thorpeedo

Hello, I'm a newbie to the site and am just looking for some random advice really. wé've been here for nearly 4 years now and in all that time neither my husband or myself felt any trace of yearning for the motherland (the U.K). Both of us are well-travelled individuals and myself having been an army brat am well used to living in different countries and the associated upheaval that comes from that lifestyle. So my longing to return home is not one of missing family members. However, (and here comes the dilemma) i very recently have had a desire to move back to the U.K (never thought i'd hear myself say that lol). i feel a big part of the problem is that my hubby has never really settled here job wise. he has always struggled with work whether its getting a satisfying job or staying in a job he was never happy with. he's worked abroad and here and never felt settled. he finds the work ethic of aussies really poor (sorry if that offends) and i too have witnessed this in my own line of business. I honestly feel that my husband will always struggle with work here and i feel that my life will never be able to have a sense of routine (god that does sound sooo boring) but i feel that it's soemthing that me and the kids need. big prob with moving back would be my son whose currently in yr 10 in a private school - i only mention the schools status as if we moved back theres probably no way that we would be able to afford a private school. hes chosen his options for next year and i feel it would be beneficial for him to stay. so stay or go? or just plain old homesick (albeit late). any thoughts to add to the mix would be helpful perhaps something i hadn't considered???

quoll

Sorry to hear of your dilemma! The education thing is really difficult because basically you do get to a point of no return. If you dont go now then the chances are you wont be able to go until your son has finished university. You have to have been resident in UK for 3 years before uni unless you want to fork out international student fees and that can be a real disincentive! At year 10 he might just be OK to start GCSEs otherwise going back closer to A levels I think may be tricky but there are a couple of threads on that and you may want to check them out.

Not all UK secondary schools are cr*p, some are quite good and millions of kids every year enjoy a successful secondary education - sure, private costs more but at least you have some sort of public assessment which tells parents how the schools are faring so you have a bit of a clue about what to avoid.

I dont envy you a decision - having one of you settled and the other not can be very difficult and it really all depends on whether the unsettled one is prepared to compromise their life and for how long before you no longer have the opportunity to make the decision.

Good luck!