I spent an academic year teaching at the American School Foundation of Chiapas in Tuxtla Gutierrez from 2015 - 2016.

I worked at the Kindergarten and my Principal was phenomenal, very relaxed, kind, and supportive. My teaching experience was fantastic, I learned so much in this role, and my students were superb. I taught according to the IB Primary Years Program so there was some structure to build on but also a lot of freedom within that to create my own lesson plans, probably not ideal for a teacher in their first year though. The school is bilingual so for half a day I took half the kids while my partner teacher took the other half for lessons in Spanish. After lunch we swapped over, I mirrored the Spanish language curriculum and collaborated where possible with my partner teacher, who was an amazing inspiration and so supportive, as were all my colleagues. I can't speak highly enough of my wonderful colleagues at ASFC.

I worked hard for this school, the day begins at 7am and some days I would be on my feet right up to 3pm as all teachers share monitor duties throughout the day. There was one day a week when I had no break from the students between 8.30am and 2.30pm and this was exhausting. Some other days there was a 30 minute break for lunch and maybe 30-60 minutes at the end of most days, all these breaks were depending on duties. I had 90 minutes most mornings to plan and prep but in the searing heat of Tuxtla this was mostly spent in the teachers room trying to wake up. Although teaching here was fun, days were long and the climate in Tuxtla is overwhelming. Without air-con in my classroom it was pretty hard to deal with the heat.

There was a lot of administration required for the IB program but this was manageable and the school facilitated regular communication. There were many meetings and not all of them were relevant but it meant being able to enjoy air-con for an hour or so in the library, where the meetings were held. Communication within my department was excellent. Aswell as an internal email system, most staff had an 'open door' policy and queries were always welcome. The school create regular opportunities for parents and teachers to communicate, and also for parents to see what and how their children are learning so this helped to develop a strong bond with them. The support and feedback I received from parents was very encouraging.

The downside to my experience at the American School was that the HR department was a mess - barely responsive, and information was vague. Communication with the HR manager was often confusing and frustrating, I constantly had to chase for responses to important queries regarding visa, and housing, aswell as contract issues. During the recruitment process the communication from this department was superb, but as soon as I began my contract it worsened. Although my experience of the school was positive overall, the issues with HR were a major reason for my departure. It took up too much time to watch every detail as huge errors were constant (incorrect nationality on visa, massive contract blunders*, constantly having to chase for payslips, inconsistent information regarding salary package and contract terms) so, because I didn't trust this department, the constant feeling of having to watch my back was a huge factor in my decision to leave.

In the event that the HR personnel were to change, I would recommend this school to a teacher with some experience as long as you're looking for a challenge. As a first job it's a little full on without a set syllabus. Although there is support there, I think I would have struggled with the day to day planning without prior experience. But for an ESL teacher seeking a challenge I would say give it a go for a year and see for yourself. I worked a second job as I found it difficult to save for travelling. Mexico is an amazing country so you'll want to travel as much as possible and if you work at ASFC your downtime will be precious. So, with two jobs, the searing heat, and very busy city (constant noise and traffic) my year was frenetic. If you take a job with ASFC be prepared to work hard. With a positive attitude and hopefully a smooth HR experience ASFC should provide you with a strong addition to your CV, some great travel opportunities and some wonderful friends, but go in with your eyes wide open.

*Before arrival I requested written confirmation of the contract terms. The day after I arrived, I was given the wrong contract to sign and while I was reading it I was told it was the one I had already been sent so I felt pressured to sign it without reading it. I was not provided with a copy on the day and had to chase for several months. When I finally received a copy I read it and discovered that the terms were not what I had originally agreed to before leaving home. The contract I had signed would potentially hold me liable for owing the school the cost of my flight (the cost of which was a part of the salary package) if I did not complete two school years. The original contract did not state this. Luckily the school did not pursue this money but it caused a great deal of stress for me as I had already lost trust in HR. I understand my fault was not reading the contract again and I learned a valuable lesson to read everything regardless of pressure from others but I believe there was a degree of deception and/or negligence on the school's part.

The contract also stated that the final salary will be exchanged for household bills. I got paid fortnightly, each salary payment came to just over $4,000MXN after tax but my household bills were, on average, less than $200MXN for the same period of time. The school were never responsible for my bills, I paid those directly to the suppliers from an additional $4,000MXN per month paid by the school directly to me towards accommodation, another part of the salary package. The HR department claimed that the clause on the contract was to cover the cost of the deposit on the apartment, as they assisted in finding my first apartment, but when I moved out they received the full deposit they paid on my behalf. The next apartment was sourced independently by me. I had to fight to get this clause removed, again very stressful in an already busy working environment.