Any top tips helping 11 and 13 year old settle

[Condo]

Looking for any top tips/advice on helping two DC settle. We are moving in jan so they can both start the new school year - both girls. Both will be going to government schools. Whilst we have family we don’t have any with girls this age who can advise us what is “in” in terms of school bags etc

Hey! I don't have any advice but good luck with your move and the children settling in, we too hope to move by jan- awaiting visas but hoofing to do the same time so all children can settle in to a new school year!
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Where are you headed? I have a 12 and 10. (Boys) we moved in 2021. Local school.

it depends where you live, what is ‘in’ we are near the beach. Everything is surf related or sport. I have friends in the country, their girls(12 and 10) are into Ghanda clothing and Frank Green water bottles are a huge thing I learnt about last week when they were visiting us. I think stationary wise they are into typo. Not into surf stuff at all

Our school has regulation school bags so check that. We start high school with our eldest next year, not sure what that will bring. What years are you going in to? Do you know the school? They might have info and we always get a massive stationary list of specific items to buy before they start the new year

Good luck! We did this with a 12 year old boy, it was fine. I second the Frank Green water bottle, although I have no idea why they are a thing.

Are they sporty? Joining a team is probably the easiest way to make new friends. I can only talk for NSW but here private schools do a lot of sport within school, public or government school kids tend to play for local teams outside of school. A lot of kids will more from a Summer to a Winter sport, you will see signs around your local area. Make sure they are decent swimmers if you can, DS1 was 13 when we moved and between hanging out at the beach and at friends’ houses where most people had pools he spent a lot of time in the water. I felt much better knowing he was a decent swimmer. If you are church goers (or even if you are not but don’t mind what is essentially youth clubs run by churches) a lot of kids go to “youth” on a Friday evening. My eldest and youngest were both into it for a bit as their friends went, DS2 was a flat out no.

In my experience Aussies are superficially very friendly but often already have their own social circle they have known since schooldays or/and a lot of family around so it can be hard as an adult to make friends, much easier for the kids! There are often “expat” groups around that can help for both adults and kids.

I don't have girls, but have a 12 year old who started high school this year. Nike and sport brand bags are in (Adidas, Under Armour etc.) with girls and boys. But his Nike backpack strap broke less than a week in! So I bought him the backpack with the school logo from the uniform shop which is more of a workhorse. At least half the kids at his school use the uniform bag. But I imagine this varies by school.

And echoing that Frank Green seems very popular with girls. Fortunately not boys, so I don't have to say no to the ridiculous cost of them!

Same, although the big Nike water bottle is also pretty expensive and we’ve been using that.

So they do still have uniform bags in high school, I wasn’t sure if they did

Some high schools have school bags, others don't. You will find out on the school uniform page on the school website.
If the school doesn't , just go into a Westfield Mall in the second half of January and in shops like Rebel (Sport), City Beach, Surf Dive 'n' Ski, and other shop with a Surf vibe or youth stuff, you will find a ton of school bags. This in school in Sydney. No idea if you are inland or rural.

My kids never had any branded water bottle.
The choice of notebooks is very limited compared to Europe. OfficeWorks is the main shop. OfficeWorks also has the cheapest electronics and it is worth looking online before going because they will beat competitors' price by 5%.

School shoes also follow a trend, but more in the older years. In the lower years, it will be the usual horrid clarks which you can buy at David Jones ( often referred as DJ) , then you have the full black, leather, Converse or Vans or Stan Smith, but must be full black. Has to be leather because of the Tech classes.

Schools now have a ban on mobile phones in all NSW if this is where you are going.

In my experience Aussies are superficially very friendly but often already have their own social circle they have known since schooldays or/and a lot of family around so it can be hard as an adult to make friends

This was my experience too. Because Australia is so huge, it's much commoner than here to go to Uni and start your working life in your home town.

Friendships with Australians will come, but it takes time. Don't feel bad about only having ex-pat friends initially. If you play a sport, that's a great way to make friends for both adults and kids, though be warned that even '5 a side pub kick about' teams take their sport seriously 😀

Thanks for the replies! This disappeared so only just read them - we headed to south Australia - just secured a rental and land in 4 weeks. Very scared/excited and the goodbyes are happening and everything is very stressful but keeping everything crossed it will work out!

Good luck, OP. There will be times - lots of them - when you think 'WTF have we done?'. Hold your nerve. Allow yourself time to adapt. It's surprising how foreign Australia can feel to Brits (and vice versa, I'm sure). It's hard work, adapting to a new culture but also exciting and rewarding. You'll get there.

Thanks @MissLucyEyelesbarrow I had a proper wobble WTF moment yesterday so can def relate to that!