Pros
Salary goes a long way in Romania, with ability to save money Some great colleagues Freedom to teach creatively Minimum of classroom observations Small school of 800 total: primary and secondary Access to one of Europe's less developed and therefore most rewarding places to live
Cons
Appalling leadership Entrenched misogyny towards female staff Complete lack of interest in modern pedagogy Absolutely no consistency from one year to the next Miserably low salaries for the core local staff Requirement of some local staff to stay at work late or on weekends with insufficient holidays Extreme reluctance to provide CPD Lack of investment in resources Poorly maintained buildings Rubbish strewn on site adjacent to school and burgeoning population of rats Sub-standard sports foacilities No swimming pool Ghettoisation of pupils into ethic groups Hiring of some teachers with little or no teaching experience Some staff who consistently shirk their responsibilties to the pupils and colleagues Endemic staff absenteeism Some staff with extremely poor command of the English language A number of staff who are hired for dubious reasons Obvious use of school as visa factory Excessive number of pupils with little or no English, few shared cultural values Frequent preferential treatment of certain pupils by staff Absolutely no mixing between certain male and female pupils Provision of substandard school food Declaration as an eco-school with absolutely no commitment to either health food/banning junk snacks/phasing out bottled drinks Ageing and insufficient computer equipment (8 years old) Constant attempts to charge pupils for events or projects Misleading 'international' competitions which are, in fact, part of the school's own inward looking events Total inability to manage rude or disruptive pupils due to school's drive to maximise profits School bus drivers who are permitted to drive at dangerously high speeds (up to 90 kmh) Over-emphasis of Maths and Science, to the detriment of both other departments and subjects Absurd number of emails per day to avoid productive use of personal contact Wildly varying teaching styles, which are often at variance to acceptable UK or to international teaching standards Unqualified teaching staff Absolutely no attempt to retain staff through appropriate salary incentives Incompetent management Dreadful communication at management level Endemic tardiness of numerous teachers, to their own lessons and meetings Little or no attempt to conduct CRB type criminal background checks Adults allowed to enter school premises without ID Inconsistent staff support Completely inconsistent and unprofessional application of classroom management, endemic in Secondary Incompetent management of primary school
