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TEACHING PROJECTS

BRUNEI IS THE GATEWAY TO BORNEO ... AND ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!

Schools in Brunei are fascinating because their locations are so different. You could work in a school in a village, or one by the beach, or a rural school in the rainforest ... or even a school in Kampong Ayer. A Kampong Ayer is a collection of 28 Water Villages built on stilts in the Brunei River and here you'd go to school by boat - a novel way to start the day!

PROJECT OVERVIEW
We work with a local organisation who employ expatriate native English speakers from Australia, Canada, America and the UK, and place them in carefully selected schools throughout Brunei. They also require the help of volunteers, to work in certain schools that particularly need the help and this is where you will take part.

Through their dedication to teaching, the organisation has built up an excellent resource centre which you will be able to use to help you with your teaching. Facilities here include a library, (with many workbooks and other resources that you can draw on), Internet access and photocopiers to enable you to produce materials for your lessons. There will be lots of help available to help you with structuring your lessons.

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS PROJECT:

• An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into the Asian culture.

• The enormous satisfaction of helping children and knowing that you made a difference to them.

• New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.

• An entry on your CV or résumé that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market

• And best of all ... an unforgettable experience!

INDUCTION:
You'll have an induction before you start work, and some of this will be devoted to some training and guidance on teaching in your school. You'll also be given a tour of the town and the area, plus in-depth information about the local culture. Advice will be given to you on what to do, what not to do, how to dress and how to behave, as well as useful local information like banking hours, etc.

SCHOOLS:
The schools we work in are government schools and the children are generally quite poor. The majority of children that you will teach are Muslim Bruneians and typically speak Malay.

School lessons take place in the morning, between 07:15 and 12:30. Very few schools take afternoon lessons as well – in many places this is a time for extra curricular activities. You'll have the opportunity to get involved with many school activities, from helping children to practice their spoken skills, to drama, netball and dance, helping the children to make displays, and much, much more. You may also be involved in helping children who have fallen behind and are in need of extra tutoring.

You'll be working with a mixture of local teachers and expatriate teachers. There will usually be at least one expatriate teacher in your school who you will spend time working closely with. In Brunei, children learn English and several other subjects using the medium of English from a young age. They get very excited when a volunteer joins them and you will be welcomed with loud greetings of "Hello Teacher!"

Facilities between schools can vary substantially, although the majority of the schools have good facilities, such as computer rooms, reading rooms, libraries, gardens and sports facilities.

The school week is 5 days long, but the traditional “weekend” is not common in Brunei as government offices and schools take Fridays off and open on Saturdays.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS:  Dates vary each year
Term 1: 3rd Jan - 5th March
Term 2: 26th March - 9th June
Term 3: 25th June - 6th September
Term 4: 17th September - 29th November

Before you go - you can enroll in a 1-day intensive open teacher training course (optional) to help you teach if you have no previous experience and would like to gain a little teaching knowledge.

Inside a classroom

More photos of schools in Brunei

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Typical market food stall

Typical host family accommodation

Most volunteers in Brunei are accommodated together in a apartment close to the centre of Bandar Seri Begawan, which makes for a sociable placement. Alternatively, you can be accommodated with a local expatriate family, one of whom may be a teacher.

Your accommodation in Brunei will be very nice and of a relatively luxurious standard, usually with air conditioning/fans and all other modern amenities. There are about 10,000 expatriates in Brunei most of whom live there because the lifestyle is so enjoyable.

Climate: The climate is hot with high humidity and heavy rainfall. There is no distinct wet season, rainfall occurs throughout the year, but is heaviest between September and January. Temperatures are constantly between 24 and 31 degrees Celsius and with the average humidity at 79% this tropical country is a pretty warm and sticky place to be!!

"The downright highlight for me was the visit to the so-called ‘Venice of the East’: Kampung Ayer. Consisting of interconnected clusters of homes and buildings built on stilts above the Sungai Brunei (Brunei river), over 20,000 people (along with a colony of cats) are claimed to live in the Kampung. Adding to the intrigue of this place were the squadrons of ‘water taxis’ (wooden speed boats) frenetically criss-crossing between the Kampung and the mainland like a fleet of voracious dragonflies. We caught one such water taxi to get to the Kampung and proceeded to walk around the watery settlement. We were greeted with many friendly ‘hellos’ and ‘what is your name?’." Micky S