AIBU to feel that Great Britain isn't 'Great' anymore? I think I want to move abroad!

[Whatawaytomakealiving]

I don't want to live in a country that treats people as it does. I work damned hard to serve the public, but I am so disillusioned.

OP- international school abroad. Look into it. Dc & I haven't looked back.

Education in the UK is a sinking ship. I'm very happy to have left the Titanic.

Honestly, I tried, but 16 years was enough. Check out TES international.

Happy to chat by pm.

I live in the USA and love it, yes even despite that man in the White House! I always thought I'd return to the UK one day but to be honest, unless something truly awful happens where I am now I don't see myself returning. Every year when we come back to visit I see the UK with fresh eyes and in recent years it does seem to be in a worse state. I lived in London for years but now when I visit I feel actively less safe and have never seen so many people sleeping rough and/or begging :(

My quality of life is so much better where I am now, it's also a very liberal part of the country with lovely weather. The only other place I'd like to live is British Columbia, Canada, although Vancouver is ridiculously expensive.

There are things I still miss terribly about Britain and always will. Things I don't think you could find anywhere else.

Dh is desperate to move to the UK but I keep telling him, things are just so much fucking harder there. We would never have the quality of life we have here.

I think a huge part of it is that people slog their guts out just to get by which we also do here but the weather is so much better. The weather in the U.K. I couldn't tolerate anymore.

I miss the tv, humour, countryside, amazing cities though.

Op, I really recommend that you look at International schools. The world is your oyster!

Blue sky, amazing flowers, warm sun , no dangerous insects, earthquakes, tornadoes.

Yes, UK environment is just awful today.

Crowy International schools are fine if you can afford them....many are tremendously expensive. It is cheaper to pay in full for a year at a UK university, including rent song living costs, than for a year at the International school ds went to.

Yes, but OP is a teacher, scaryteacher, & typically international school packages include free or mates' rates tuition for your dc.

I have 3. My tuition fees work out quite a bit less than my part time nanny & breakfast club fees were in the UK.

Add in the free accommodation to the tax free salary & my disposable income has doubled. My class sizes have halved & I'm on a 2/3 contact timetable rather than 90%, so my workload is... well, it's now genuinely sustainable.

Plus I get to see my own children.

It's been very much made of win for us. I wouldn't go back to the UK for anything less than a lottery rollover jackpot - & then I'd bugger off again somewhere nicer as soon as I'd cashed the cheque.

I don't know a single British colleague here who isn't at how their life has improved. Sorry.

Great to hear Crowy. I am a headteacher in the Uk, so you can imagine the workload. Don't really have a life other than school. Even if I have the time, which isn't often, I don't have anymore energy or brain space for anything else!
No wonder there is a recruitment and retention issue in education here at the minute.

Agree that international school teachers have nice lives, but, playing devils advocate, wouldnt it just be easier to move into the private sector in the UK? The schools you would be teaching in in the ME or Asia are private schools for relatively wealthy expats, not government schools, so it's not directly comparable.

Also, you say I don't want to live in a country that treats people as it does. Well, tbh I think you'd find the ME pretty tough. It's not exactly a hotbed of social equality. Asia also has big issues with social mobility and increasingly polarised wealth (HK, Singapore in particular).

I think you need to be honest about whether your motivation to move is for a better deal for you (which is fine- no judgement here), or a "better" country in terms of your social ideals, since the two may not be the same.

I think it's easier to think the grass is greener.

I like a lot of things about Britain and British culture. However, I do think life has got harder since I lived here last time. I honestly feel as though I get a better quality of life elsewhere. Can't quite put my finger on why that is. It just seems quite stressed and joyless here somehow. Cost of living seems to have rocketed compared to wages and maybe thats why.

Will be moving to Asia again in 2 weeks so am quite pleased about that.

I am always surprised that people are willing to start over in another country rather than try moving somewhere else in Britain.

Giddy Oh we tried that. Three times.

Since moving to Australia, we finally feel happy...we have a nicer house too.

In my case, Giddy, because of a better education for my kids, better career for me, better standard of living for us all.

Not available in UK - nowhere would have offered us the opportunities of Forn Parts.

Can'tseethewoods more about the attitudes in this country, as I said up thread. It just feels different, I think we are becoming more selfish as a nation, more pressure, bureaucracy, health and safety etc. We don't value our public sector as a service or value the people in it. This government makes decisions without its professionals (mainly). And even when it asks ( I was involved in a meeting recently with the DfE) it chooses to ignore the advice. I follow the education system because that is just what it is, however I don't believe in it as the best for children.

I think this article is quite apt considering some of the replies in this thread.

It seems only Spain are lower than us

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/most-europeans-want-muslim-ban-immigration-control-middle-east-countries-syria-iran-iraq-poll-a7567301.html

Well, after lots of thought I have taken the next step! To those of you that told me to FO or 'to shut the door behind me on the way out', THANK YOU! Made me see some more of the attitudes and selfishness that I dislike. Added to my already sense of lack of respect for others in this country. Made me realise that no matter how dedicated I am to the wellbeing of the children I teach and improving outcomes for them I can't make a difference in a system where I have lost all faith. I know I can't continue to work 13 hours everyday and added hours each weekend. I know I can't change a system.

So, I have been selected for interview for head of a primary school. Bonus is my OH is also shortlisted for a more senior position with the same education provider. We are going with an open mind but with a certain sense of excitement.

Hopes are high.

Good for you op, good luck. I wish I could do the same as you.

Where's the job, OP? I'm curious where you think is wholly better than the UK.

Odd how so many think the UK is so awful they have to leave, when net migration is 300,000 per annum!... it can't be that crap!

coconuttella
It's all relative, there are much better places than the UK and much worse. We left for a better place. The same way as the 300,000 coming into the UK are looking for a better life.

Good for you OP good luck in your new life.

Congratulations on your interview OP which country will the primary school be in?

As someone who lives and work so in the ME I agree with an earlier comment. You may find teaching in an international school a breeze compared to the Being in the UK. state system in many respects, but (depending on the country of course) you won't necessarily find a fairer, more tolerant or more equitable social system in the country itself.

But the irritations of working in a country that isn't perfect and isn't always fair are ao much easier to swallow when you are earning better money, having a higher standard of living and dealing with less bureaucracy and constant monitoring within the education system.

Interview is for a school in The Netherlands. Thank you for your congratulations, though have to be successful yet!
Superbeagle going with an open mind and have some experience of living abroad. Not a 'grass is greener' approach, but realistic I. The changes we want to make.
I work with some families new to the UK. Given what they have been through, yes it is all relative, coco.

A new opportunity awaits. My DP and I have both been appointed to new leadership roles in the Netherlands, both promoted. Delighted about that but having spent some time there happy with our choices. Feel valued and very hopeful of a much better work life balance as professionals.
House sorted overlooking a canal, bikes bought😉