View Full Version : Penabur International School
Hello!
Does anyone know much about Penabur International School?
Or can anyone tell me anything about the area it is located in - Kelapa Gading?
Thank you :)
I don't know any native speaker teachers there, although I know there's more than a handful, but I have two local friends that are teachers there.
This is what they've told me:
-The school is quite Christian. Not in a 'hey, we have Bible study for one hour a day' kinda way, more like in the 'hey, we pray before EVERY activity we do and we're evangelists' kinda way.
-There are cameras in the classrooms and the teachers are monitored and observed at all times. The camera observations are used to do performance evaluations. Since Big Brother is always watching, you can never let down your guard.
-The pay is better than at a Nat+ but it's not on par with a proper international school.
-The native speaker teachers are predominately men and have a 'good ol' boys club'. The local staff and native speaker teachers don't socialize together.
Now, I don't know if all of that is accurate and, of course, that's from the point of view of local teachers. Perhaps my friends are exaggerating and/or perhaps native speaker teachers are treated differently than the locals-- that's often the case. Regardless, those claims are something that I'd consider and look into if I was going to accept a job with that school.
As far as Kelapa Gading goes, it's in northeast Jakarta. It's a predominately Chinese area and it's quite far from the more traditional expat enclaves of central and south Jakarta. It's a 'nice' area, however. Traffic isn't nearly as bad there as it is in some other parts of town and they don't seem to have terrible flooding problems either. There are tons of shopping and dining options and lots of housing options, too. It's not a bad place to live, just a little out of the way.
wow ok thank you Samantha!
While applying for work in another country is exciting it can be a little daunting at times!
I'll keep that all in mind and see what else I can find out about the school/area
Ya, if you search for Penabur in the forum, you'll see that there's a few threads addressing Penabur and no one has many good things to say about them. Just go into any deal with your eyes open. Be careful...
Traffic isn't nearly as bad there as it is in some other parts of town and they don't seem to have terrible flooding problems either. There are tons of shopping and dining options and lots of housing options, too. It's not a bad place to live, just a little out of the way.
Hi Skyte, I live by the area and I can say while it is true there are tons of shopping options (5 shopping malls in one "city") and dining options (pretty much whose who in Jakarta's food chain has a chain there), there are some nasty morning and evening traffic there and they flood though not as often as they used to. This Penabur school is located at an alternative way to get to Boulevard Barat near Mediterania Apartments. It is a bit out of the way from the food but ojek is aplenty. I'm not sure about the living arrangement for the native speakers and how the availability of the Kost there but I do spot some caucasians at the Malls at times so there should be one I presumed.
The shopping options are: Mal Kelapa Gading 1, 2, 3, and La Piazza (3 malls and 1 entertainment center connected to create a huge shopping center as large as Grand Indonesia), Mall of Indonesia (a family-oriented mall), and Mal Artha Gading (a good middle-class mall). There are tons of places to eat all around Kelapa Gading, but they are pricier than most places in Jakarta.
Kelapa Gading has cheap accomodation. About a 2 minutes' walk from Penabur International School is the Apartment Gading Mediterania complex, where you can rent 2 bedroom furnished apartments for around 30-35 million per year. 2 bedroom furnished apartments at the Mall of Indonesia complex will put you back about 40 million a year, which is about 1 kilometer from Penabur International School. There are cheaper, older apartments nearby at Cempaka Mas and Gading Nias, both a few kilometers away.
Traffic is not too bad and usually there is only congestion in front of Mall of Indonesia throughout the day. Access to the toll road is nearby which gives you access to most parts of Jakarta within 45 minutes-1 hour, though it can be expensive if you are taking a taxi.
BPK Penabur is a huge educational organization with well over one hundred schools in Indonesia. They operate national schools, national plus schools, bi-lingual schools, and international schools, the latter of which is the top tier. There are only 3 international schools, 1 in Bandung and 2 in Jakarta. Penabur International School in Kelapa Gading uses the Cambridge curriculum for secondary classes and the IBO primary years program for primary classes.
That's about all I know. Good luck.
I believe Penabur in Bandung uses IBO PYP for its primary school, whereas Penabur Kelapa Gading follows the Cambridge International Primary Programme.
I don't know any native speaker teachers there, although I know there's more than a handful, but I have two local friends that are teachers there.
This is what they've told me:
-The school is quite Christian. Not in a 'hey, we have Bible study for one hour a day' kinda way, more like in the 'hey, we pray before EVERY activity we do and we're evangelists' kinda way.
-There are cameras in the classrooms and the teachers are monitored and observed at all times. The camera observations are used to do performance evaluations. Since Big Brother is always watching, you can never let down your guard.
-The pay is better than at a Nat+ but it's not on par with a proper international school.
-The native speaker teachers are predominately men and have a 'good ol' boys club'. The local staff and native speaker teachers don't socialize together.
Now, I don't know if all of that is accurate and, of course, that's from the point of view of local teachers. Perhaps my friends are exaggerating and/or perhaps native speaker teachers are treated differently than the locals-- that's often the case. Regardless, those claims are something that I'd consider and look into if I was going to accept a job with that school.
As far as Kelapa Gading goes, it's in northeast Jakarta. It's a predominately Chinese area and it's quite far from the more traditional expat enclaves of central and south Jakarta. It's a 'nice' area, however. Traffic isn't nearly as bad there as it is in some other parts of town and they don't seem to have terrible flooding problems either. There are tons of shopping and dining options and lots of housing options, too. It's not a bad place to live, just a little out of the way.
I graduated from a Penabur school (from elementary through high school). Not sure about how they manage their national plus ones..but the local school I went to always have equal amount of male/female teachers. English teachers were mostly female teachers.
Praying: Done in the morning before school starts and afternoon after we were done...and prior to any meetings. Students often picked at random to lead the prayer (regardless of their own faith...I'd say 85% of the students were Christian, 14% buddhists...and very few moslems). Many of them just shrugged it off and prayed anyway.
One hour every week on religious studies (christian).
Cameras: No cameras ever in any of the buildings/classrooms.
I will have to say the school's curriculum was tougher than hell...one of the toughest highschools in the country (a.k.a school for nerds/geeks). Hated every minute of it...especially the teachers as most of them didn't treat you with respect. Too much power abuse upon students (unless their daddy is one of the shareholders or on the governing board).
Proud to have graduated from there academically, but not proud of the stuck up mentality that many people have there.
This was of course almost 20 years ago when New Kids on The Block was big and Justin Bieber was only a thought in his parents minds lol!!!:tongue1::redface2:
I believe Penabur in Bandung uses IBO PYP for its primary school, whereas Penabur Kelapa Gading follows the Cambridge International Primary Programme.
You are right. I stand corrected.
Is there anyone know the average salary for this school?
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