WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ ETC PART 7 !!

[frikonastick]

Come oooonnnnnn MNHQ, where's our medal

I think I'm going to phone tomorrow (I have that Metro magazine as well, need to dig it out!) He goes to a private school, Cambridge exams and very academic. His grades in the subjects he likes are all 70+ (Maths usually 90+). He is capable but lacks confidence and is not enjoying school. He hates Art, Music, Drama etc...which if I move him he will not have to do, he can chose Outdoor Education, Computing, Design etc... things he likes. This year has been a constant battle of me nagging him to revise, do homework, him doing what he wants to do and fighting back with subjects he hates - me resenting the money - him not wanting to go. I just want him to be happy but go to a school that will push him so he does well. I'm exhausted by it all!

I'm also turning over and over in my mind what we do if he doesn't get in by ballot - I think we will have to move because he is not going to the school we are zoned for!

And even the thought of selling and moving again exhausts me as well

Sibble, that all sounds very bloody stressful. Bloody kids

Thanks guys, but 2 glasses of wine on a Monday night and I'm feeling pretty chilled. Might regret it tomorrow as I'm a light weight but ho hum. My mum who is nearly 70 constantly phones me worried about my sister who is 40 so I guess this is just early days

I have friends with kids at Howick. They are mostly happy there. Apparently it has really picked up its game since the change in principal.

Thanks BBQ good to know. We are going to the open night tomorrow night and I'll register and see what happens. If we get in we can then decide what we want to do. If we don't - well no decision to be made!

I know people with kids in each year group there. One of my closest friends has a daughter who has a spot for St Kents for next year, which is where her older son goes, however they're thinking of staying put.

Well, after not going to NZ 2 years ago, another job has come up that DH is interested in. (FIL and SIL died within a year of each other; we knew it was coming and it really put DH off going).

Soooooooo...... Blimey, do we? If I'm honest, it's the kids I'm worried about. They're 9 and 7 and I'm worried about schools etc. they're very outdoorsy, but not at all rugby/football orientated.

I think the things that suit us about NZ is the scruffy, outdoor life. We are so not London-esque shopping types.

BUT, the thought of living in damp housing gives me the willies.

Well, although sport is quite big here I wouldn't say it's obligatory to be into it. I know plenty of kids who do drama/art/dancing classes or Scouts/Brownies etc and aren't particularly into rugby etc.

And our house isn't really damp, yes it gets more condensation than a Uk one due to single glazing etc and it is colder on winter mornings, evenings. But it gets lots of sun and isn't really damp - it is possible to find ok houses.

On the downside, property prices have risen a lot in Auckland in the last two or three years (though I shouldn't assume you would be moving to Auckland of course). The rest of the country's house prices are still far more reasonable.

Ours isn't damp at all. It's north facing which makes a difference. We dont even get condensation on the windows which we certainly got in the uk! our house there didnt have double glazing either. although it did have radiators I was also really worried about damp and cold housing before we got here, but it hasn't turned out to be an issue.

The outdoorsy bit, my DD LOVES it. She's not very sporty though. It's more the riding bikes and scooting everywhere and running around like a mad thing in the parks etc etc. we go kayaking a lot and fishing and stuff like that. actual sport wise, she does swimming twice a week and next term starts ballet.

Our place is a little bit damp. We're hoping to install HRV soon which hopefully will sort the problem.

I think there is a good variety of outdoors things to do here. Generally the weather lets you get out and about a lot more. It rains a lot in winter but not normally for the whole day. Honest.

Our house isn't damp either but we do have a HRV. It is cold in the winter though although we use a heat pump and log fire. Summer, it's like an oven (which I love).

The lifestyle here really suits my boys - rugby kayaking, fishing, surfing, body boarding. I have learned to love it all as well although there is a huge part of me that still (and probably always will miss) the London lifestyle (shopping, wine bars, people, architecture, proximity to Europe) sometimes it's worse than others.

Our house is probably a bit damp - but it's a rental place with no heating of any sort. I'd imagine a bit of insulation and a better heating system and central heating and double glazing would sort it out in no time. The issue we thought we had in the kitchen appears to be a combination of a broken extractor fan & a crappy dishwasher which vents steam into our cupboards.

The outdoor life is technically great - although I think we'll get to experience a bit more of it this summer now that DD2 is getting a bit bigger, she was too small last year to do much with her. I do love being able to potter about on the beach even at this time of the year.

We aren't damp! We used to be, so we knocked our house down and started from scratch. Amazing what insulation, passive solar, double glazing and proper heating can do!

God that sounds smug. We went from no insulation, single glazing with an asbestos coated shack that was rotting from under us to this, we've now been in for 3 years and I am so damned grateful for it!

Work is being super busy for me now. I've just started on a new type of work, which seems to be the core business for the company that I work for, and I'm not sure that it is entirely what I'm comfortable with. Early days though.

I went to howick college more years ago than I care to remember and I turned out ok. I think.

Thanks for feedback about Howick - we went and I did put his name down, we'll see what happens after the ballot. Problem is it went under special measures a few years ago, the Head, Board and a number of teachers went. I have heard it is much better but a school doesn't necessarily turn around overnight. The NCEA results are very poor for a decile 10 school compared to others but the subject choices would suit DS1 down to the ground. Interview with Dep Head went well until we were just about to go and she said to DS - ' you know this will be very different for you to your current school, this is not private, it is a state school with everything that a state a state school bring (?exact words), there will be children in your class who do not want to be at school and will disrupt your class and your learning. If you are bright, come to school to learn, focus and do not get caught up in the activities of others you will do well. With that I wish you luck.' I really do not know what to think about that - ? being honest ? this might not be for the very shy boy who talked to his shoes the whole interview?????

I think that is really good for him to hear. It is the reality of schools, isn't it. Not everyone wants to be there.

frik have you made any decision about that house?

Oh yes frik, any thoughts on the house?

We got (possibly) good news on DD2's allergies. We got another set of blood tests done and she's dropped from level 3+ on dairy & egg down to level 2+ (and no allergy to peanut, although I don't think we'll test that out just yet!).

From what Dr Google tells me this could be a sign that she may grow out of the allergies. There even seems to be some thought that they expect numbers to go up as a child grows, so decreasing is a really good sign.

She's still got the allergies, and we're probably a year away from another set of tests, but it seems to be positive news!