Shanghai International School, China

UK, PYP, MYP Curriculum 2 years experience post qualification preferred NOR 800 ages5-16
Vacancies Secondary Special Education Teacher – As soon as possible Secondary Humanities Teacher (History, Geography, Business Studies) – January 2010

This school differs from most other international schools in that it operates under the auspices of, and in tandem with, a Chinese local stream school, sharing the premises and the resources. This is an IBO candidate school (Primary Years Programme) with their authorization as an IB World School scheduled early December and, as always with the PYP, the curriculum framework is derived from a variety of sources. Presently, the English is delivered through the UK National Curiculum whereas the Maths is through the Chinese and the Hong Kong curricula.

The school’s major profile lies in its bilingual (English and Chinese languages) approach to the curriculum, based on the principle of ‘East meets West”. In the Primary School, many lessons are team-taught simultaneously by two teachers - an English-language and a Chinese teacher. This ensures that Chinese nationals can access an international curriculum whilst at the same time maintaining their roots within the Chinese culture. It enables foreign nationals to obtain an international curriculum (IB) whilst at the same time learning the Chinese language and culture. There are presently 46 Western and Chinese teaching colleagues on the Hong Qiao campus.


At secondary level the Gu Bei campus follows the UK National Curriculum which leads to IGCSE at age 16 and the IB Diploma Programme at age 18. There are presently 16 international teachers there, and the school will expand to around 300 students and 30 teachers by 2010.

Students in both primary and secondary schools have a strong work ethic, are well-behaved and well-motivated. There is, however, a high proportion of students who do not speak English as a first language, a challenge which requires teachers to differentiate their teaching.

Benefits include: Health insurance is provided free of charge (covering the majority of services within China) but excluding dental care. An upgraded package (worldwide) can be purchased if desired. A return economy ticket can be refunded for each full year worked at SUIS, up to RMB 10,000. Your salary will be dependent on qualifications and experience. Teachers’ salaries are normally in the region of rmb 14,000 to rmb 26,000, which includes incremental allowances for responsibilities and housing allowance (see ‘rents’ below). These salaries are considered very favourable, considering the very low cost of living. The school enjoys a preferential tax status, where the first rmb 4,800 is tax-free and the next rmb 8,200 – rmb 10,000 (dependent on salary point) is tax-deductable. This means that expenses for rent, transport, restaurants, some incidental expenditure, etc. are tax-deductable. The majority of your salary is therefore disposable income. Rents are variable and will depend on personal preferences. Teachers normally spend between rmb 2,500 and rmb 6,000 per month on rent. For teachers recruited from abroad the school gives its western employees rmb 3,000 as housing allowance (included in salary details above). Teachers enjoy a very good standard of living in Shanghai, especially those who live like the Shanghainese (and not the ex-pat community).