A teacher's typical day
The teacher arrives at 7:45 am, ready to attend the morning assembly at 8:00 am and which lasts for 15 minutes.
There are 9 periods per day in which the students study, each period lasts for 40 minutes, and the English teacher teaches 4 or 5 of these periods per day. The subjects for the English teachers are: English, Thematic English, Math, P.E., Music, Science, Art, History and Geography, and Computer. Which subjects a teacher actually teaches will depend on class year, the teachers qualification and experience, and a teacher's aptitudes.
First class of the day is at
8:15am, morning break is 10 minutes, lunch is at 11:55 am and the final class
ends at 2:55, or 3:35 if you are scheduled for an elective class that day. A
teacher is not scheduled to teach 5
classes consecutively, so there is time
between periods to relax a while and fulfill the other part of a teachers duties
(marking, preparation, class records, etc.). If a teacher is not scheduled
for an elective class on that particular day (3 days a week minimum), then
Primary 2 classroom
work ends officially at 3:00pm; on elective days work ends officially at 3:35pm. Each teacher is scheduled one day a week to start work at 7:30am for greeting duties.
The school works a five day week, i.e. Monday through Friday. Twice a semester there is a late afternoon/early evening PTA meeting to attend, and there a total of approx 6 Saturday or Sunday school events per year that teachers are required to attend - this usually means 2 or 3 hours of your time on each occasion.
The academic year is scheduled as:
Semester 1 - 1st week May to last week September
Semester 2 part 1 - Last week October to third week December
Semester 2 part 2 - Second week January to last week March
There is also an elective (for students) Summer semester, it is scheduled for mid-March to mid-April.
So, you ask, when are the holidays? Teachers are scheduled for holidays at certain times during the semester breaks - in fact, a teacher with us for the firrst year gets 4 weeks annual leave plus Thai National holidays, which totals approx 7 weeks per year. Teachers who stay with us for a second, and any subsequent years, get 5 weeks annual leave plus Thai National holidays, which totals approx 8 weeks per year. Second year teachers also receive a larger financial end-contract bonus, but for further and more specific details regarding reward packages you can request a copy of our contract by emailing us.