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Anyone moving to Dubai Silicon Oasis to work in the new Gems school?

106K views 417 replies 89 participants last post by  maths.teacher 
#1 ·
Me & my husband are moving to Dubai in August to teach in the new Gems School in Silicon Oasis. I've managed to make contact with one other teacher who is moving out too, so I thought I'd put a message out to see if there's anyone else in the same boat...feel free to drop me a line if you are going out there and would like to get in touch before we make the big move! :)
 
#7 ·
Hey, sorry, only just realised I never replied to your response!
In terms of the process of contract, getting documents attested etc, we're pretty much done. Just counting down the days now :clap2:
What subjects/years do you two teach? I'll be the one & only music teacher in the school, and my husband is a PE teacher.
 
#3 ·
My son will be starting in yr 1 in sept @ new Gems school in DSO Perhaps you will be his teacher?! We move out in august. Good luck with your move and I hope you find more teachers on here. I have found quite a few parents of kids starting at new gems school on here so must be some teachers out there too otherwise the kids are gonna run riot!! :)
 
#6 ·
Hi Chubunga, I have just read your post and wondering if i could ask you some questions?? I am new to this and dont know how to private message yet. I have an interview for gems in Silicon Oasis tomorrow and i seen a few posts between you and another expat who are moving to Silicon Oasis and will be teaching in gems

Thanks
 
#8 ·
Hi :)
I can't seem to private message you - I think you have to have written 5 posts to be able to send or receive private messages.
If you like you can ask me questions on here, won't be able to give much in detail info though, seeing as everyone will be able to see!
Good luck with the interview - if you're interviewed by the principal Martin Clark, he is a really nice guy, really looking forward to having him as our new principal as of September :)
What subject/year do you teach?
 
#19 ·
Hello,

I am new to this site, but I have been offered a job in the new GEMS school and I was searching for info on the accommodation and was very excited to find this thread!
I think I will be accepting the job and moving out to Dubai in a months time to teach, all very new.
As a single girl would be business bay be a nice enough place to live?
Any advice welcome! Feel free to PM me!! :)
Hi Dubai-newbie!
I can't PM you until you've written 5 posts I think.
That's great you got offered the job, congrats! We are soooo excited :) Has the principal"s PA emailed you the info pack on accommodation yet? That gives loads of info about Business Bay...all the teachers are going to be given apartments in Bus. Bay - all in just 2 or 3 tower blocks, so we'll all be quite closely knit I would imagine. I'm going out with my husband but I know quite a few single people will be going out there to teach in the same school as us, and everyone seems very young - mid 20's mostly. I think you'll have a blast as a single girl!!
Hopefully see you there! (I'll be the only music teacher in the school so you'll soon figure out it's me!)
X
 
#22 ·
Hi Miss P,

Something similar happened to me with my Skype interview, there was a confusion with time, and I didn't know I was meant to be having an interview until I got a text, so don't worry, there seems to be some problems with emails and stuff.
Hi Dubai-Newbie,

thats good to know!! i have jst got an email and its been re-arranged now for tomorrow fingers crossed!! have u accepted the position? are u primary??

Miss P
 
#23 ·
Yeah I'm primary, haven't formally accepted it yet. What class would you be taking do you think?
Is business bay a nice enough place to live?

Chubunga- What was the answer to your question on whether you can wear bikinis in Dubai?? I never thought of asking that!!
business bay is nice its really central to like sheihk zayayed road one of the main roads in dubai and down town dubai there r a few hotels an restraunts an stuff right behind it, i lived in business bay just as it was up and coming half of it hadnt even been started yet. you can wear bikini's in dubai u only really need to cover up wen its ramadan which is august some time. are u gona accept? or u still thinking it over?? when i spoke to the recruitment person she said it would be lower primary or nursery stage which i think is foundation stage??
 
#25 ·
Hi

I have been offered a position in a GEMS school in Abu Dhabi starting in September 6th as well.
I have not formally accepted the position yet as I just received the contract.
Im my contract it states that if i leave prior to my 2 year contract ending I will need to pay the school back for the cost of the visa, flight to Abu Dhabi and 6000AED. Does anyone else have this in their contract?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
#26 ·
Yeah I'm primary, haven't formally accepted it yet. What class would you be taking do you think?
Is business bay a nice enough place to live?

Chubunga- What was the answer to your question on whether you can wear bikinis in Dubai?? I never thought of asking that!!
Hi Dubai-newbie :)
Bikinis are fine to wear on the beach. I think the general idea is dress modestly as in not thigh high skirts or cleavage-boosting tops! I'm stocking up on linen trousers etc to wear during that last week of Ramadan when we'll have just arrived, and also cotton kaftan-style tops, cos they cover your arms to your elbows and usually have high necklines.
Hope that helps!x
 
#27 ·
I think lower primary could be KS1 as well. Yeah I think I'm going to accept, it's a big move though. It helps that most people will be in the same boat though.
Forgot to say...Yes everyone will be in the same boat so I wouldn't worry about not meeting other ppl your age etc. I'm pretty sure the majority of teachers at the school will be in their 20's, and 95% of them coming out to Dubai from England for the first time. I'm coming with my husband but I'm only 27 and apart from one other couple I've heard from, the rest are all fun-loving singletons! :clap2:
 
#32 ·
Does anybody know if its normal for pay to be split into basic pay and living allowance.
My accommodation is paid for, yet my salary is broken into basic and allowance, split about half and half.
just wondering why this is and if it's normal in Dubai teaching contracts?

There's alot of info to get my head around!!
I asked the exact same question when we got our contracts! The principal told me we'll receive the total amount (basic + allowance) each month, and that it's just broken down for some bureaucratic reason. He said we shouldn't worry about it :)
 
#34 ·
Great, thanks chubunga!
Do you mind me asking if your utilities will be paid for? Mine aren't and I was wondering if its something I should ask for?
Not sure if haggling over these kind of things is expected or not?!
No ours aren't and I don't think you'll get very far with haggling over it...as Gems is such a huge organisation, they have their own pay scale and set contracts, which I don't think they'll be willing to budge on, considering how many schools they run.
We didn't ask for utilities to be paid for. Would have been nice but we figured it was still quite a good deal, we'll still hopefully save half our salary each month, and have plenty to live on. Hope it actually works out that way when we're there!!
 
#38 ·
Hi there, I am a head of drama interested in moving to Dubai to teach asap. I have my heart set on it actually. As you all either have jobs or very nearly do (goodluck!!) I just wondered how you first went about it? I'm trying to update my CV and get the ball rolling as we speak!! Thank you so much! Natalie
 
#51 ·
i've just looked at the images and been attached to google for the past 2 days! i presume you'll be having a 1 bed apartment too like me? i cant believe the facilities there its amazing!! do you fly on the 20th? I have been on emirates page and we are allowed a 30kg baggage allowance! eek! packing is going to be hard!!!!!
 
#54 ·
On another note, has anybody else heard that you have to get a medical to get your visa and you get checked for hep B, and get deported if you have it? I don't have anything like that but want to get vaccinated for it, but I'm afraid that it would then be in my system for the medical.
Any advice on what others are doing would be great! I'm prob over thinking things!!
Haven't heard anything about needing vaccinations - I know we'll all have to have medicals when we get there but that's the norm for working in any new country. We're lucky we didn't have to do it here ourselves! My sister's moving to teach English in China and she had to fork out hundreds of pounds to cover the cost herself of having loads of medical checks here before she leaves.

Dunno about you guys but I'm literally counting the hours til the 20th!!! :plane:
 
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