Thursday, November 27, 2008

ENS Al Ain - Same Old Shit

FROM 2007...

There is also a shiny new branch of the Emirates National School in Al Ain - and it's very useless and disappointing, too. To be a new, well-resourced school, and end up worse than the troubled Al Ain English Speaking School, is quite an achievement. It has failed to retain most of its expat staff this year, mainly because local management is - let's be generous - somewhat useless.

Avoid.

FROM 2008...

Ms. Carter is no longer principal of the Primary School; she was replaced in 2007 by a principal from Jordan (Mustafa), an excellent principal. Unfortunately, he left and the actual (09/2008) principal is absolutely terrible, and I'm putting it nicely. ENS has excellent facilities and teachers, but the staff in Al Ain is way below standards. If the actual principal stays, all western parents will search for another school, that's for sure. It's such a waste, it was a promising project, really a shame ... And now parents are again running out of alternatives in Al Ain.

Same old shit, all over again!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

ENS Management - Devious, Racist, and Untrustworthy

Emirates National School Management & Leadership:

Pretty tense - there is a strong 'us and them' atmosphere. Staff meetings are not exactly warm and fuzzy - when they happen at all. Staff feel undervalued and not trusted. Management can be heavy-handed, arbitrary and there seems to be an increasing bias against non-arab staff. There is poor communication at all levels. Many teachers feel that management are spying on them. Paranoia or not, there is an 'atmosphere'.

In theory the school should be a great place to work. The reality is extremely disappointing - staff morale is very low and many teachers are saying they will leave this year. There is a strong feeling that we are being replaced by cheaper staff. Relations with management are bad - there is little trust on either side. Job security is a pressing concern for many. The possibility of being moved to accommodation 'out in the desert' will be a major issue for many considering renewing their contracts.

The management at ENS showed very little respect for international staff when I was there. I was around for the "staff are like a bag of onions" comments - easily bought on the international market.

Good luck to anybody working there.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Emirates National School - No Academic Credibility AT ALL!

I really wish that someone had told me what ENS was like before I taught there. It is a horrible, horrible school. The administration is horrendous - the Director is incompetent, arrogant and just trying to hang in as long as he can to suck as much money out of the school as possible.

There is also a MASSIVE divide between the Western and the Arabic staff, which is really difficult to overcome. Even worse, the students are out of control, the main problem being that the administrators are too scared of the students and the 'wasta' they may have, not realising that they are digging their own graves. Students constantly physically fight and are disrespectful to staff, with little to no consequences.

As far as academic credibility is concerned, the more important your family, the more your marks are changed. Sheikhs who EARN poor marks have them increased despite the protest of teachers and department co-ordinators. Moreover, the school's principals are puppets with NO power, as they just pass on commands from the administrators who are not EDUCATORS.

Last I heard the Primary School was 13 teachers down, and all specialist teachers (PE, Music, Art) were acting as class teachers due to the school's inability to attract staff.

Of course, you can make reasonable money, live a comfortable life (outside of school) if you go there with the mentality that 'no else cares, so why should I?' However, if you care about the education of students, I would really REALLY recommend you do not teach at ENS.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Emirates National School (ENS) Abu Dhabi - A Real Nightmare!

There are plenty of threads about this place, but I just thought I would like to add this one:-

ENS looks impressive, and certainly has money, but you would be ill advised to consider working here. Morale is terrible and staff meetings (when they happen) are jaw-droppingly depressing, largely consisting of you being told how awful and useless you are. At one meeting the MD read out e-mails he had received from a member of staff who had been fired.

There is a bad 'us and them' situation with the management (mostly Jordanians), and there seems to be a clear trend to replace western staff with local hires (more Jordanians). Some departments have very few western staff left now.

Management overall is poor, with no clear definition and little in the way of forward planning. Clear incompetents have been promoted in some cases - including a HoD who revels in his many titles, but who does very little work at all.

Conditions of service and contracts are changed mid-agreement, and the school gets away with it - claiming to be above the law because of its royal connections.

So, think for yourself on this one. Is this awful setup the sort of school you'd want to join?