I quit my ‘ridiculously stressful' UK teaching job for one in France – overtime is banned & there's NO admin
Anna Britten, 49, packed up and left the UK for the French countryside with her two teen sons.
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Anna Britten ditched the UK for France and loves the slower pace of life
Credit: SWNS
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The single mum says her sons are also loving it
Credit: SWNS
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The teacher says she has no plans to come back
Credit: SWNS
The mum says her "ridiculously stressful" job as an assistant head teacher in the UK would see her regularly work 45 hour weeks and never taking lunch breaks.
She always felt "attached" to France thanks to family holidays but put her dream of moving abroad to one side while raising her sons, aged 14 and 16.
But when the pandemic left her "despairing" of life in the UK she quit and began looking at jobs in
France
.
The perfect teaching role came up near Nemours, France, and she decided to go for it and moved out in August 2024.
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Thanks to French laws she can't work more than 35 hours a week and only has to attend school for the lessons she teaches - with no tutor groups, assemblies and admin.
Her sons have thrived, no longer having to wear uniform, and getting at least an hour for lunch.
Anna still has to do marking - but can fit it in when she's not teaching instead of having to do it in the evenings.
She teaches classes of only 14 students - compared to 30 in the UK - and despite taking a pay cut for this role she'd never go back to teaching in the UK.
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Anna, an English teacher, from Nottingham, said: "I've always loved the French culture - we work to live rather than live to work.
"I'm happier out here. I just think the UK is a stressful way of living, people enjoy the moment out here.
I fled the UK for sunny Dubai - life back home is miserable & no-one has any cash
"Lunch is so important here - no one would dream of not stopping.
"In the UK I didn't have a lunch break - people work through lunch.
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"It's a nicer way of life. It's more relaxed."
Anna spent a lot of time in France as a child so it feels like a second home for her.
She spent a year living out there aged 27 but when she moved back and met her teenage boys' dad she settled into UK life.
She said: "I got caught up in life in England. (But) the pandemic made me question a lot of things.
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"I wanted to step away from my stressful life - being an assistant head it was ridiculously stressful.
"Then there was Brexit - I started to despair with the UK."
Anna had stepped away from teaching in the UK into
charity
work when she spotted the role in France and decided to go for it - taking her two teens and their four cats along with her.
They moved in August last year - and despite the "nightmare" paperwork Anna and her boys are loving it.
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Anna said getting a visa was a "massive process" and took a couple of months and lots of documentation but was easier than some find it as she had the job secured.
She said: "My youngest is really happy here. My eldest got to escape his GCSEs.
"It's opened up opportunities - they are becoming bilingual.
"They'll have an international bachelorette. There are more opportunities than growing up in Nottingham."
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Anna loves and her teens love that there is no school uniform policy.
She said: "As a teacher and a parent I always hated uniform. It makes them all identical and it's uncomfortable.
"The school days are longer here - 8.20am until 5.30pm. But they have a long lunch break - a minimum of an hour.
"I only have to come in for the lessons I teach. I don't have the other nonsense - tutor groups, assemblies and admin.
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"The atmosphere in UK schools is stress."
She said her kids "enjoy" school more now and are learning to speak French - and Anna can speak the language well.
The French laws means she can only work a 35 hour week and the school holidays are also longer - and they have already broken up in early July - and won't go back until September.
Anna said: "We have time in the day for marking and planning. We get a lot longer holidays. Two weeks at
Christmas
, two weeks at easter and two in October.
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"I'm earning about the same now as if I was on a main scale teaching job in the UK.
Everything you need to know about visiting France
Brits need to have a passport with at least three months left on it.
No visas are needed for anyone staying up to 90 days within an 180-day period but you need to make sure your passport is stamped on entry and exit.
You may also need to show proof of accommodation and funds, around €120 a day.
The country uses the euro with with around €10 working out to £8.55.
France is one hour ahead of the UK
Direct flights to France from the UK take between 1-4 hours depending on the destination
Or you can travel by train with Eurostar, with destinations including Paris or Lille.
Direct ferry services also operate between the UK and France, with some journeys taking 90 minutes.
"I have taken a salary cut - that was a leadership role. If I was to go to
England
- I would be earning similar to what I'm earning now but it's more stressful
"I'd never do it. Money wasn't my reason for doing anything."
Anna said her kids have adapted really well to leaving friends and family in England.
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She said: "They have made lots of new friends."
Cost-wise Anna hasn't noticed a huge difference - but rents a four bed house an hour out of Paris for €1,300 a month.
In the UK, she rented a four-bed house in Nottingham for £900.
She said: "Eating out is cheaper.
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"It's a whole new lifestyle.
"Being so close to Paris - full of beauty and culture - is an incredible opportunity for the boys."
Anna hopes to inspire others to make that change in their life - whatever it might be.
She said: "As I've got older I've got braver.
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"If fear is the reason you're not doing it - ignore the fear."
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