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!
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.
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 but for 2008
the dates are;
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.
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
TRAVEL
and SUPPORT & BACKUP:
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.)
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you
have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend
their stay once they are in their destination country.Changeable return tickets
enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air
ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour
to get a changeable ticket. We meet you at the airport regardless of whether you
make your own travel arrangements or not.
You will fly into Bandar Airport in Brunei where you'll be
met by our Travellers representative.
He/She will
take you to your accommodation and introduce you to everyone, ensuring
that you're well settled in and comfortable.
We can also arrange your flight
dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling
around and sightseeing - there is so much to see in Brunei
and neighbouring Borneo that we recommend you allow some time to travel. Our
local organisers will happily advise you on things to do!
VISAS:. In countries where visas or
immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and
information and make the process very easy for you.
To read about the extensiveSupport & Backup we provide in our countries,
please click here.
PRICES:
To see the Prices of this project and all
our other projects in Brunei, please
click here
Prices
include
Food & accommodation while on your project,
2 T-shirts, if required
for your project
All support and backup
during your programme
Meeting you at the
nearest airport, where appropriate, but exclude international travel.
.
+44 01903 502595
