A British teacher has lifted the lid on his two years of hell at Berkeley in the prestigious publication the Times Educational Supplement (TES).

In a front page article in one of the job sections, Daniel Kirk, 30, claims he suffered daily hostility from Bermudian teachers and disruptive pupils who swore openly.

And he said he left a year before his contract was up while refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement because he wanted to warn others of his plight.

Mr. Kirk arrived in 2001 to teach in the English language arts department but ran into constant resentment from his new colleagues.

He told the TES: ?I was one of four white teachers at the school and as an expat I was seen as taking a job from a local. I would walk into the staff room, say ?Good morning? or ?Good afternoon? and be greeted by silence.

?I would often find myself relegated to an obscure corner, unable to talk part in the usual banter of a staff room. This was through no fault of mine as I was more than willing to interact with colleagues.?

Mr. Kirk, who had taught in inner-city schools in Britain, went on: ?It was probably the worst school that I have taught in in terms of discipline. The kids would quite blatantly swear at me.

?During lessons, things were thrown across the classroom left, right and centre.

?The school got to such a state that, in my second year there, they employed an outside security team to try to crack down on the problems.?

The TES article also quotes an unnamed teacher warning others not to teach in Bermuda.

The teacher said: ?Out of ten people who started there when I started, nine did not complete their two-year contract. Nine runners in two years is not an impressive record for anywhere.?

However, in the article, Berkeley deputy principal Carlos Symonds denied Mr. Kirk suffered resentment because he was an expat although he admitted there were ?challenges? in the classroom.

?If a student cusses or uses a profanity to a teacher then that?s an automatic suspension. We have a code of conduct and we have a very supportive disciplinary process that will lead right through to expulsion.?

He said Mr. Kirk?s experience was not typical and a good proportion of the school?s 65 staff were expatriates including one British teacher who had worked there for 20 years.

One expatriate teacher who worked with Mr. Kirk told that a ?them and us? situation was common.

He said: ?Foreign teachers feel like they are on the outside looking in. Expat teachers don?t stay very long so Bermudian teachers don?t feel they want to get to know them.?

That situation improved for long stayers, said the teacher.

He said Mr. Kirk had become bitter that a promise by the school to pay for a lecturing trip in Australia had been withdrawn, leaving him with a very large bill.

The TES article also quotes Warwick Academy teacher Annie Bainbridge who says she enjoys both her job and the Bermuda lifestyle after moving from England.

She said: ?There?s much more freedom as a teacher here. If you feel like teaching something off curriculum, you basically can.?

The TES is highly regarded by teachers in Britain for its articles and thousands of job adverts.