Aihua

See also:  Wages and Benefits, and Visa Application Procedures.

 

Pick up

As soon as an incoming foreign teacher books a flight, he must send the flight details to the Foreign Headmaster and the Foreign Affairs Officer.  The Foreign Affairs Officer must assure that Administration has temporary accommodation ready for the new teacher, and that it is clean and tidy.  Utilities should be paid up.  There should be drinking water available, and there must be enough electricity to last for the first day at least.

The Foreign Affairs Officer will arrange for the school bus and an English speaking member of staff, preferably a senior foreign member of staff, to meet the incoming teacher at the airport.   They must prepare a sign with the teacher’s name on it, so that the teacher can easily recognize them at the airport.

The new teacher will be delivered to his temporary accommodation.  The teacher should receive a welcome pack.  At this time, arrangements should be made with the teacher to meet the Foreign Headmaster, to receive orientation, and to register at the police station.

You are likely to first arrive at Aihua during a busy time for our school, as we prepare for a new term, with new students and new foreign and Chinese staff, who all need induction and orientation.  A function of this manual is to help new members of the teaching department to adjust to school as soon as possible.

We will assign someone to help you buy a cell phone as soon as possible.  It is important for you to have a working cell phone regularly charged and topped up with credits, particularly when you first arrive at Aihua.  During weekday working hours, please have your cell phone turned on, and have credit available.

Accommodation

Aihua holds the leases on a number of two bedroom apartments.  When new teachers arrive, our first choice is to put teachers into these apartments, if a room is available.  If school accommodation is not available when the teacher arrives, they will be placed in Jingyuan hotel, until other arrangements are made.  Jingyuan hotel is a four star hotel, and it is 10 minutes walk from the school.  The school will cover the costs of the teacher’s stay in Jingyuan hotel.

The school does not pay accommodation allowance.  If a teacher stays in accommodation held by Aihua, they are responsible for all costs involved in the rental of the apartment, including utilities.  These costs will be divided between two teachers sharing.

If a teacher prefers to live alone, or if Aihua held accommodation is not available, the school will help the teacher to find and rent an apartment.  In such cases, the lease will be taken out in the teacher’s name.  The teacher will be responsible for the deposit and down payment, but if the teacher cannot cover this cost, the school will provide a loan, and the teacher and the school will work out a repayment schedule.

The school will provide maintenance support for all teachers, whether they are in a school apartment or not.

Orientation

Within the first day of arrival, the teacher should meet with the Foreign Headmaster and the Regional Service Director.  There will be a welcome dinner for the new teacher within the first week of arrival.  During the first week, the foreign teachers will receive training and one on one tutoring from the Teacher Trainer.  During the first week the foreign teacher will also receive an introduction to the school, teaching material, a locker key and a teacher’s manual.

Teaching Material

Each term, teachers will be issued their course material at least one week before the first day of classes by the school librarian. Five hundred is held back from the first payment made to the teacher as a deposit on this material.  Teaching material should be returned to the librarian within one week after the completion of a term.

Teachers should be sure that they have received all materials available for any program that they are teaching, including tapes, folders flashcards, CDs etc.  Teacher’s books are available for most of our programs, but for many of these programs these books are considered reference books that may not leave the school.

Before beginning to teach teachers should preview the programs teaching material, and familiarize themselves all supplementary material.

Chinese lessons

Aihua will provide Chinese lessons for its foreign teachers.  During our two main teaching terms, Spring and Autumn, we will provide one hour of teaching from Monday to Friday, for three levels of students.  The foreign teachers must arrange the timetables for the Chinese lessons with the coordinator of the Chinese teaching program.  Only one lesson will be provided for each level each day, so teachers must agree amongst themselves upon a regular timetable.  Once a timetable is agreed upon, classes may only be rescheduled if the cancellation is the fault of the school.

The school will suggests that The New Practical Chinese Reader is used as teaching material for these classes.  This book goes from beginner to upper intermediate.  Students will need to pay for these books themselves, although the school will order them.  There are also a number of online resources available for learning Chinese, such as: skritter.com, chinesepod.com and livemocha.com.

The school will support foreign teachers in their endeavors to learn Chinese, but ultimately these Chinese lessons are what the foreign teachers make of them.