Rakess and general info on RAK

Hey I'm here was just eating lol. Xxx

Did you get my pm

or maybe I can pm you my mobile number?

Yes I did I've just replied. Xxx

Sorry I know I must be bordering on crazy right now, but I am hoping you will understand why..anyway what are you munching on!!

It's ok . I'm sure we all have crazy moments . It is such a stressful time. It definitely states in teachers handbook about housing, bills etc
Regards
Donna

Hi everyone! How are preparations going for those moving to RAK academy? Hope you are all well. Keep us informed!

Has anybody from RAK academy had flights confirmed or tickets sent out yet?

Hi Deserved,
    No not had my flights confirmed yet . I'm sure it will be soon though. I see you are from Manchester. Will see you at the airport if we fly on the same day.

Regards
Donna x

Hi everyone,
I have an offer from RAK academy.
Do you know any reviews about the school and any information about the area there?

A.

Is the website still not working?

Hi Donna.

We too are moving to RAK and to RAKA in August and I've just stumbled on this site and the forum thread!  It's reassuring that everyone seems to be thinking about the same things!  Like one of your comments, our biggest area of concern at the moment is the accommodation, we have a four year old too so we want to make the transition as smooth as possible for her.

Cheers.
Les

Hi and Welcome!!

Hope things are well. Feel free to ask any questions and please share your progress with us as we are all in the same boat I'm sure! Are you teaching?

Speak soon!
Aminah

Hi Aminah.

Thank you for your welcome message!

My wife is the teacher and has been offered a position in the MFL department at RAKA.  This all happened in the last week so we are alternating between shock, excitement and panic at the moment!  It is re-assuring to chat with other people in the same situation.

What's your specialty?

Best wishes.
Les

Hi everyone, just wondering if anybody is having trouble communicating with the school via email. I've had numerous bounce back to me . Also if anybody works at Rak Academy already and whether you are aware of the problem.

Regards
Donna x

Hi Donna,

I have had problems too... I am trying to send them back my contract signed but can't because it doesn't work!

I am Les' wife by the way, the one who will be working !

Please let me know if you get any luck!
Domi

Hi Domi,
    Nice to hear from you . I'm glad it's not just me having problems sending emails. Hopefully the problem will be sorted soon.
Regards
Donna

Hi Aliwise,
As FeeAcer says you don't need any injections to come over here, think maybe your GP just like administering them LOL! However it is good to geyt them incase you decide to travel around whilst here to places such as India or Sri Lanka or Nepal etc.......there are several animal welfare centres around including one in RAK...if you put RAKAWC in Google it will come up and you can see the animals they have available. For those on a low starting salary remember it does go up slightly each year, my husband and I manage to live on 2500 AED a month and that includes shopping, petrol, and eating out. We bought a car and that is another 2,400 a month but it was brand new and cost just over 100,000. You can pick up a second hand car for around 30,000 AED approx. £5,500. petrol is 1.72 AED a litre (30p)enjoy your summer and relax before the stress begins.......just keep in mind it does get easier

Thanks for the reassurance Sunnee. Would you have any real pictures of accommodation? Just to feed curiosity whilst this paperwork gets through. Or any other blog type feature to tell us all what happens from landing in airport to teaching in classroom...again just for curiosity...please

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. I have just been reading some of the recent threads and it looks like we are all concerned about the accommodation. If you type into google teacher accommodation RAK Academy you should find the staff brochure on a few sites such as TES . It has a few pictures just to reassure you all.

Hope this helps
Donna x

Hi Everyone!!

I spoke to the RAK Academy school secretary this morning just to see if she received any e mails from myself as they all seemed to have bounced back from everyone. She thought nobody was writing to her!! She wasnt aware of a problem!

If you ring her she will give you an alternative e mail address. I'm not sure it would be wise of me to post here without her permission.

Hope everything is good with everyone. Keep us posted!
speak soon xx

Flights confirmed arriving early morning 23rd August! Just over 6 weeks, very exciting.

How's everyone getting on?

Hi aliwise,
  How are you? Hope you are well. I've had flights confirmed also. We are leaving 20th August from Manchester. Eeek excited too !!!

Looking  forward to meeting you all there.
Regards
Donna x

Hi Ali.

No flights confirmed for us yet but then maybe that's a good thing, we already feel under pressure to get everything done and that would bring the deadline even closer to home!

Cheers.
Les

Hey All!!
Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Some of you have flights and have started the countdown. How exciting!! I just want mine now!!

I'm just curious as to what items you guys are shipping. With the accommodation being furnished I can't think of what I could take that I would need and feel I might be missing things.

Keep us posted!
ALL THE BEST
XX

We're mainly taking things for our 1 year old and our clothes, tv, stereo etc. Our accomodation is furnished with essentials so no tv/ stereo/ microwave and since we are sending toys/ cot bed etc accross for our daughter we thought we may as well save ourselves the bother of shopping and just have it shipped.

Hello.

We're still waiting to hear what the financial allowance is for shipping.  Assuming it's sufficient, I think we're going to take mainly personal effect, toys for our daughter etc.

No room for my golf clubs by the look of things :-( !!

Hi,
That's exactly what we are taking. My little boys toys (and big boys (hubby) toys), TV , stereo, personal things such as pictures, and our bikes.
Hope this helps
Donna x

I think the allowance is minimal and definitely won't cover our shipping but we weren't expecting one so its a bit of a bonus for us. It all depends on the personal details in the offered or negotiated.

Package!!  ( was supposed to end that sentence!)

Aliwise,
You're right it is minimal and doesn't cover our shipping either . But as you mentioned was not expecting one so anything we do get back is a bonus
Regards
Donna

Hey all,

Where does it say about shipping allowance?

Get used to my dumbass questions! They will feature this forum frequently-(been talking about alliteration in a cover lesson!)

Hope you are all well!

Hi all. My husband & I will be going over to RAK in August too. I will be teaching at RAK Academy. We are from Cape Town, South Africa. I notice most of the ladies will be teaching, have your husbands all found jobs over there too? Or will they look once they arrive?
Regards
Debbie

Hey Debbie

Welcome! What will you be teaching? At the minute my husband just thinks he is going to enjoy the sun in between childcare..

How are you getting on with your paperwork? Feel free to post questions! Have you had flights confirmed yet?

Best wishes!!

Hi Amina
We have struggled a bit with getting a copy of our unabridged Marraige Certificate, but have received it now & sent it with my qualifications via courier to be certified by the UAE offices in Pretoria & our Foreign Office there too. Hopefully we will have all of it back by tomorrow.Have you finished doing all yours?
I will be teaching 9 year olds.
Thank you & best wishes to you too.

Hi,

I'm Matt and I will be the Head of Science at RAK Academy.  I am moving over with my wife and three kids who will all be going to the BC school.  I got my job in March, so we are a little ahead of some of you in the process I think!  It is proving to be a little expensive, but should be worth it.  We had our flights yesterday, and are flying from LHR on the 22nd August.

We are going to be using Intercargo for our shipping.  Their airfreight for 300Kg works out as around £500.  You are entitled to 1500 AED for excess baggage according to the contract/handbook and 1500 AED at the end of your contract.  We are only going to be sending over personal effects and some toys and books for the kids as you can get the extra pieces of furniture such as bookcases or drawers in IKEA quite cheaply!  I was advised not to ship a TV as they break easily (which I know from past experience when I worked for the MOD in Cyprus)and they are just as cheap as the UK in Carrefour.

If anyone has any questions, I am more than happy to answer them if I can.

Hey Matt!

Thankyou for your information! As you can imagine the days are getting fewer to our pursuit! Please keep advising us!

Best wishes

Hi Matt

Sorry Im confused are you in RAK or you are still in gloucester?

Thanks
Alison

Ah just read your message properly and you not in RAK yet.

Hi Ali

I am still in Gloucester.  Apologies if my post did not make sense or sounded a little patronising!  We are flying out at the same time as all of you guys.  I have learnt a reasonable amount through contact with the school via Skype and speaking to staff who are there as well as through doing lots of research.

Matt