teaching in england

Im looking into moving to England (from Australia) to teach primary school in 2010. i definately dont want to be in London, as i wont to be with real UK people (not all the aussie tourists in london) so i like a bit of the country side, but im also young so want it to be fairly moderite size town.

- how far away are other towns?
-if i dont have a car how will i get there?

-WHAT TOWN TO CHOSE TO LIVE?
SOUTH WEST? NORTH? ahhhh VERY VERY confused!

The choice is always so individual. I have lived in London - I now live in Manchester and it's far more central for the UK's best scenery (The Lake District and Snowdonia are both just an hour away and the Peak District and The Pennines are just a few minutes down the road). Rent is generally cheaper and so is public transport. There are disadvantages to it though. You're probably going to find more work in London than in Manchester - for no other reason than it has millions more people.
My suggestion (and it's only an opinion) is that maybe you start in London and work your way out after awhile.
It has to be said - you may earn a bit more money in Central London (not much though), but your costs will also be a lot more.
Good luck.

You have tons of choices, here. There are a number of fairly sizeable cities with good social scenes. Look for places with universities, as they often have a decent population of young people. I haven't been to all the cities in the UK, but of the ones I have been to, I think Birmingham, Liverpool, Brighton or Sheffield would meet your needs. I haven't been, but have heard good things about Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Bristol as well.

As for getting around, I wouldn't worry. Most of the larger cities have decent public transit, so you just need to make sure once you find a job you pick a place to live that is easy to commute from. For getting around, trains or if on a budget buses are plentiful. The Brits whinge a lot about the train system here, and it does have it's problems, but it is much more extensive than anything in North America (and probably Australia). The UK is also pretty small as compared to Australia (or Canada, where I am from originally), so it doesn't actually take a long time to get anywhere. You could conceivable travel from London to Aberdeen in a day, if you wanted.

Teachers are in pretty high demand here, so you shouldn't have too much trouble find a job.

This is going places.... Good Post.
One thing to remember - Greater Manchester has the cheapest transport system of anywhere in Western Europe.

Brighton on the west coast of Sussex would be a good choice I think. It's a seaside resort surrounded by an area of outstanding natural beauty called the South Downs. It's possible to walk along the South Downs for 70 miles without encountering a town.

Brighton itself was built in the Regency style and has a long promenade of about 5 km which stretches into Hove and beyond in one direction and about 2km in the other. In the easterly direction, the promenade has a double decker feature so that you walk on two levels.

There are good shopping facilites to be had there and London is only an hour away by train just in case you do fancy meeting up with your fellow countrymen in Kangaroo Valley one day.

There's also a rail link to London Gatwick Airport from Brighton. Here's the Wikipedia site which might be useful to you: Brighton

Also, this link will open Brighton on Google Maps so that you can see where the town is located on the south coast: Google Maps - Brighton If you click the "Terrain" button top right, you'll be able to see the South Downs bordering the resort.

Brighton also has a yacht marina in case you're into boating.

Weatherwise, the south of England is much warmer than the north and places like Manchester can be pretty dismal in the winter. I grew up there as a child and can highly recommend it.

EDIT: for some strange reason, I can't get the link to work properly in Google Maps. But if you just type "Brighton" in the search field, it'll take you there.

[ Edit: Edited on 04-May-2009, at 10:03 by Blinq ]

Just to correct Post #5# on a few things.
Firstly there is no West Coast of Sussex. Sussex (both East and West - there are 2 counties, East Sussex and West Sussex) and Brighton are both on the South Coast of England. Brighton is in East Sussex. The sea water in Brighton is amongst the most polluted with untreated sewage anywhere in Western Europe.
Secondly, temperature wise, Greater London is approximately 2 degrees c. warmer than Manchester over a 365 day period (so not "Much warmer" as misquoted) and has much less hours of sun - and in the last 4 years it has had over 10 times as much snow as Manchester.

Quoting Redpaddy

Just to correct Post #5# on a few things.
Firstly there is no West Coast of Sussex.

Yes, you're quite right there: I meant West Sussex.

But Manchester is a dump. It's also known as the most violent capital of the north with crime figures more than three times the national average. Hardly a recommendation to somebody wanting to find a pleasant place to start a new life.

I disagree about your assessment of Brighton by the way.

Hi,

Just thought you might like to hear from someone who actually lives on the southcoast and comes from a family of primary and secondary teachers/ head teachers etc...

I wouldn't want to work in London either! Brighton is a lovely place to live accept it is very expensive. If you came further west towards worthing its gets cheaper but personally i would travel towards Hampshire for the 'countryfied life' mixed with cheaper living accommodation. You might want to try winchester or guildford for city life but very english or if you're looking to be by the sea try Portsmouth or Southampton (these are city areas so more chance of a job). The wages are traditionally higher down here than up north but don't let that put you off either. Northern England is beautiful! You could look into dorset (more southwest of england) although jobs maybe slightly more sparse there as towns are more spaced out and you're more likely to need a car.

Public transport around here (hampshire/ sussex) is excellent- i know alot of teachers that rely on it especially in the city areas plus we're only an hour and a half away from london if you wanted to visit. Definatly worth looking into! Let me know if you have any questions and i'll be happy to help.

Good luck!

Post #7#.... "Manchester is a dump" Which part did you stay in??
And you disagree about my assessment of Brighton. Whatever pickles your onion. You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to accurate information, so just a pinch of salt - huh??

[ Edit: Edited on 05-May-2009, at 11:24 by Redpaddy ]

Quoting Redpaddy

Post #7#.... "Manchester is a dump"

I think you missed the information I posted. So here it is again: Over 1000 violent attacks in just three months not to mention burglaries, car theft, robbery....need I go on?

Only reason you'd want to live in a dump like that is because you're a complete nutter.