Kajonkietsuksa School Phuket

[steelepulse]

I am getting a bit fed up here with Somtamnications continuous negativity here, with a blatant disrespect for people who do not agree with his opinions.

It does get a bit tiring and rhetorical to say the least.

[Somtamnication]

Opinion noted. Thank you. :jap:

[Chozen1]

Opinion noted. Thank you. :jap:

Ok! How about we change tune. Let's change this forum to a positive note. I would like to encourage other positive thoughts of the school. What have been some of the more positive outcomes? Could people please include more specific information rather than, "my child is happy at the school"? Maybe include reasons for why they are happy? What do the children say makes them happy? I know the teachers are good to the kids and that's sometimes all it takes. Also include positive aspects of the curriculum. I think it's fair to hear both sides of the story.

Please people let's also try to be a little bit more cordial to each other. Seems to me certain forum members take things too personal when the school is mentioned in a "negative" way. Obviously those people who are stating opinions (good and bad) about the school should feel free to do so without coming under attack. Maybe more smiley faces and stick to the topic, not the person who is commenting.

[Benjie]

Seems like anytime anyone says anything positive about the school (which interestingly has been mainly parents with children who attend) they get accused of working for Kajonkiat.

The strange thing is though that I have witnessed none of the negative things that some posters keep on about, which makes me think there is a fairly large difference between either; the kindergarden and primary school or more likely the ESC/Thai programs and the EP.

I've mentioned some of the positives here already, which include manners and learning about Thailand, My daughters English is excellent for her age as is her Thai - for me that's very important. For kindergarden and possibly the first few years of primary school, Kajonkiet suits the education I have in mind for my children, I will say though that when my children get a little older I will likely make the move to CM and send them to Lanna International School, or somewhere similar.

[PhuketBlogger]

Seems like anytime anyone says anything positive about the school (which interestingly has been mainly parents with children who attend) they get accused of working for Kajonkiat.

The strange thing is though that I have witnessed none of the negative things that some posters keep on about, which makes me think there is a fairly large difference between either; the kindergarden and primary school or more likely the ESC/Thai programs and the EP.

Seconded.

Ok, Chozen1 (do you like the movie "Kung Pow"?)...Some details. I myself have 2 degrees, so I am well able to judge my childrens progress thanks, and I go to the school at least a few times per week , talk to teachers and other parents, I keep a very close eye on their homework (there's not much in Kindergarten, but it increases in Primary), the sports facilities which include a large outdoor area with a running track, plus a small grass football field, basketball hoops, plus an indoor sports hall upstairs are OK, though more organised sport would be good, and as I said before my son does go to play football at the weekend. I read almost daily with my daughter and I think her reading has come on leaps and bounds in the last year, she is now 9. My mother who was a teacher for 20 years has visited the school and was impressed by the facilities....

Benjie says "I have witnessed none of the negative things"... well, this is Thai Visa and negativity rules here.. SURE there are negative things. I don't like the traffic and parking, my daughter doesn't like the food they get, but anyway they have a snack bar to buy chicken, rice etc.. so we give our kids some money each day for that... toilets? are they clean anywhere in Thailand! Sharing a spoon, good grief, a new foreign teacher might have to realise they are not in Kansas any more.

Anyway, Chozen1, I hope you enjoy your new job at Headstart . If we had more money we might move our kids there, it's closer to our house, we know one of the owners and I'd love my kids to be enrolled in an International school. But for what we can afford, I still feel Kajonkiet is giving our kids the best possible. The new building will take ages of course, if the plans are correct and swimming pools are included, great. If there is to be an IP, we won't be able to afford it anyway, never mind, I am happy with the EP. Hope the new building has better parking and traffic flow.

This thread is so over.

[Chozen1]

Seems like anytime anyone says anything positive about the school (which interestingly has been mainly parents with children who attend) they get accused of working for Kajonkiat.

The strange thing is though that I have witnessed none of the negative things that some posters keep on about, which makes me think there is a fairly large difference between either; the kindergarden and primary school or more likely the ESC/Thai programs and the EP.

I've mentioned some of the positives here already, which include manners and learning about Thailand, My daughters English is excellent for her age as is her Thai - for me that's very important. For kindergarden and possibly the first few years of primary school, Kajonkiet suits the education I have in mind for my children, I will say though that when my children get a little older I will likely make the move to CM and send them to Lanna International School, or somewhere similar.

Yes Phuketblogger there is definitely a big difference between EP and ESC / Thai programme. I thought that had been made clear from the start. But anyway, without highlighting too much more and having said some of what needed to be said, I bid you all farewell. I may drop in just to see what else is going on, but I need make no more reference to KJ. I know what I've seen, heard and been a first hand witness to. Everyone has a right to their opinion from their point of view. So you see, a couple of parents are happy, undoubtedly there are more. I have also very recently talked with parents who do not have Phukeblogger's opinion and they've opted out. Of course not all have the same opportunity or finances and that's understandable. We have to do the best we can, with what we have at the time.

[itsala]

Just as an interested observor, and parent at Kajon, I wonder if the OP (chozen1) could clarify this spin that has been put around by the school their defence of you posts.

It is claimed that you had in fact already left the school prior to your post to join the rival school that is getting a lot of positve publicity from many quaters, including yourself.

Whilst I agree with many of the points you have raised, if this happens to be the case, is does cast some doubt on your motivation for the orignal post.

Kajon has many faults, and as a family, we are considering moving our daughters to you new employer......but it is only fair that you post is put in context of your circumstances when you made the orignal post.

you Posted 2010-08-01 16:55

have been teaching in the school for almost a year and I have made many relevant observations. These observations and comments may give a more genuine picture of the school for both parents who are searching for a school for their children and for foreigners who are looking to work there."

and this

Posted 2010-08-02 00:04

The other one is called Headstart but of course the fees are much higher. I have spoken with parents whose children go to the school and are very happy with the results so far. The education there is in line with British standards and there is a lot of enquiry learning happening."

perhaps there was more to your post than first met the eye..if Kajon are to be believed.

Regards

Itsala

[PhuketBlogger]

It is claimed that you had in fact already left the school prior to your post to join the rival school that is getting a lot of positve publicity from many quaters, including yourself.

Not correct I think... as I spoke to some teachers last week who had read this forum, and told me they knew who chozen1 is, and was still at the school. I have also been told that chozen1 has now moved to a new job at Headstart. Not sure if he was kicked out or was planning to leave anyway.

[Somtamnication]

I wish that other K teachers would post here without fear of repercussions from the Thai admin. It took a lot of guts for the OP to post here. His points are very valid, good and bad.

[Benjie]

So after the accusations that I and others were Kajonkiat 'Shill's' it turns out Chozen1 is actually a recent employee of their biggest competitor?

Is this something that Headstart expect all their teaching staff to do, go online and pump up their school whilst denigrating competition? Anonymously and without declaring an interest.

[LivinLOS]

So after the accusations that I and others were Kajonkiat 'Shill's' it turns out Chozen1 is actually a recent employee of their biggest competitor?

Is this something that Headstart expect all their teaching staff to do, go online and pump up their school whilst denigrating competition? Anonymously and without declaring an interest.

Lets be fair.. when he first posted he was employed there.. Only due to the thread does it seem he left.

Looks like he lost his job over making his feelings known.

[Benjie]

So after the accusations that I and others were Kajonkiat 'Shill's' it turns out Chozen1 is actually a recent employee of their biggest competitor?

Is this something that Headstart expect all their teaching staff to do, go online and pump up their school whilst denigrating competition? Anonymously and without declaring an interest.

Lets be fair.. when he first posted he was employed there.. Only due to the thread does it seem he left.

Looks like he lost his job over making his feelings known.

and within a few weeks has left there and started at a rival school?

Which would have involved leaving the country, reapplying for Non-Imm, returning and getting WP etc... and he's already at Headstart? all done at what I'm guessing is the start of their term - Who hires teachers after the term has started?

All sounds fishy to me.

[stevenl]

All sounds fishy to me.

I don't think it is fishy.

Sounds to me like he had decided to leave or left already when he made his first post. It would have been better to mention that, but that does not make his comments less valid to me, in the process of deciding which school my kids to send to.

So I do appreciate the comments of parents here, who seem to be satisfied, and Chozen1, who gave some points for consideration, and some of the others like Amy.

[PhuketBlogger]

Looks like he lost his job over making his feelings known.

Well, yeh..... I manage a dive shop.. Let's call it XYZ Divers.... and if I posted on here saying "Don't dive with XYZ Divers, I suggest you shop around, there are better dive centers than ours..." I would expect to lose my job.

Chozen1 posted this (quote) " I would not place my child at any such school for both the educational reasons and health reasons. If you want a quality education you need to really shop around as you would if buying a house or business. It is after all the future of your child and they get one go of it. There are far better schools.."

And just in case it was missed, I say again, if we had more money we may well move our kids to a more expensive school with an international program, but for now we are happy. I know one of the owners at Headstart, and I believe they do a good job but being 3 terms, and more expensive anyway per term than Kajonkiet, we can't afford it, and for now, for primary education, I think Kajokiet is doing a good job.

And thus endeth my participation in this thread (unless I get accused of being an ostrich or school spy again). Only joined the thread to bring some balance, normally do not bother with Thai Visa as I find it far too negative, it attracts negative people. In fact I was surprised to see there was one more positive person! Cheers Benjie whoever you are in real life - probably have seen you at the school without knowing it!

[LivinLOS]

Looks like he lost his job over making his feelings known.

Well, yeh..... I manage a dive shop.. Let's call it XYZ Divers.... and if I posted on here saying "Don't dive with XYZ Divers, I suggest you shop around, there are better dive centers than ours..." I would expect to lose my job.

Chozen1 posted this (quote) " I would not place my child at any such school for both the educational reasons and health reasons. If you want a quality education you need to really shop around as you would if buying a house or business. It is after all the future of your child and they get one go of it. There are far better schools.."

Yes the person would expect problems to say the least at work.. But it doesnt make the information less valid and even shows they are prepared to risk their job to give the account they feel is fair.

I have no dog in this fight either way.. But just how I see it.

[PhuketBlogger]

Yes the person would expect problems to say the least at work.. But it doesnt make the information less valid and even shows they are prepared to risk their job to give the account they feel is fair.

No risk if another job was already lined up.

[LivinLOS]

Yes the person would expect problems to say the least at work.. But it doesnt make the information less valid and even shows they are prepared to risk their job to give the account they feel is fair.

No risk if another job was already lined up.

OK.. But then if it was such a good place, why would someone be trying to leave ??

Lets assume they both pay about the same.

[Benjie]

It goes to prove one thing, that the teachers at Headstart are of the same calibre and from the same pool as Kajonkiat's.

I will as ever be vigilant that my children are getting what I think is the best education sensibly available, sounds like most parents here take just as much interest in their children - which is a great start to any education.

[itsala]

So after the accusations that I and others were Kajonkiat 'Shill's' it turns out Chozen1 is actually a recent employee of their biggest competitor?

Is this something that Headstart expect all their teaching staff to do, go online and pump up their school whilst denigrating competition? Anonymously and without declaring an interest.

With repect that was not I was driving at.

All of the OP's comments were valid and I agree with the majority of them.

The point is, if the school is saying these comments were made after the OP had left, and that is not true, it another example of VERY poor ethics, I hope th OP can clarify to me as a parent what is fact and not.

I did not intend my post to be a slur on the OP's integrity, but I think it is valid to know at what point the commnts were made, as a employee or an ex-employee.

Itsala

[Chozen1]

Just as an interested observor, and parent at Kajon, I wonder if the OP (chozen1) could clarify this spin that has been put around by the school their defence of you posts.

It is claimed that you had in fact already left the school prior to your post to join the rival school that is getting a lot of positve publicity from many quaters, including yourself.

Whilst I agree with many of the points you have raised, if this happens to be the case, is does cast some doubt on your motivation for the orignal post.

Kajon has many faults, and as a family, we are considering moving our daughters to you new employer......but it is only fair that you post is put in context of your circumstances when you made the orignal post.

you Posted 2010-08-01 16:55

have been teaching in the school for almost a year and I have made many relevant observations. These observations and comments may give a more genuine picture of the school for both parents who are searching for a school for their children and for foreigners who are looking to work there."

and this

Posted 2010-08-02 00:04

The other one is called Headstart but of course the fees are much higher. I have spoken with parents whose children go to the school and are very happy with the results so far. The education there is in line with British standards and there is a lot of enquiry learning happening."

perhaps there was more to your post than first met the eye..if Kajon are to be believed.

Regards

Itsala

Hi there, I am not aware of the defense people of Kajon are putting out there. What I posted has absolutely no affiliation with Headstart. The main reason for having left Kajon is primarily because of all the things I saw taking place there. Remembering I have only mentioned but a few. There comes a point where you feel powerless to be able to do anything.

I cannot believe that some of the posts following yours (asking for clarification), would dismiss all of what has been mentioned and narrowed in on this one comment "The other one is called Headstart but of course the fees are much higher. I have spoken with parents whose children go to the school and are very happy with the results so far. The education there is in line with British standards and there is a lot of enquiry learning happening.", which by the way is only half the comment I made. While I did mention Headstart, why hasn't it also been highlighted that I mentioned other schools as being good schools, like the new school in Rawaii and the Catholic school near central? Why has this bit of information been dismissed?

I have talked to other parents (not one or two), who have commented about their children being in all of these schools and they are very happy with the outcomes so far. Again these are parents commenting and I wanted to source the schools out for myself but I realize that realistically you have to be working in the schools to get the real feel for it. When I commented on Headstart I was in no way affiliated to the school, whatsoever or had I been teaching there. I simply commented I had spoken with parents and this was their report. I am not affiliated to The Rawai Progressive International School (Montessori) or Darasamut Phuket School (which I also mentioned, but was not completely familiar with their names at the time).

My intention was and always has been to bring to light what I saw taking place. As a parent myself and having many years experience in education I was concerned to see the treatment of the children at the expense of the school looking good to the parents. What other motivation could there have possibly been? Why would I go through so much trouble? My motivation was simply one and one only, to bring to light what the children and teachers (again mainly Thai) are subjected to. I understand this is Thailand and they have their ways of running things, but this is not the way any place, in any part of the world should be run. Again I repeat, I cannot comment on behalf of the EP, and I didn't see or hear of any such incidences. I am not batting for any school, I am batting for the children.

I started this post whilst I was at Kajon and the reason being is because I heard other teachers discuss different forums they came across, which painted Kajon under a very negative light. I have never been part of any forum before and I hit the "Start a new forum" button and off I went. A way to release my deep concerns and with no regrets. I would have done it months ago if I had only know about the forums then. I did it for the parents, children and teachers. There is most definitely nothing in it for me, what so ever. I stayed as long as I did because I was very attached to the children and in some stupid way thought I could make a small difference. I would like to think I have and if I haven't, well! I tried.

If you are a happy parent with happy kids at the school that's great!! There are many good teachers there. If you are a parent who wants to know some of the things taking place there, then you've been informed. If you think I did it for the "rival school Headstart", to give them a plug, well I'm impressed I could have such influence.

Thank you itsala for wanting clarification and my intentions could not have been any more genuine.

[Benjie]

OK, well then I think that is fine - somewhere along the line someone posted that you work for headstart, if that's not the case then obviously there is no problem.

I have no experience of the Thai or ESC side of things where it sounds like you were a teacher, It's literally a completely different school from what I've seen (and now heard).

I do think that it needs mentioning that the ESC program is circa 50,000 Baht a year which would likely pay for a month at BCIS or QSI and around 1/4 year at Headstart.

[Chozen1]

With repect that was not I was driving at.

All of the OP's comments were valid and I agree with the majority of them.

The point is, if the school is saying these comments were made after the OP had left, and that is not true, it another example of VERY poor ethics, I hope th OP can clarify to me as a parent what is fact and not.

I did not intend my post to be a slur on the OP's integrity, but I think it is valid to know at what point the commnts were made, as a employee or an ex-employee.

Itsala

My initial post (dated 1 August 2010) said "I have been teaching in the school for almost a year and I have made many relevant observations. These observations and comments may give a more genuine picture of the school for both parents who are searching for a school for their children and for foreigners who are looking to work there." The words "I have been...." do not signify "I taught at the school for almost a year...." nor could I have said "I am teaching at the school for almost a year..." I have been teaching is present perfect which signifies quite clearly my position of employment with the school at the time of the post". I just thought I would add that in for the record given there is confusion about my employment status at the time of the post.

[Somtamnication]

Chozen, you are doomed, my friend. You will never be allowed to leave this topic.

[stevenl]

As a parent looking for a school i have been informed, and i think also psrents with kids at the school have been informed.

Maybe the thread can be closed?

[itsala]

My initial post (dated 1 August 2010) said "I have been teaching in the school for almost a year and I have made many relevant observations. These observations and comments may give a more genuine picture of the school for both parents who are searching for a school for their children and for foreigners who are looking to work there." The words "I have been...." do not signify "I taught at the school for almost a year...." nor could I have said "I am teaching at the school for almost a year..." I have been teaching is present perfect which signifies quite clearly my position of employment with the school at the time of the post". I just thought I would add that in for the record given there is confusion about my employment status at the time of the post.

Hi Chozen1

Thanks for your eloquent clarrification, as I said previously, I agree with most of what you have said, my comments were more directed at the mistruths that the senior management at the school were putting around about your status at the time of the post, which is why I was seeking clarification. As I suspected, we as parents, have been misinformed once again.

Ethics and integrity seem to be values missing from the ethos of this establishment. (which are probably the two most important life values one can provide children)

Thankyou, Chozen1 for demonstrating at least some of us still possess these dying values.

Good luck wherever you are working, and keep your integrity intact, it is too easy to sell out in this place.

Itsala

[katabeachbum]

Ethics and integrity seem to be values missing from the ethos of this establishment.

Itsala

Indeed.

Even if some teachers make a great class, handling this managment made us change school

[Lannatyne]

Ethics and integrity seem to be values missing from the ethos of this establishment.

Itsala

Indeed.

Even if some teachers make a great class, handling this managment made us change school

ABSOLUTELY !!!

Living here, I'm happy to compromise / accept changes to food, living standards, television, going to live football etc, because there are some things to balance and gain from.

However, when it comes to ethics, morals and integrity, I'm stuck in concrete. I won't budge from the good and right way of doing things, and I'll bring up my family with these "life rules" in mind.

[jamesie]

As a parent looking for a school i have been informed, and i think also psrents with kids at the school have been informed.

Maybe the thread can be closed?

Do you really think thats its your call stevenl?

Its real easy if you have all the info that YOU need, just don't click on this thread.

[Somtamnication]

Agreed. Pretty arrogant, if I say so myself. A thread like this should always have both points and remain open.

[stevenl]

As a parent looking for a school i have been informed, and i think also psrents with kids at the school have been informed.

Maybe the thread can be closed?

Do you really think thats its your call stevenl?

Its real easy if you have all the info that YOU need, just don't click on this thread.

of course that is not my call, but i thought we were free here to give suggestions?

Why do youmake things personal, no need for that at all.