It's decided ... moving to Sydney April/May 2008... which areas are good with kids?

[MrsBigD]

o.k. it's still a bit away but thought I better get started re what to consider.

Visa stuff I have info and paperwork to be done.

I've been to Sydney yonks ago and obviously didn't look at it with the eys of a parent trying to work out which area to move to for good schools etc. but more to find good night clubs etc

So who knows Sidney from the parental perspective and is willing to share all the gritty details ?

I'm thinking the same thing

"you lot" could, of course, be nutters

but at least you are pommie nutters and will appreciate my longing for chips and gravy

Hello emigrating gang! Waves to mogs, sunnyd, peppapig & MrsBigD. Welcome to our select gang tribeoffive!

LOL re drugs and alcohol at coogee. Of course, I haven't experienced that myself, but it is quite a young place, because it's a beach town. It was perfect for us as we have 2 teens (not the drugs of course) as well as DD. There are plenty of things to do within walking distance for them here, although I was focussing more on the sport/cafe/beach rather than drugs and alcohol!

If we end up buying, we'll probably follow the crowd and move to the north shore.

Chatswood has a shopping centre soooo big you can get lost for days. When I first arrived I worked there and have spent many a happy lunch hour shopping.

Manly has a lovely safe little beach, good for toddlers. A lot of the big beaches have waves that are too fierce for littlies.

MrsBigD - the school DD is down for does German and French from 5. It also does Greek, Latin, Mandarin and others. It was recommended to me by a mumsnetter (Sydney teacher - thanks Bloss!!) - Ascham School .

Mogs - oi mad duck woman, who are you calling nutters?!? I'll have you know that we are the completely normal ones. It's all that sunshine you know .

wow - everyone is coming to Sydney! excellent.

sunnydelight- my dp's commute was cut from an hour plus around the M25 to just 10 mins down the road (and he gets to surf in his lunch break as well ). the lifestyle is just so different.

and we're due to get temperatures in the mid-20's in a day or 2 (been high teens, low 20's for a while now). i've blinked and missed winter here (and Sydneysiders have been telling me it was a cold one ).

good luck with the planning stages and looking forward to chatting on Mumsnet...

hi arfishymeau! agree with shopping in Chatswood - when we first moved here we stayed in corporate housing in Chatswood for a month and i couldn't stop buying odds and ends when passing through the shopping centre. think dp was quite glad when we moved away .

now, really must go and get showered and dressed...

oy mogwai who ya calling a pommy nutter?! I'm a German nutter who happens to live in pommy land

arfhishy thanks for the link will have a look later. Oh mei my list of links is getting longer and longer LOL

and Chatswood is sounding gooood

I can confirm that tribeoffive is an absolute nutter

hey! who u callin a nutter? who let u out for the day? ;)
with 5 kids who wouldnt be nuts :O

papillion thought u were my mate? get u later!

Your mate On only Wednesdays Actually I am considering your dessertion to OZ as high treason, and I may forced to take serious serious action

papillon... serious action? may I recommend also moving to Australia?

well MrsBigD its not far off the social cards, as another supposed friend of mine, absconded to Sydney afew weeks ago.

I am going to get "friendship approved certification" (FAC) off of them in future :0

Hi Guys!
Got requests from the 2 teens -
my son wants to be near a rugby club and beach for sports (and girls one thinks;))and Dd wants to be near shops and big school!(for the past year has been in very small Swiss village school and has had no social life!)
Does this narrow down what is the best suburb/s to live in????

Local rugby club is also on our "must have" list tribeoffive! Which one of your kids is it for? It's my 13 year old - wouldn't it be funny if they ended up playing rugby together (I was out with spidermama today and discussing the fact that most of my information about moving to Sydney comes from mumsnet - it's really bizarre sitting on the banks of a river drinking wine and letting six kids run wild together with someone that you met online!).

nothing wrong with meeting somebody online... guess where I got dh from LOL icq!

Well I don't know that much about rugby, but I'd say most areas would have a club. Private schools will have their own teams, and some public schools might too. Will do some research for you both...

I don't think you'll find too many tiny hight schools, so it doesn't really narrow it down there! tribeoffive are you thinking public schools?

rugby league or rugby union?

Mosman Junior Rugby might help...hopefully you can find links off this page to other clubs on the North Shore...try Gordon rugby, lane cove rugby or chatswood rugby, I know they have clubs

had a look at Ascham School ... looks nice, but they don't mention pricing... very suspicious

Daft question here as I haven't read up on it yet... are schools in Australia single sex or mixed ?

Just found out today DH working southside so need info on southside areas.
ARFISHYMEAU ur the sothside arent you? and you have teens just 2 refresh ur memory I have 2 teens and 3 little ones so any suggestions?

mrs bigd - both. private schools usually single sex (eg ascham), public schools usually mixed except for grammar schools which are usually single sex. but there are exceptions to all these.

tribeof5 - do you mean dh is working south of the harbour (ie, in the cbd) or south of the cbd? if hes working in the cbd, you coud still live north if you wanted to.

Ascham is the most expensive private girls' school in Sydney, but it is very good. Ugliest uniforms ever though!
Sydney is a very big place (geographically v spread out) so where do you mean by South?
If it's the city then the North Shore will actually be more convenient than many of the Southern Suburbs. Also you can get a ferry from the North Shore to the City and it the absolute BEST way to commute!

Sorry guys cant get 2 grips with all the south noth stuff WOTS CBD? DAH!!!
Hes workin in the area PYRMONT does that help

CBD is Central Business District - it's what the city is called.
Pyrmont is just slightly West of the CBD, but still very central - right on the harbour. Is he working for Nokia?
Southern suburbs will be no more convenient than the North Shore for Pyrmont. Inner West suburbs like Balmain, Lilyfield, Leichhardt and Roselle would actually be more convenient and they are vey child friendly.
Some of the best private Schools are in the inner west as well - PLC Sydney, Meriden, MLC for girls and Trinity or Newington for boys.

stdsnow, hi, can't remember where you live and if you are aussie or brit?

agree, ascham uniform is awful...we had lots of rude jokes about them when i was at school!

tribeoffive-the inner west is nice and kid friendly, but has a different feel to the north shore.

inner west is more culturally diverse, gererally smaller homes - its a gentrified, once working class area ifyswim. I think its more vibrant than the NS, but IMO the NS is prettier, more relaxing.

inner west would be a shorter comute, but from the north shore it would be ok too, depending on which area you prefered

sorry for the jargon!

Heard that crossin the bridge is hellish?
Don't want grumpy dh if he has nightmare journey 2 work and back
But I need to find somewhere that suits me and the kids and is not mega expensive 2 stay.
Kids wil be goin to public school afraid with 5 kds private a no go.