Gotten an offer & contract from Beijing Zhongde School. Can't find mucH about it?

[Jah456]

Hi,

I've gotten an offer to teach first grade at Beijing Zhongde School in Chaoyang qu district in Beijing. Can't find much about it which worries me. They say the have been around for 10 years with 10 foreign teachers etc. Also, in the interview I told them I can do 1 year contract, and prefer first grade with 20 to 25 students in the class. They checked my references and offered me the position. But when I read the contract it says 2years! Then I was emailed saying that they might have two 1st grade classes. If so, I'll be the homeroom teacher, if not I'll be teaching 4th or 5th grade. (Huh?! Sounds like confusion)

Am I being setup for the Okey doke and trust my instincts to run like heck? Or, should maybe there's a typo on the length of my contract (feb 2017 to feb 2019) and that I should not assume that the school is unorganized etc?

[ChTTay]

Why not just ask the school directly about the contract length and see what they say?

I work in a school where the contracts for foreign teachers are 2 years as standard but they're 5 for Chinese teachers. Everyone has the 2 year contract but it's fine if you leave after 1 year.

As for which grade you'll teach, it doesn't sound unreasonable if they don't know for sure just yet. It might depend on new students, students leaving, teachers staying or leaving etc

Then again, if you don't trust who you're talking to then look elsewhere. I'd at least ask them about all this first and see what kind of answers you get. If they are good answers that put your mind at ease then no worries.

[Jah456]

Thank you so much for your advice!

Jah456