FLYING AWAY FOR A WORK-LIFE BALANCE: Why UK Teachers are quitting

Feb 27, 2026

In Change of Lifestyle, Gabe Shaw, a gifted teacher quits teaching in his inner city school and leaves the country. Joe, Gabe’s university friend, takes one look at the British school system and leaves to teach in Jakarta. A supply teacher called Michelle writes damning articles for an educational website about ‘teaching on the frontline of education.’

Modern teaching in the UK is depicted as carrying a specific, heavy weight, a slow-acting drain on the spirit. Compliance and exhaustion replace creativity. Gifted educators like Gabe are either leaving the country or the profession to find their voices.

Why is the system driving them away?

The Paradox of “Trauma-Informed” Discipline

In Change of Lifestyle, the fictionalised Thaddeus II Primary Academy works within a warped version of empathy that prioritises the “trauma of the perpetrators” over their victims. When a student attacks someone, the school’s behaviour policy doesn’t offer justice; it offers orange squash, football stickers and a soft chair.

In a display of powerlessness, the Assistant Head apologises to a student who attacks another child because his victim dared to shout at him. This atmosphere of “trauma-informed” care renders educators defenseless against abuse.

At one point, a child attacks Michelle, stabs Gabe with pen and beats another child so badly she has to go home. The school’s Head Teacher response?

“He’s going through a difficult time. I have to take the trauma of the child into account.”

The Brutal MathS of “Work-Life Balance”

In Thaddeus II, the concept of “work-life balance” is hollow. Consider Lisa, another teacher in the school. She’s in her twenties. Each morning, her alarm wakes her at 5:00 AM.

Her day consists of a ten-hour shift and a grueling two and a half-hour commute. By the time she collapses into her bed at 9:00 PM, she has a mere two and a half hours of leisure time. Lisa and Gabe dated for a while, but the relationship fizzled out due to mutual stress and exhaustion.

In Change of Lifestyle, the school answers this work-life imbalance with messages on heart-shaped Post-it notes and links to mindfulness websites. Although well-intended, these gestures are are meaningless against the demands of the job.

The Performance of Compliance: Ofsted Fear and Paperwork

Inside the “Ofsted Window,” innovation at Thaddeus II Primary Academy is traded for compliance. OFSTED fuels a palpable fear that forces teachers into meaningless rituals. Educators are browbeaten into keeping ringbinders of handwritten lesson evaluations—an archaic requirement intended to indicate “reflection” for inspectors.

The education system mandates a rigid, knowledge-based curriculum that feels absurdly outdated in the age of Google and ChatGPT. It is education as surveillance, not growth.

“In Thaddeus II Primary School, OFSTED is a palpable, threatening reality that is weaponised to browbeat staff and push through time-consuming initiatives.”

A Forward-Looking Reflection

The UK system operates as a failing machine. For educators like Gabe, Jakarta offers more than a change of scenery; it offers a “Change of Lifestyle” where “work-life balance becomes life-work balance.”

Michelle’s articles gave Gabe his voice back by documenting the reality the system tried to hide. If we continue to lead by the “trauma” of the few at the cost of the many, how long before the UK’s best educators are all leaving the profession or flying off to teach overseas?

anthonyaddis.co.uk