What should I know about Australia that I might not

[overthesea]

Hi

I was just wondering if any Aussie based MN could give me tips on what has surprised you about living in Oz.

We are coming over in a few weeks to visit with a view to moving over in six months. I keep thinking it'll be just like the UK (well except wildlife/accents) but are there things that weren't as you expected? Do I need to investigate anything that I might not obviously think about?

Thanks

You will only get her into a kindy class in a public school in NSW ninedragons if she will turn 5 on or before the 31st July in the year when she starts. So, if she's only 3.4 now you're looking at her starting January 2013. However, there is an "early starter" programme in NSW whereby some schools take them the year before for a kind of foundation year in a special class. I've just googled it for you though and I can't find any info other than a quesion asked in parliament. I know that St. Ives Public School runs it but obviously that's not your area, they might be able to tell you who runs it near you though if you phone and ask.

Private schools tend to be more flexible though I would imagine that they would be telling you their pre-school programme could be adapted to your DD's needs rather than taking her into kindy. Our school never admits early as they say it cases too many social problems for the children, especially in later years.

Ninedragons, my dds best mates mum got her bratty badly behaved precocious 4 yr old child into school a term or two early here in South Australia by badgering the school and getting ed psych reports. But she is the epitome of a demanding middle class parent. To the point where less than 6 month later she had removed both children from my dds school in a hissy fit.

Dunno if there is a better way. Soz.

To be honest I don't think ones children need to be amazingly bright to benefit from an early start to school. I don't mean to suggest that your dd isn't bright btw. My dd2 (not exceptional in any way) is desperate to start school, she's now almost 4. And I would say she is easily ready for it. I am getting around this by paying for her to go to a very good private ELC. Where they are lovely, and fun and educate her. Tis spenny though.

Thank you ladies!

I might ring the private school we had in mind as a possibility for DD.

My mum retires next year so there is also the possibility of filling DD's afternoons up with extracurricular activities, as there will be someone to drive her around.

If I were a Tiger Mother instead of a laissez-faire westerner I'd know what to do!

Tiger Mother would hire a tutor ninedragons Unless she's driving you nuts, really I would chill. Having experienced a barely 4 year old start school and an almost 6 year old start school I would never, ever send a child to school a day before they have to go, no matter how "bright" they are. There are so many interesting, exciting things to learn about the world that have nothing to do with "formal education".

Also remember that there is pretty much a 24 month age range in classes here (and a real trend to start kids late in NSW) which can make things difficult for the younger ones. When DD started kindy there were a couple of 4 year olds in her class. They might have been fantastic with their letters and numbers but they couldn't tie their shoe laces, run as fast as the other kids and were a bit on the fringes socially because other kids found them "babyish". A couple of years on it's not as noticeable, but interestingly enough I know a few mums of girls in Y6 who are going to hold them back next year as they are young for their year and they feel they're not really ready for High school. A lot of the Y6 girls are quite developed now, these girls are starting to stand out again as they're not.

Oh god, I hadn't even considered high school .

My dd had problems starting school here in qld.. as she was also writing and reading. After man battles the dept did accept she could move up a year but then after much intervention from guidance officers we left her age appropriate and im very very glad! there ius soo much more to school than reading and writing.. being mature enough to cope with sex education with her peers etc... leaving school being old enough to drive/ drink/ vote etc with her peers.... all the research says kids that remain age apropriate will achieve better than those who accelerate.. better to be top of the correct year than middle of one below? A good school will allow your dd to work within her means..so they should encourage her to extend her abilities.. it did however take 3 schools before i found one im very happy with and dd is happy in... and yes its private...

Flagging - your position sounds very like mine. We arrived in Sydney in October last year with my 5 year old having done just over a year at school in the UK. He started in kindergarten in February this year and has been absolutely fine. The range of abilities and ages here is far wider than in the UK - because the Australian system is far more flexible with starting ages - and so he already has a few 6 year olds in his class as well as 4 and 5 year olds - he'll be 6 at the end of July. I'm so pleased with the way the class is taught - they deal with the range of abilities really well and my DS is loving it. He is ahead in reading and writing which is fantastic for his confidence and he's in a group with other children at his ability and they always have interesting stuff to do.

chloeb2002 Thanks for the tip on the Greens gravy mix - I finally remembered to buy some and it is good! I think I will be saving a lot of money by not forking out on imported bisto anymore!

Apologies, just marking my spot! You've got to love the app.

Hi, I know this is an old thread about OZ - but I have a related question. I have Googled many places to see if I can bring my Ionisation Smoke Alarms (standard off-the-shelf domestic fire alarms) in with my personal effects (if we manage to get there) but I have not found any related yes/no on this. These are the type with a very small AM-241 detector, and many technical PDF's show this is NOT a health hazard, and they can even be disposed of in the rubbish. Has anyone had any experiaince of bringing these things in?
Thanks.

These are sold in Au, so shouldn't be a problem. The only vaguely electrical thing that is a problem is fridges, because of the regulations about coolants which means they have to be altered to pass the test, so as well to leave behind.

Wow. I'm amazed how different everyone's experiences are.

In Brisbane

I do internet shopping
Coles or woolworths

Costco opens in a few months.

Child health nurses work out of hundreds if clinics across Brisbane. Just ask the gp. They are free. Vaccinations are given free by the gp nurse for scheduled immunisations.

Nab do free accounts. No fixed charges and other banks are following.

Buy books at the stores that have book sales out the front.

Use fruit barns not supermarkets.

Australia isn't England. Not even close. I suspect a lot if expats forget that and compare it to the uk? It's not, it's different.

It's hot, dry, humid, wet, tropical, sub tropical, cold depending where you live.

The cost of living is expensive everywhere. Coles is turning into tesco. Woolworths is improving massively in new stores.

Coffee.. Love it. Drink lots. Coffee club card buy one get one free. Costs $4.50 normally for a bucket if coffee.

I wouldn't bring anything .. If in doubt things in with you.. We stupidly left 6 pine cones in Xmas decorations and they cost us $600 to be burnt!

And we left 4 burgers on our BBQ, brought that over and it seemed to slip through unnoticed, thank goodness

Love that thing about burgers @mosman - loads of our stuff was dirty - some shoes were extremely muddy (only realised as I unpacked them as we moved in a hurry!)....

Some wicker baskets of ours got destroyed but it was a corporate move so I have no idea what the charge was.