and exceed expectations. The top few percent will likely always rise to the top, however bad their school may have been, but how much further could every child in a poor school have gone if they had benefited from quality teaching and learning from day one?

Your statement about Edinburgh and Cornell students also smacks of a complete lack of understanding of schools and education. Please, enlighten me how you are able to judge all the different facets of intelligence through a mere conversation. I would sincerely love to also have this skill.

The minimum Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7) National Curriculum level deemed acceptable by OFSTED for reading, writing and maths is a 2c. Data compiled over the last 20 years clearly shows that any child that misses a 2c in only one of the three core skills at the end of KS1 only has a 19% chance of achieving 5 GCSEs grade A-C, and if they miss two, that chance falls to around 8%. Five A-C passes is the normal requirement to procede on to A-levels and then university entrance.

Good schooling at all ages is imperative - if a child doesn't have a solid start and the right foundations of skills, they will forever be playing catch up.

I'm not in anyway doubting the importance of good early years schooling. In fact I agree wholeheartedly that it is hugely important. However, we also know that students with poor early years education, given the right opportunities, can in later years do extremely well.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the Ofsted performance data also included cognitive ability test data? This type of data really makes me think about how much of the outcome was to some extent pre-ordained by genetic potential...

As I said, i'm not doubting the value of quality early years education, it's just that to me that Ofsted data presents a very incomplete picture, with no clear identification of cause, just a statistical link.

The figures I quoted were not actually from Ofsted, they were compiled by a cluster group of LEAs in England. However, you're absolutely right - as with all data, it doesn't paint the whole picture, and without doubt a good percentage of the children who missed the age-expected benchmark were less able or SEN. It does give food for thought though, especially if you were to put it into the context of the Thai school system where there is a complete lack of acknowledgement and provision for less able/SEN children. Any child in a Thai school with any form of additional need would basically be condemed to a life of failure. Conjecture, I admit, but I would bet that UK figure of 19% would fall to virtually zero in a Thai school.

To a degree, Ofsted peformance data does include CATs type data - this is the value added figure they publish for schools, which in my opinion, is the best assessment of whether a school is any good.