I'm quitting teaching, I've decided, AIBU?

[thequickbrowndog]

That's it, I'm done, I'm leaving! I've spent the whole summer dreading going back. I adore the kids (secondary boys school) but I can't be bullied anymore. I can't stand my work colleagues, I've had to make a formal complaint about bullying. My boss clearly favours other staff over me. Everything always just seems unfair but I just have to get on with it. I work part time but am stressed about it full time because of all the passive aggressive emails while I'm off.
I don't have a job to go to yet, but I'm just done. I can't go back. AIBU?

Yanbu to leave a job that is affecting your mental health, life is too short.

I'm a nurse so different but my stress level was probably similar and i handed in my notice with nowhere to go early August and it felt liberating. I’ve got an interview for a lower band post I hope I will get but we will see.

I think when you know it is time, it is time.

Good luck

YANBU. It’s really refreshing to hear a teacher say “I hate this” and actually leave.

This is the biggest load of crap I have heard in a long time. I was a teacher. Retired now.

Do it - sounds miserable. Chat gpt is excellent at writing passive aggressive resignation letters btw 😀

Good for you, good luck with your job search. Thank you

Haha excellent idea!

Teaching is so punishingly stressful now and you have the additional burden of a bullying work environment. It is absolutely right for you to leave.
I abandoned the stressful job of social work when I was 50 .. I was depressed and burnt out like you ... and have enjoyed a crazy time in arts outreach, photography, picture editing, running singing workshops ... couldn't be more different but a new lease of life and a new person emerged. Just do it .... give yourself time to lick your wounds and return to health, then start blossoming!

Not every school is like this. You say that you love the boys. Maybe try another school? Don't give up teaching completely. I was in a toxic school and almost gave up but moved and have the nicest colleagues and SLT. I now love my job and teaching. Take this time on sick leave and find another school who values you.

Not unreasonable,no. Good luck for your future.

@Werweisswohin thank you for your kind words - really heartwarming. Next time I have a mental break down, you're right, I should plan it better. Noted.

Giving notice at the start of the holidays would have made exactly zero difference to the situation.

No attempt to answer the justified questions though?
I do wish you peace but also feel that you could have done this in a way which doesn't mean you are being paid for several months with no intention of returning.

I wouldn't leave until I had another job lined up, and a clear plan for the future. It is easy in any profession to start thinking the grass is greener, but there are many aspects to teaching that make other jobs unappealing, which is why so many teachers stay in their current roles despite saying they would like to leave. It does sound as if you need to try something else, but get it lined up before you quit.

YANBU

I have felt similar (and still do. We went back last week and I thought I was actually going to vomit)

I have decided that I will leave in a couple of years as I still need the school holidays as DC small and we live nowhere near family.

I hope that my body lasts out for that long though....

OK then, so at a point when she's not being paid for a role that she has no intention of returning to?

If she wanted to leave at the end of August she would have needed to hand her notice in on 31st May.

Try tuition to start with - there are more and more children who for various reasons can't be in school who need home tutors.

I have to say a lot of teachers ( mainly younger ones) have the mentality of one up man ship. By that I mean trying to outdo each other by being the first to arrive, the last to leave. Management love this.
Never saying no, I’m not doing a club during my lunch or actually I’m leaving at 4pm.

You are obviously not a teacher yourself or you wouldn't make this comment.

Oh give over. We aren't volunteers. We're employees and we have to look out for ourselves because no one else does.

You'd be shocked and appalled to hear that teachers end their maternity leave at the beginning of July, too.

But are you sick? Being unhappy isn’t the same as being mentally unwell.

• Most schools are academies these days, so it’s likely supply staff comes from the MAT’s budget
• If it is a LA school, they’ll also have budgeted for teacher illness. If not, that is neither OP’s fault nor problem
• Stress is a valid reason to go off sick. Mental health should hold as much weight as physical health
• Notice period for an August leave is May.

Are you unhappy but could work your notice or genuinely in need of sick leave?

But you probably are sick and it is legitimate to be signed off with stress because you are being bullied.

My point is that handing in notice and working it would be much more reasonable than handing in notice and then attempting to claim 'sickness' for the notice period.
The school will effectively be paying twice now.