# King's College, Alicante



## Tallisonmfl

Hi

I've just recently applied for a job at King's College Alicante. Can anyone tell me anything about the school, local area, accommodation or red tapes I may need to pass through?

I speak fluent German and French so don't think I will have a problem picking up Spanish.

Thanks


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## brocher

Tallisonmfl said:


> Hi
> 
> I've just recently applied for a job at King's College Alicante. Can anyone tell me anything about the school, local area, accommodation or red tapes I may need to pass through?
> 
> I speak fluent German and French so don't think I will have a problem picking up Spanish.
> 
> Thanks


I don't know anything about the Kings group, but just be aware that many International schools in Spain don't pay very well compared to th UK. 

The thing is these schools are private businesses so while parents may give a school a good report, behind the scenes staff are not always so happy - as they may have poor terms & conditions as the schools want to maximise profits.

If offered a job, check the contract very carefully, some of these schools only pay you from Sept - June (10 mth contract).

Good luck, and remember this is just general info, I don't know whether Kings is good or bad. Have a read of the TES forum and you will learn more about these possible pitfalls, and maybe more about Kings group specifically.


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## Chopera

I'm sure there have been questions about teaching in King's Madrid on this forum, so if you hunt around you might find someone teaching there.


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## plymyphil

Hi, having worked in a British school in Spain for seven years now I want to tell you that the advice of Brocher is outdated. I don't work for Kings and never have but I do know that they have an excellent reputation and are a member of the National Association of British Schools in Spain. (NABSS). When you are looking for schools in Spain, NABSS membership is a confirmation of quality.
A ten month contract is illegal and no school should be giving that. As a head of a three school chain and a consultant who works with other schools in Spain I have never met a school issuing ten month contracts to teachers so hopefully this is outdated information.
Pay in Spain for teachers is 22,500€ base but many schools may pay more than this. The 22,500€ is a standard minimum salary. Remember also that tax and national insurance in Spain are much lower than the UK (14% should cover the both) and the cost of accommodation significiantly lower too.
Whilst Brocher is right to advise caution and make sure that any questions you have about contract and salary are answered clearly I would not advocate scaremongering as my own fairly extensive experience of working in Spain is completely positive.
The website ukteacherinspain.com may give you more useful information about living and working as a teacher in Spain.


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## Pesky Wesky

plymyphil said:


> Hi, having worked in a British school in Spain for seven years now I want to tell you that the advice of Brocher is outdated. I don't work for Kings and never have but I do know that they have an excellent reputation and are a member of the National Association of British Schools in Spain. (NABSS). When you are looking for schools in Spain, NABSS membership is a confirmation of quality.
> A ten month contract is illegal and no school should be giving that. As a head of a three school chain and a consultant who works with other schools in Spain I have never met a school issuing ten month contracts to teachers so hopefully this is outdated information.
> Pay in Spain for teachers is 22,500€ base but many schools may pay more than this. The 22,500€ is a standard minimum salary. Remember also that tax and national insurance in Spain are much lower than the UK (14% should cover the both) and the cost of accommodation significiantly lower too.
> Whilst Brocher is right to advise caution and make sure that any questions you have about contract and salary are answered clearly I would not advocate scaremongering as my own fairly extensive experience of working in Spain is completely positive.
> The website ukteacherinspain.com may give you more useful information about living and working as a teacher in Spain.


The information Brocher gave is perhaps not entirely "up to date". However, I would ask if your information is complete. Not all schools are members of NABSS, although of course Kings is. I myself know a woman who worked in Spain last year and was not paid what you quote here and she was quite shocked at the facilities that were available.
I think many UK teachers think that private school = better and that is not necessarily so here in Spain. (I also have (Spanish) family members who study in private schools in the north of Spain and they are the first to admit that they lack in many areas and send their children there mainly to gain language skills)


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## plymyphil

Pesky Wesky said:


> The information Brocher gave is perhaps not entirely "up to date". However, I would ask if your information is complete. Not all schools are members of NABSS, although of course Kings is. I myself know a woman who worked in Spain last year and was not paid what you quote here and she was quite shocked at the facilities that were available.
> I think many UK teachers think that private school = better and that is not necessarily so here in Spain. (I also have (Spanish) family members who study in private schools in the north of Spain and they are the first to admit that they lack in many areas and send their children there mainly to gain language skills)


I would agree that as with schools anywhere there are good and bad. Like you say, not all schools have NABSS membership which is why I think that the NABSS website should be first port of call for somebody looking to work as a teacher in Spain. Do check that the school you are considering applying to has NABSS membership.

The pay I quoted is as set down by the convenio for teachers working in private education so it is a legal minimum. (The convenio is a government ratified document that sets out terms and conditions as well as pay for any given line of work in Spain.)

I would be surprised to find anybody buying education at a private international school purely for language when academies are selling lessons for as little as 4€ per hour. I'm sure the language is a part of what is bought but I think the independent market here must be offering an addition to language alone otherwise why fork out 400€ plus per month?

You are right to point out that the independent school market in Spain is very different to the UK. In the UK independent education is expensive by comparison. In Spain, people are warmer to the idea of there being a cost associated with education. Most parents for example buy their children's text books each year. With private schools such as those that are a part of NABSS, semi-private schools subsidised by the catholic church and independent schools falling outside of both systems there is a greater variety of what constitutes 'independent' education in Spain than can be found in the UK.

I guess my advice, which I think we would agree on, is twofold:
Firstly, if you are a UK teacher looking to teach a UK curriculum (or international curriculum such as PYP) then you should be exclusively looking at schools with NABSS membership.
Secondly, clarify all aspects of contract and pay at or before your interview. (Good schools will send this information out in advance of interview and will be extremely open about discussing the terms and conditions. If you feel like a school is hiding something, they probably are.)

Hope that sits as good advice with you PeskyWesky and that the original poster has a positive experience in looking for work in Spain. As I said in my first post, after seven years here, I am still enjoying it. Yes, like anywhere it has positives and negatives but Spain is a great place for UK teachers to live and work IMHO.


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## Chopera

plymyphil said:


> ...
> 
> I would be surprised to find anybody buying education at a private international school purely for language when academies are selling lessons for as little as 4€ per hour. I'm sure the language is a part of what is bought but I think the independent market here must be offering an addition to language alone otherwise why fork out 400€ plus per month?
> 
> ....



In Madrid most of the children at British schools are Spanish. In Kings it is 80%:

Preguntas Frecuentes | Kings College Chamartin

While some Spanish parents might see some benefit in the UK curriculum over the Spanish one, the main reason for sending their kids to British schools is for them to become bilingual in English. I've known a few complain about having to deal with half-terms and the fact their children don't get taught so much about Spain and it's history, but they plough on anyway because it's the only way they can expose their kids to enough English for them to be bilingual. Another reason for certain Spanish parents sending their kids to British schools is so they can be friends with the rich and famous, but I don't think this is the main reason.

Back on topic...

I know some English parents who sent their kids to Kings Madrid and they said the education was very good. They were delighted. Their only minor complaint was the range of A-level courses on offer compared to the UK.


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## brocher

plymyphil said:


> Hi, having worked in a British school in Spain for seven years now I want to tell you that the advice of Brocher is outdated. I don't work for Kings and never have but I do know that they have an excellent reputation and are a member of the National Association of British Schools in Spain. (NABSS). When you are looking for schools in Spain, NABSS membership is a confirmation of quality.
> A ten month contract is illegal and no school should be giving that. As a head of a three school chain and a consultant who works with other schools in Spain I have never met a school issuing ten month contracts to teachers so hopefully this is outdated information.
> Pay in Spain for teachers is 22,500€ base but many schools may pay more than this. The 22,500€ is a standard minimum salary. Remember also that tax and national insurance in Spain are much lower than the UK (14% should cover the both) and the cost of accommodation significiantly lower too.
> Whilst Brocher is right to advise caution and make sure that any questions you have about contract and salary are answered clearly I would not advocate scaremongering as my own fairly extensive experience of working in Spain is completely positive.
> The website ukteacherinspain.com may give you more useful information about living and working as a teacher in Spain.


I would expect a teacher to have a better level of reading ability.

At no point was I scaremongering, all I gave was some sensible advice about a few of the general, possible pitfalls. 

10 month contracts are still offered- a little reading time on the TES forum will confirm this. I made it quite clear that I had no knowledge of Kings specifically - and certainly did not suggest that they are guilty of such malpractice.

Many young, inexperienced teachers have fallen foul of low pay/ short contracts because they have not been given all the info until they have arrived, ready to start work in September.

Being a memeber of NABBS is no indication of how teachers fare.


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## xabiaxica

brocher said:


> I would expect a teacher to have a better level of reading ability.
> 
> At no point was I scaremongering, all I gave was some sensible advice about a few of the general, possible pitfalls.
> 
> 10 month contracts are still offered- a little reading time on the TES forum will confirm this. I made it quite clear that I had no knowledge of Kings specifically - and certainly did not suggest that they are guilty of such malpractice.
> 
> Many young, inexperienced teachers have fallen foul of low pay/ short contracts because they have not been given all the info until they have arrived, ready to start work in September.
> 
> Being a memeber of NABBS is no indication of how teachers fare.


being a member of NABSS doesn't guarantee a good school for the students, either, since it's voluntary membership

I happen to know that 10 month contracts are still offered, too - I know some people working them - they are simply 'seasonal' contracts


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## Pesky Wesky

plymyphil said:


> The pay I quoted is as set down by the convenio for teachers working in private education so it is a legal minimum. (The convenio is a government ratified document that sets out terms and conditions as well as pay for any given line of work in Spain.)
> 
> There are "convenios" for all professions, but unfortunately they are often not adhered to. In some professions more than others, but just go to infojobs, or actually ask people what their real salary is and what their real working conditions are and you'll find many, many breaches of "convenios", be it legal or not
> I would be surprised to find anybody buying education at a private international school purely for language when academies are selling lessons for as little as 4€ per hour. I'm sure the language is a part of what is bought but I think the independent market here must be offering an addition to language alone otherwise why fork out 400€ plus per month?
> Well, don't be surprised! People work their butts off to get a private education for their children. When I worked in a local academy I knew many cleaners and manual workers who invested all their money in their children's after school activities of which the most important was, without doubt, English. But you're not going to get bilingual going to an academy twice a week. Hello international/ private education. The private school holds "prestige" as well, which is all important to my family in Bilbao. I am actually shocked by how important it is to these highly intelligent, and on the whole perfectly pleasant people, and this is not confined to my northern Spain family. (Although I have to say I find they attach more importance to this there than in the other parts of Spain that I know).
> 
> I guess my advice, which I think we would agree on, is twofold:
> Firstly, if you are a UK teacher looking to teach a UK curriculum (or international curriculum such as PYP) then you should be exclusively looking at schools with NABSS membership.
> Secondly, clarify all aspects of contract and pay at or before your interview. (Good schools will send this information out in advance of interview and will be extremely open about discussing the terms and conditions. If you feel like a school is hiding something, they probably are.)
> I would have hoped that NABSS gave some guarantees, but here have been posts to the contrary on the forum. I don't know, as I only have experience with state schools in my area, and the Schools my nephews go to and I don't know if they are part of this organisation or not, so I reserve judgement
> 
> Hope that sits as good advice with you PeskyWesky and that the original poster has a positive experience in looking for work in Spain.
> It's not a question of advice sitting well with me or not; it's just giving people as complete information as possible
> As I said in my first post, after seven years here, I am still enjoying it.
> Have you worked at the same school since you've been here?
> Yes, like anywhere it has positives and negatives but Spain is a great place for UK teachers to live and work IMHO.
> I agree. The same in the state system, but you do have to go in with your eyes open, which I don't think the teacher I referred to before did. She was in a school on the coast and she started in January. The first question I would have asked would have been "How come you have a vacancy now?" and I don't think she did!


*And to get back to the OP*
I too have heard good things about King's College Madrid.


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## Tallisonmfl

Thank you for all your messages. I looked on here for information on Kings but couldn't find that much. I also looked and read lots of forums on TES.


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## Chopera

I searched for "Kings Madrid" and a few threads came up for people considering working there. Might be worth PMing them to see if you get an answer. Afraid I haven't seen many posts about Kings Alicante though.


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## xicoalc

I know this school very well, my other half is staff there and its a great school with superb results for the kids, excellent working conditions and an all round great and professional company. I cant PM you as you are new but post a few more things (think 5 posts) then send me a PM and I will be happy to talk to you privately about Kings!


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## Pesky Wesky

steve_in_spain said:


> I know this school very well, my other half is staff there and its a great school with superb results for the kids, excellent working conditions and an all round great and professional company. I cant PM you as you are new but post a few more things (think 5 posts) then send me a PM and I will be happy to talk to you privately about Kings!


Helloo!
It's been a while, hasn't it?


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## xicoalc

Pesky Wesky said:


> Helloo!
> It's been a while, hasn't it?


Hello Pesky

Yeah, I know... I was thinking the other day that I really should get back on the forum and catch up ..... and its been so long since I posted! Good to see some of the old faces are still around! How the devil are you?


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## Pesky Wesky

steve_in_spain said:


> Hello Pesky
> 
> Yeah, I know... I was thinking the other day that I really should get back on the forum and catch up ..... and its been so long since I posted! Good to see some of the old faces are still around! How the devil are you?


Fine.
Weathering the crisis, a bit worse off, but so much better than many others.
Today's weather could be seen as symbolic...
Thick fog which was moving nearer the city this morning, but now I can see blue skies from where I'm sitting, but not without its clouds.
Course, it could all be a crock of shi* too, couldn't it ??!
Hope everything's good with you too


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