Temp move to Australia with 7 year old - worth it?

[Vixk1]

After traveling around parts of Oz a few years back my husband and I are considering applying for a temporary skilled visa and relocating from England to Australia (potentially Sydney suburbs). I understand it will still be work, school etc and not a holiday but we are just tempted to have a bit of a different adventure, while we are still young enough to apply.

Our current lifestyle is lovely and we are thankful for that.

My main question is -

We have a 2year old DD who would happily go wherever :) but we are just doubtful if it's really worth taking my DS 7 out of his current school and starting him at a new school in a completely different country just for 3/4 years? By the time he returns he could be moving up to secondary school and I'm concerned about reintegrating him.

A permanent move doesn't hugely appeal to me as I am very close to my family here.

I'd be really grateful of any advice.

We moved abroad when I was 8, and returned age 11. I had 8mths of primary before going to high school. I quickly made friends at my new school, and again on my return.

The school year in Aus runs with the calendar year- not starting in Sept, so this might affect what year DS goes into once there.

Sydney is VERY expensive and on par with London for house prices. If you have well paid jobs though, this may not be such an issue.

I'd recommend renting out your British home. It means you always have something to come back to, and gives you some UK income.

Also note that currently you can only get a visa to go there with an exemption for an exceptional circumstance.

It all depends on the child. Here is a scare story - a friend of mine relocated to NZ for a couple of years. Their children (aged about 10 and 12) never settled at all, including on their return to UK. Both have led unsettled young adult lives (drugs etc.) Maybe they were just unlucky, or had unadaptable children, but what started as an adventure turned out to be a long-term problem.

I am hoping someone will now come along with a success story!

It really does depend on the personality of the child, and also the set-up where you are going.

I wish you lots of luck - if it were me, I would do it like a shot.

Thank you for the replies so far. It's about bring realistic and the children are of course our number 1 priority.

Known a few people doing it op and was brilliant and great for the kids. I'd do it if we had the chance! They're also having a much better time with corona than us 😂

Also nz is quite a different place to Australia. Especially sydney suburbs.

I would start by checking your eligibility for the visa.

Covid has resulted in a huge increase of the unemployment rate. It's very likely that temp visas - even for professionals will be harder to get.

Also, if you are not a permanent resident, you don't qualify for free schooling or subsidised nursery. I think Medicare would also be questionable.

I am not meaning to be negative but thought these are important considerations.

Thank you for the advice

If we did decide to and were eligible, it probably wouldn't be for another year.

It's a bit of a gamble I guess. Knowing how my DS would adapt, it's hard to predict.

We did this and my dc were ok. That’s the best way I can describe it. Some schools in Sydney have quite transient populations and are used to children coming and going so fitting in is not such a big deal.

Both of my children were years behind academically when we returned. Schooling is a lot more relaxed there which can lovely whilst you are in that environment but is difficult for the children when they have to return to another system.

The person who found it most difficult was me I think. Dh and dc just sort of continued their lives as before going to work and school but mine changed massively. I did make friends quite easily but my whole family support system was gone. I couldn’t work because the youngest was two and the cost of daycare and before and after care was astronomical.

Having said that I don’t regret it at all and I’m really pleased that we did it.

What age were your children? How did your children catch up?

2, 5 and 9 when we went.

We got them all tutors when we came back but mainly their schools had to drag them back up to where they should be. My youngest was aghast that she was on the ‘bottom’ table when she started school here and had to go out with the TA to work.

The oldest went into secondary and she had massive gaps in her knowledge as she’s done Ned Kelly for history and not the Romans. She could find Alice on a map but not Wales She’d never had an RE lesson. She didn’t know what a verb was never mind a French verb.

I did do a fair bit with them out of school, mainly science as I could see that was non-existent and I also taught the youngest two to read using REad Write Inc as there was no phonics system in the school.

That's really helpful to understand your situation.

It's such tricky situation to know what to do for the best. A big part of me just thinks about have another holiday there once the children are a bit older instead. But then comes the doubt of possibly missing out on more by not moving there. Ahhhh

That is very interesting - it makes me wonder why we push children on educationally in the UK; because presumably these Australian children do well, go to uni, become professionals or whatever. But maybe had less stressful childhoods?

Just a thought.

Kids are really adaptable (sn aside) and love adventures. A family move could be brilliant because there's more to life than school. My kids were younger and only the eldest missed out on school (I homeschooled her to ensure she learned the British curriculum for reception and some) but we would have relocated again, was very close but the employer had a policy of boarding school after 11 rather than local international school so I couldn't face that.

Yes, It does make you wonder why our education system is so intense compared to Oz.

The part that I'm most concerned about is when we return to the UK. He would be put under pressure by the school to catch up. I just struggle with that idea and I think it's possibly not fare on him. Plus at 10/11 years old how would he find it making new friends groups again.

I cant comment on the Aussie education side, but we moved country when the kids were 4 and 6. We came back last summer when they were 8 and 10. There are some gaps (Mummy, what is an umbrella was a classic last week - we lived in a desert), and their UK geography is none existant, but they are generally ok academically. Socially they have been fine. Settled back into school with limited problems - and I have one introvert and one extrovert. They are also streets ahead in terms of global geography, different religions etc. There is more to education than just the stuff taught in a classroom, and living abroad is one way to widen experiences which add to your overall education.

If you are worried about keeping up with the UK curriculum, get somewhere like book depository to send you, with free world wide shipping, a set of work books for the UK accademic year, and work through any gaps at home.

Life's short, op! It'll be an opportunity. There's risks everywhere. We can't plan our whole lives and know all the outcomes.

If anything, my dc were better at making friends with people they had never met than they would have been if we hadn’t gone.

Doing sport is the norm and they did countless extra curricular activities over the years and were in teams and competitions all the time with kids they didn’t know.

My dc went to a good but ordinary public school (state school) in a nice area and were very happy there. There is a large disparity between state and private schools and many children of professionals go to private schools. There wasn’t even a National Curriculum until ten years ago. A private school might solve your education problems but I wouldn’t make the decision with too much of a focus on primary education.

I never moved countries, but school circumstances and following DF's job meant that by the time I graduated I had attended 7 schools and lived in distances that span the entire Europe.
I only struggled with moving during this country's version of sixth form. The curriculum was the same, but the order things were taught were different. So I studied some things twice or even thrice, and some things none. Ultimately it did not held me back: I got accepted into the most academic university in the country while struggling with anxiety and depression (both of which happened while living in my home town, though I admit it got worse while moving). Mind you, I am ready to admit I'm reasonably bright. There's still stuff I don't know, but I manage to learn whenever I need to.

I wouldn't worry too much about friendships. Your DS will probably be considered "interesting" when he gets to Australia and interesting when he comes back. Besides, you can find plenty of threads here where it is mentioned how friendships break apart at the start of secondary school.

Also, maybe ask him? He might see it as an adventure.

Thank you so much for everyone taking the time to reply.

Happily welcome others opinions

Another factor is school admissions, If you're not living in this country when the applications go in your DS will be last on the list for desired schools, even if you come back before Y7 starts.

Ok that's something else to consider.

Alternatively we are looking into potentially more of a permanent move somewhere in the UK like Dorset to North Devon, depending on DH work opportunities.
It's working out what we would like to do more and what the kids would prefer.

Do you what chances you have of getting a job/visa in Oz? My husband is on the long term skills needed list and has a strong cv but not a sniff of interest in a 'in demand' sector.....

Yes I understand it could be tricky but we are hopeful. At least if we get our head around our other concerns then if the offer came in we'd be more mentally ready.