Anybody else out there starting at Al Khor International School in September 2010? Would be good to make some contacts in advance, share info etc.
Already have a colleague there that I used to work with (2 in fact) but keen to hear from others too.
Thats ridiculous, i don't know of this school but never heard of such a thing from any company. Its a scam. Doesn't this school have a website, there shud be some numbers to contact them.
I have been hired as an English teacher, and coming from Canada. The Head of Human resources said that the school now has a new rule about the cost of paperwork, visa/resident card etc. The new employees must pay for their papers before the plane ticket is sent to them.
Has anyone heard of this before? It's making me suspicious.
I have asked for a contact phone number and yes one has been sent, but then again, anyone can answer a phone.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can make sure this is not a scam before I pay the 850.00 for the work papers, other than just phoning.
I have been hired as an English teacher, and coming from Canada. The Head of Human resources said that the school now has a new rule about the cost of paperwork, visa/resident card etc. The new employees must pay for their papers before the plane ticket is sent to them.
Has anyone heard of this before? It's making me suspicious.
I have asked for a contact phone number and yes one has been sent, but then again, anyone can answer a phone.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can make sure this is not a scam before I pay the 850.00 for the work papers, other than just phoning.
Trying to find out some more information about what the School itslef is like (Husband in process of appling for a job there) - would love to hear your thoughts???
It's the max weight you can take with you on the plane. It was about 25 KG (see last year thread). I used IFS last year for all my stuff (90 kg). I took as luggage only necessities as clothes and one bed and pillow cover that I can use for at least one month before I received my shipped boxes. You will have at home a washing and a drying machine, so you don't need that much clothes...
Yes, we r now on holiday, and most of my colleagues and I r leaving to enjoy and relax in a moderate climate comparing to the high temperature here.
Wish u all a nice break and flight to Qatar on September.
Hi my husband and I are also going to Al khor. What flight are you on from NZ. We leave on the 4th Sept. We live in Hamilton and Geoff is teaching English in the secondary and I'm teaching year 1. We have both resigned from our jobs and are having an extended break. How about you?
Yes, I'll be taking my laptop. Can't really decide what else. I've a 23" TV / Monitor that packs quite small in it's box which I might bring with me (depending on baggage allowance). Other than that I've no idea. Like I said; I've never flown before!
Slim93, thank you for your prompt replies and useful information. You only have one more day of work, I'm jealous!! :-) I'm sure you have lots of things planned, whatever you get up to, hope you have a great summer holiday.
Deepblu: There r no tax duties here unless you import a massive thing as a boat or a car.
For the PC items and laptops I advise you to ship it here. The laptop from school is a bit old for personal use if you ICT passion for whatever task you r doing.
For wardrobes and all accomodation equipment you don't need anything except bed covers and a TV that u can buy here for a fair price during sales. That's the lovely bit of the package
I was thinking about getting all the expensive parts from here and buy a shuttle tower over there. I'll see how much room I have left when I start packing. The shipping companies don't particularly like shipping TV/monitors due to their fragile nature.
Pete, as you're the SIMS, I presume you're into your gadgets and tech, are you taking a PC/laptop with you or just gonna use the one AKIS provides? We received our eTicket too and really looking forward to it, all that remains is the visa.
Slim93, Aramex sounds great, is there any import duty on top of the shipping charge when it arrives in Qatar?
With regards to the accommodation, on the inventory, it doesn't mention anything about a wardrobe, is there built-in one?
Sinker: 90% of the food is imported. So you can find European products easily here. The great local food here in ALKHOR is seafood fresh and cheap from the port straight from the boats.
Other local food is some milky products, but at the same price as Europe.
Deepblu; I was thinking of one of those huge Glastonbury style flags for inside the terminal; that would bring us all together! Perhaps a bit impractical on the plane though. Maybe lash it to the tail-fin...
You could probably bring the more expensive PC parts with you; CPU, RAM, Graphics card, HDD, possibly even a motherboard, then get a case, TFT etc out there then build it up. Assuming, that is, that parts are cheaper over here.
Slim93; Doha it is. What's the food like over there, in the supermarkets? Is the locally sourced produce OK?
Well, I've just received my eticket for the flight; 10am departure, arrival 7pm. Can't wait!
sinker: The supermarket in Al-Khor is far from ready. The construction is on hold for whatever reason, and I believe that we might wait for at least 3 years... So yes, Wr still go to Doha for shopping but it's about 40 minutes only from the community.
deepblu: I use ARAMEX in Doha to buy from UK and USA. It's a good service and the price is reasonable.
For license I didn't need the counterpart but I will advise you to bring it just in case of sudden changes in rules and regulations.
For summer holiday, yes, it is starting from the coming Thursday and as you pointed out, the long holiday is worth the extra mile of work during the acadamic year.
I'm gonna bring my camera and lenses with me and the tripod, light stand, umbrella etc gonna ship it using IFS. I was planning on buying some PC parts over there and building a PC instead of taking my desktop with me, I need something powerful for photo editing. I presume PC parts will be expensive.
Slim93,
Have you any experience of using Aramex? Do I need to bring my paper counterpart with the photo driving licence to get a Qatari licence?
Pete,
We're departing at 10am and due to arrive there at 7pm. We'll have to have some kind of sign to say AKIS so we know each other! lol. A shopping centre in Al Khor would be great, I read about it somewhere.
Slim93, do you break up on Thursday for summer holiday? I've still got 3 weeks, I guess getting more holidays balances extra work.
Deepblu; I don't know what block my appartment is in yet (I was only offered the job on Monday!). Fish market; sounds good! My flight leaves at 10am, is that the same flight as you?
Slim93; great to hear from you! I heard there's a new shopping centre being built in Al Khor, is that true? Or do you still shop in Doha?
Sounds like the restaurants will come in useful when we get there, until we've settled in and had a chance to go shopping.
I guess I'll need to have a really good think about what to take with me on the flight, and what to arrange to transport out there at a later date. Seeing as I've never actually flown before I'm really not sure what I could take with me anyway.
My first year is going nicely and pupils here r quite nice overall. I work a lot more than I used to in England, but it is worth the extra mile. I advise you to bring your photo equipment, it will not cost you that much using IFS.
Hi Pete, it's great that someone else is flying from Manchester too. Which block is your apartment in? We've been allocated block D and it's a 2 bedroom apartment also, wouldn't mind a 3 bedroom seeing as we're a couple! :-)
Subsidised restaurants sounds good, I hope they serve spicy food but we also prefer to eat home cooked meal most of the time. There is a fish market nearby which should be handy for fresh seafood.
Slim93,
Thank you for taking the time to answer. How are you finding it a year on?
I like photography and all things techy, it's gonna cost me a bit buying new gadgets in Qatar it seems, I'll try to bring what I can.
There r subsidised restaurants in the community but hold your breath, the quality (flavour and variety) is quite poor. It's nice for a while but you might need to cook for yourself as Sinker is intending to do. Food is not that cheaper than Europe depending on your trolley at home. Concerning me, I pay more because of some products I am used to, as cheese, milky products, salmon, vegetables...
Apart from that, the apartment is great and no worries about any electricity, water, council tax and other bills. The school is just 5 minutes from home, so no traffic jam or other nightmares of this sort. Electronic here is more expensive than Europe; I mean mobile phones, PC and so...
And at last, if you play guitar, you better bring your equipment with you because you won’t find it here, or if you do, you will have to pay twice the price.
For the transporter, use the one mentioned in last year treads. It’s the cheapest and the service is good.
I'm also heading out from Manchester on the 5th September to start work at AKIS. I'll be the new SIMS Manager (but don't hold that against me!). I currently live in Sheffield but work in Leeds.
As for accommodation; I'm single and will have a 2 bed air conditioned appartment. I've seen an inventory list and it's pretty well furnished (just missing a TV!). It also comes with a covered parking space.
I too have been trying to find out how much food etc costs but I'm not having much luck either. I was told you can order subsidised meals from various places in the community, but I want to cook myself.
I'm glad I came across this thread, a lot of the other information seems very dated and last year's thread is inactive. My wife and I will be starting there in Sept, I'll be teaching a year 4 class and my wife will be working as a TA/LA or some admin post. We're from Manchester, UK and really looking forward to it. Received the flight booking confirmation today and due to fly out from Manchester on 5th Sept.
I haven't managed to find up-to-date information regarding cost of grocery and everyday items. I understand a lot of the electronics items like computer hardware, photographic equipment can be more expensive than UK. It's gonna be difficult for us to decide what to take with us and what to buy over there.
Have you guys been allocated accommodation and if so, what is it like. It would be nice to see some photos.
I think there are a couple of more people starting from UK and it would be nice to make contact.
yes I saw that posting about the teachers all heading out on the same flight. I imagine there are just as many this year but I guess they haven't found this thread/found this website/want to remain anonymous!
We have 2 kids, both boys (13 & 9), we haven't told them yet, that is a job for this holiday. Not quite sure what their reaction will be but I am sure they will be pleased to be closer to their family. We have booked flights to the UK at the end of July and will be spending 5 weeks there before getting the plane to Doha.
Gill is trained as a junior teacher but hasn't done that for a while. I think she is hoping to get something in the school once we get there, I'm sure it makes more financial sense for them to employ people who are already there, we'll see.
The guy I know there who is head of Geography says that because his wife is also teaching there they have found child care quite tough and have struggled with getting the home/work balance right. So I think it will make sense for Gill to be around when the kids finish school to start with. All a bit of an unknown.
Have been looking at supermarket sites for food prices and it looks to be half the price of here which is good.
Flights on the other hand are pretty expensive. Flights to the UK at Xmas for the 4 of us comes to QR10500 which is a sizeable chunk, not cheap like EasyJet.
Am wondering how easy running will be in those temperatures! Probably have to run in the middle of the night.
Any other thoughts? Or questions that I can ask Nigel for you?
No, we don't know of anyone else going there. Did you read the forum from last year of the bunch of teachers leaving from the UK? I found that quite interesting.
Do you have any kids? Will your wife be working too? Do you know what the child care options are?
My husband was born in Ireland but grew up in Coventry and has been here for 4 years. We have been talking for ages about working overseas and thought we would just give it a go and see if anything came up. The Middle East sounded good from a tax free point of view and also because it was only one flight away from the UK. We plan to visit our relatives there quite often.
I guess most of the stuff that I have learned so far about AKIS and Qatar is probably the same as you. Actually finding out stuff seems difficult compared to most things on the internet. Lots of stuff seems to be out of date and this forum seems mostly full of people that struggle to put a sentence together (for whatever reason).
We have found NZ to be an interesting experience but we miss our family and friends and financially we have been worse off. Food is especially expensive here, so it is good to find it cheaper there. I have been told that because the restaurants in the community are subsidised you can eat well for a couple of dollars!
The school seems to have the same 'politics' issues of any school, so I guess it all depends on who you end up being mates with as to how bearable it is.
Where in the UK is your husband from and what prompted the move?
If you want to use email rather than this hopeless website my address is
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Thats ridiculous, i don't know of this school but never heard of such a thing from any company. Its a scam. Doesn't this school have a website, there shud be some numbers to contact them.
Hello everyone,
I have been hired as an English teacher, and coming from Canada. The Head of Human resources said that the school now has a new rule about the cost of paperwork, visa/resident card etc. The new employees must pay for their papers before the plane ticket is sent to them.
Has anyone heard of this before? It's making me suspicious.
I have asked for a contact phone number and yes one has been sent, but then again, anyone can answer a phone.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can make sure this is not a scam before I pay the 850.00 for the work papers, other than just phoning.
thank you
Hello everyone,
I have been hired as an English teacher, and coming from Canada. The Head of Human resources said that the school now has a new rule about the cost of paperwork, visa/resident card etc. The new employees must pay for their papers before the plane ticket is sent to them.
Has anyone heard of this before? It's making me suspicious.
I have asked for a contact phone number and yes one has been sent, but then again, anyone can answer a phone.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can make sure this is not a scam before I pay the 850.00 for the work papers, other than just phoning.
thank you
its awesome, school is great people wonderful. apply
Hi,
Trying to find out some more information about what the School itslef is like (Husband in process of appling for a job there) - would love to hear your thoughts???
Noz
It's the max weight you can take with you on the plane. It was about 25 KG (see last year thread). I used IFS last year for all my stuff (90 kg). I took as luggage only necessities as clothes and one bed and pillow cover that I can use for at least one month before I received my shipped boxes. You will have at home a washing and a drying machine, so you don't need that much clothes...
Yes, we r now on holiday, and most of my colleagues and I r leaving to enjoy and relax in a moderate climate comparing to the high temperature here.
Wish u all a nice break and flight to Qatar on September.
Hi my husband and I are also going to Al khor. What flight are you on from NZ. We leave on the 4th Sept. We live in Hamilton and Geoff is teaching English in the secondary and I'm teaching year 1. We have both resigned from our jobs and are having an extended break. How about you?
Jill
Hi Deeblu,
Yes, I'll be taking my laptop. Can't really decide what else. I've a 23" TV / Monitor that packs quite small in it's box which I might bring with me (depending on baggage allowance). Other than that I've no idea. Like I said; I've never flown before!
Slim93; what is the baggage allowance?
Pete.
Slim93, thank you for your prompt replies and useful information. You only have one more day of work, I'm jealous!! :-) I'm sure you have lots of things planned, whatever you get up to, hope you have a great summer holiday.
Deepblu: There r no tax duties here unless you import a massive thing as a boat or a car.
For the PC items and laptops I advise you to ship it here. The laptop from school is a bit old for personal use if you ICT passion for whatever task you r doing.
For wardrobes and all accomodation equipment you don't need anything except bed covers and a TV that u can buy here for a fair price during sales. That's the lovely bit of the package
I was thinking about getting all the expensive parts from here and buy a shuttle tower over there. I'll see how much room I have left when I start packing. The shipping companies don't particularly like shipping TV/monitors due to their fragile nature.
Pete, as you're the SIMS, I presume you're into your gadgets and tech, are you taking a PC/laptop with you or just gonna use the one AKIS provides? We received our eTicket too and really looking forward to it, all that remains is the visa.
Slim93, Aramex sounds great, is there any import duty on top of the shipping charge when it arrives in Qatar?
With regards to the accommodation, on the inventory, it doesn't mention anything about a wardrobe, is there built-in one?
Sinker: 90% of the food is imported. So you can find European products easily here. The great local food here in ALKHOR is seafood fresh and cheap from the port straight from the boats.
Other local food is some milky products, but at the same price as Europe.
Deepblu; I was thinking of one of those huge Glastonbury style flags for inside the terminal; that would bring us all together! Perhaps a bit impractical on the plane though. Maybe lash it to the tail-fin...
You could probably bring the more expensive PC parts with you; CPU, RAM, Graphics card, HDD, possibly even a motherboard, then get a case, TFT etc out there then build it up. Assuming, that is, that parts are cheaper over here.
Slim93; Doha it is. What's the food like over there, in the supermarkets? Is the locally sourced produce OK?
Well, I've just received my eticket for the flight; 10am departure, arrival 7pm. Can't wait!
Pete.
sinker: The supermarket in Al-Khor is far from ready. The construction is on hold for whatever reason, and I believe that we might wait for at least 3 years... So yes, Wr still go to Doha for shopping but it's about 40 minutes only from the community.
deepblu: I use ARAMEX in Doha to buy from UK and USA. It's a good service and the price is reasonable.
For license I didn't need the counterpart but I will advise you to bring it just in case of sudden changes in rules and regulations.
For summer holiday, yes, it is starting from the coming Thursday and as you pointed out, the long holiday is worth the extra mile of work during the acadamic year.
I'm gonna bring my camera and lenses with me and the tripod, light stand, umbrella etc gonna ship it using IFS. I was planning on buying some PC parts over there and building a PC instead of taking my desktop with me, I need something powerful for photo editing. I presume PC parts will be expensive.
Slim93,
Have you any experience of using Aramex? Do I need to bring my paper counterpart with the photo driving licence to get a Qatari licence?
Pete,
We're departing at 10am and due to arrive there at 7pm. We'll have to have some kind of sign to say AKIS so we know each other! lol. A shopping centre in Al Khor would be great, I read about it somewhere.
Slim93, do you break up on Thursday for summer holiday? I've still got 3 weeks, I guess getting more holidays balances extra work.
Hi,
Deepblu; I don't know what block my appartment is in yet (I was only offered the job on Monday!). Fish market; sounds good! My flight leaves at 10am, is that the same flight as you?
Slim93; great to hear from you! I heard there's a new shopping centre being built in Al Khor, is that true? Or do you still shop in Doha?
Sounds like the restaurants will come in useful when we get there, until we've settled in and had a chance to go shopping.
I guess I'll need to have a really good think about what to take with me on the flight, and what to arrange to transport out there at a later date. Seeing as I've never actually flown before I'm really not sure what I could take with me anyway.
This should be fun!
Pete.
My first year is going nicely and pupils here r quite nice overall. I work a lot more than I used to in England, but it is worth the extra mile. I advise you to bring your photo equipment, it will not cost you that much using IFS.
Hi Pete, it's great that someone else is flying from Manchester too. Which block is your apartment in? We've been allocated block D and it's a 2 bedroom apartment also, wouldn't mind a 3 bedroom seeing as we're a couple! :-)
Subsidised restaurants sounds good, I hope they serve spicy food but we also prefer to eat home cooked meal most of the time. There is a fish market nearby which should be handy for fresh seafood.
Slim93,
Thank you for taking the time to answer. How are you finding it a year on?
I like photography and all things techy, it's gonna cost me a bit buying new gadgets in Qatar it seems, I'll try to bring what I can.
There r subsidised restaurants in the community but hold your breath, the quality (flavour and variety) is quite poor. It's nice for a while but you might need to cook for yourself as Sinker is intending to do. Food is not that cheaper than Europe depending on your trolley at home. Concerning me, I pay more because of some products I am used to, as cheese, milky products, salmon, vegetables...
Apart from that, the apartment is great and no worries about any electricity, water, council tax and other bills. The school is just 5 minutes from home, so no traffic jam or other nightmares of this sort. Electronic here is more expensive than Europe; I mean mobile phones, PC and so...
And at last, if you play guitar, you better bring your equipment with you because you won’t find it here, or if you do, you will have to pay twice the price.
For the transporter, use the one mentioned in last year treads. It’s the cheapest and the service is good.
You r welcome if you need any more information
Good Luck
Salim
Me too!
I'm also heading out from Manchester on the 5th September to start work at AKIS. I'll be the new SIMS Manager (but don't hold that against me!). I currently live in Sheffield but work in Leeds.
As for accommodation; I'm single and will have a 2 bed air conditioned appartment. I've seen an inventory list and it's pretty well furnished (just missing a TV!). It also comes with a covered parking space.
I too have been trying to find out how much food etc costs but I'm not having much luck either. I was told you can order subsidised meals from various places in the community, but I want to cook myself.
I'm really looking forward to it!
Pete.
I'm glad I came across this thread, a lot of the other information seems very dated and last year's thread is inactive. My wife and I will be starting there in Sept, I'll be teaching a year 4 class and my wife will be working as a TA/LA or some admin post. We're from Manchester, UK and really looking forward to it. Received the flight booking confirmation today and due to fly out from Manchester on 5th Sept.
I haven't managed to find up-to-date information regarding cost of grocery and everyday items. I understand a lot of the electronics items like computer hardware, photographic equipment can be more expensive than UK. It's gonna be difficult for us to decide what to take with us and what to buy over there.
Have you guys been allocated accommodation and if so, what is it like. It would be nice to see some photos.
I think there are a couple of more people starting from UK and it would be nice to make contact.
Have not spoken to Nigel in a while but will try next weekend, how are your preparations going?
No problem, I'll ask him for more details and pass them on.
Hi Andy,
Good luck telling the kids. I hope they think it is good news. I am guessing your kids will be going to AKIS?
Yes, running could be interesting. Might just have to settle for the treadmill in the gym for most of the year.
What did you mean that your friends have found child care tough? That is my only concern about the move over there, that the kids are going to be ok.
I know there is the AKIS Nursery, would you mind asking your friend about child care for under 2 years?
Enjoy the holidays in NZ!
:)
Hi Mel,
yes I saw that posting about the teachers all heading out on the same flight. I imagine there are just as many this year but I guess they haven't found this thread/found this website/want to remain anonymous!
We have 2 kids, both boys (13 & 9), we haven't told them yet, that is a job for this holiday. Not quite sure what their reaction will be but I am sure they will be pleased to be closer to their family. We have booked flights to the UK at the end of July and will be spending 5 weeks there before getting the plane to Doha.
Gill is trained as a junior teacher but hasn't done that for a while. I think she is hoping to get something in the school once we get there, I'm sure it makes more financial sense for them to employ people who are already there, we'll see.
The guy I know there who is head of Geography says that because his wife is also teaching there they have found child care quite tough and have struggled with getting the home/work balance right. So I think it will make sense for Gill to be around when the kids finish school to start with. All a bit of an unknown.
Have been looking at supermarket sites for food prices and it looks to be half the price of here which is good.
Flights on the other hand are pretty expensive. Flights to the UK at Xmas for the 4 of us comes to QR10500 which is a sizeable chunk, not cheap like EasyJet.
Am wondering how easy running will be in those temperatures! Probably have to run in the middle of the night.
Any other thoughts? Or questions that I can ask Nigel for you?
Hi Andy,
I will drop you an email soon.
No, we don't know of anyone else going there. Did you read the forum from last year of the bunch of teachers leaving from the UK? I found that quite interesting.
Do you have any kids? Will your wife be working too? Do you know what the child care options are?
My husband was born in Ireland but grew up in Coventry and has been here for 4 years. We have been talking for ages about working overseas and thought we would just give it a go and see if anything came up. The Middle East sounded good from a tax free point of view and also because it was only one flight away from the UK. We plan to visit our relatives there quite often.
Mel :)
Hi Mel,
I guess most of the stuff that I have learned so far about AKIS and Qatar is probably the same as you. Actually finding out stuff seems difficult compared to most things on the internet. Lots of stuff seems to be out of date and this forum seems mostly full of people that struggle to put a sentence together (for whatever reason).
We have found NZ to be an interesting experience but we miss our family and friends and financially we have been worse off. Food is especially expensive here, so it is good to find it cheaper there. I have been told that because the restaurants in the community are subsidised you can eat well for a couple of dollars!
The school seems to have the same 'politics' issues of any school, so I guess it all depends on who you end up being mates with as to how bearable it is.
Where in the UK is your husband from and what prompted the move?
If you want to use email rather than this hopeless website my address is
[email protected]
Found anyone else going yet?
Hi Andy,
Good to hear from you. My husband is from the UK too, I am Australian. We will be going with our two young kids (2 years and 5 months)
Thats good to hear that food is cheaper there. Anything else interesting you have read?
How long have you been in NZ? Enjoyed it?
The Community sounds great doesn't it! Seems like there will be lots of things to do.
Mel
Hi there!
Exciting isn't it?
We are coming from New Zealand although we are poms. This is supposed to be a stop off on the way back to the UK.
I'm going to teach Technology. The Principal (Lyal) was the principal who employed me here!
Apparently the compound is good, the place to be if you have kids.
Been doing as much research as I can, been comparing prices in the supermarkets there and here and am pleased to find it is much cheaper there.
Andy
Hi,
My husband and I both have jobs at AKIS for September 2010. We are coming from Melbourne, Australia and are both PE teachers.
We are both really excited about it. Thats great you have some contacts there already. What do they say about living in the Community and the school?
What do you teach and where are you from?
Nice to make contact with you :)
Bump^