Moving to Sydney, NSW

[W8ey]

Hi all
We hope to be moving to Sydney as my husband had a job offer, based in the CBD. We are looking for a leafy suburb with good schools and accessibility to central Sydney and a community vibe.

We have one son who is 9 years old - Year 5. We currently live in South West London, its a nice place with friendly neighbours and local shops and we can walk to the train station to get into central London. Regarding schools it would be equally important for the school to be small ish class sizes and nurturing as it would be academic.

Would love some recommendations on accessible suburbs and schools. We could spend up to $2M AUD on a property.

Thx N

Thanks everyone. I certainly have a lot of suburbs to choose from. Wow! I guess it’s so subjective. I guess the best way is to visit before we make the final move and then renting first before we buy.

Sydney does sound very similar to London re schools and suburbs. We live in the brough of Richmond upon Thames and there are certain places within or neighbouring the borough that people will not live or go to school- middle class syndrome!

We have great state primaries most outstanding but it’s a very different story at secondary. We have one or 2 outstanding secondaries but you literally have to live outside the school gates. So lots of children are tutored so they have the option of private schools which are exorbitant! £6-8000 on average a term!

I guess it’s all down to finances if we have any left than we consider private if not then hopefully there will be one or two decent state secondaries I guess that will dictate the area we live too.
Thx everyone

I would pick Chatswood over Castle Hill a million times. I see no point in going that far west. For that amount of commute time, I would maybe try the Central Coast within the train line .

Chatswood is very different from all the suburbs that surrounds it. High rise building, more than 50% Chinese population, but great shops and all the Asian restaurants you can dream of. (I really like New Shanghai in Chatswood chase). However schools in Chatswood are an issue with over subscription and having to take turns for toilets, and access to playground during recess. So it wouldn't be my first choice.
All the Willoughby area is really lovely. Even Greenwich , mentioned by a previous poster is in a nice area. Not sure about the community feeling. I am not familiar with Greenwich as I only cross it to go to Longueville next to it, and this is just like my suburb. Big houses and nothing else. Lovely view on the harbour especially for New Year's eve. Around there many live in Lane Cove, but again, no personal experience .

You might want to read davidgillespie.org/books3/free-schools/ or www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Schools-David-Gillespie-ebook/dp/B00HL59ELS/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?s=gateway&keywords=free+schools+david+gillespie&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1552616627&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

an analysis of the Australian School system before making your choice between free or paying schools.

You need to know how to interpret school ranking and school result, and more often than not, the results are given by the child and not the school.That child would have the same results in any school.
One of my son's best friend is a Chinese boy. Since he was in Year 3 he was attending a tutoring college for 3 additional hours of maths twice a week from 4pm to 7pm. His school results have nothing to do with our school teacher but to the hours of extra study he applies.
James Ruse, the nr 1 school in NSW has a 97% Asian enrolment and most of them are similarly heavily tutored. So are the students at James Ruse receiving a magical teaching or do they study like crazy since the primary years? They fill the classes at Matrix, Talent100 or similar tutoring schools.

We moved in January with an 8 year old.
Location- I would say it depends how near a beach you want to live - if I was on my own/without children I maybe would have gone to the inner west or waterside but more harbour than beach. But DS really wanted to live near a beach and spends a lot of time there- we are within easy walking distance in Manly.
Commute- we chose to live in Manly near the ferry (which adds to expense and reduces size )
Schools - I can't work out from your postings whether you are considering state or private. We are in state (albeit only about 4 weeks in).

• school years run January- December. age qualification officially runs July to July I think- from what I know lots of Australians defer entry (someone told me that they would not consider entering a child born after March in the year he qualified for and wished they had deferred for their January born) - I was concerned that this would mean that DS (May born) would be the youngest in his year but ultimately didn't defer as the school didn't recommend and also he has been at school since he was 4 1/2 and has had a lot more schooling than others in the year. He's now in year 4 the same year he was in UK.

However - I don't find the school challenging at all - he's already complaining of being bored, he seems to be doing things that he has done several years ago - some of its just a timing thing (his classmates are just learning joined up writing ) but the rest... anyway its early days yet but I do know a couple of mothers who have moved from overseas and they say the same. I am worried as well that being a temporary resident he has restricted access to certain things (so called opportunity classes- eg for the top students) which may make it more problematic as time goes on. On an admin side- temporary residents have to pay . It was a bit of a nightmare getting him in school (you actually have to be living in your "permanent"/"long term "home in catchment - not just signed a lease etc) ; School is oversubscribed (as they have to take children in catchment)-so big classes/poor facilities/no TAs.

Many expats either go private (to avoid all of this - but then miss out on advantages- very local schools etc) or catholic- pay much lower fee- historically it was lower than the temporary resident fee (I think its gone up)

My DD lives in Pymble - on the upper North Shore. Beautiful leafy suburb, near the train station and a very easy commute into the CBD. Great community feel . Her kids go to West Pymble Primary school - less than 200 kids there, lovely school . And plenty of private options around the area as well. Northern beaches are about 15 minutes drive away .The upper north is a lovely area - I'd live there if I could. With your budget i think you'd be able to buy in that area too.

Will reply properly later but look at Cammeray. We recently moved away but enjoyed living there.

I feel I probably need to find a school both primary and secondary due to sons (age 9) before I decide on location. I would preferably want a very good state primary and either an outstanding state secondary school or a private school but not too selective or not too rigerous and academic.

You’ve all given me some great ideas re locations now need to work on the schools
Thx

Take a look at St. Andrews in the cbd for private.

Thanks Paperplain I will def take a look at St Andrews.

Sorry I didn't come back to answer your questions, I've been dealing with some health stuff (as a side issue, do make sure you have decent private health insurance. Depending on your visa it may well be a pre-requisite although you will always be treated here, not like the US).

When I suggested not being too close to the bush I meant stay a street or so back instead of having your garden back directly only the bush, rather than avoiding bushy suburbs (which would knock out a lot of the Upper North Shore).

Check out Northern Beaches Christian School in Terrey Hills for an amazing, caring, world leading school in a beautiful setting with good transport links to a lot of areas, not just the beaches. It is fee paying but the fees are reasonable. Most fee paying schools here have religious affiliation - NBCS is non-denominational - so don't be put off. It's a K-12 school so no moving later, very hard to get a Y7 spot, much easier to get into the primary then move through.

Snows in water
Thx you for recommending a school. We take a look. Could you get a bus or train to the school or would you need to drive there. My son suffers from travel sickness so a long journey in a car or bus would t be great. He’s fine on trains and boats tho.
Liking the sound of Manley but no further up or lower shore re Chiswick, crows nest or Lane cove.... or upper north shore but nothing too far up which would be a long commute to CBD or too remote as I like having neighbours close by and Mosman looks lovely. I’m sure once we visit there will be lots of other suburbs to choose from.

I would recommend the inner west. Lilyfield and rozelle are leafy communities with good access to the cbd. Good primary schools. Most private secondary schools put on school buses. Note that the waiting lists for the lower north shore private schools start from birth and by the child is 1 you very well might not get a spot.

I have worked in the eastern suburbs and the lower north shore. Some parts are lovely, but for me nothing beats the more relaxed vibe of the inner west. However Sydney is the type of city that I think everyone says that about the area they end up in. Life is lovely here.

I don't really share the previous poster's enthusiasm about the Northern Beaches Christian School. It is certainly a fine religious school as are most religious schools in the Northern Beaches, but nor performing incredibly well. Ranked at 194th . If you are ok with or after a religious school, then I would go with St Luke's in Dee Why ranked nr 34th.
I have friends with children at both schools.
Terrey hills is far from the CBD, not exactly close to the beaches, whereas Dee Why (or Curl curl nearby) is connected with the fast B-Line and you are on the beaches.
If you own a house in the northern beaches council you receive 2 parking stickers that allows you to park for free on all the council beaches, and we are talking about the whole north shore peninsula, so another thing worth considering.

However, I reiterate, Mosman is great and I love the fact that Mosman High School has no uniform!

We are not particularly religious so would probably prefer a school that has a slightly more relaxed feel. We are not opposed to it either tho. My son at present goes to a Church of England School as it’s our nearest primary but the religious aspect is fairly relaxed. Do you have to be Catholic to go to a Catholic school?
I think our preference is a school in the lower north shore or inner west or CBD area but might change my mind once I have visited again. 😀I am very indecisive. You have all been super helpful. Thank you so much again.

No you don't have to be catholic to get into a private catholic school. Also they are a fair bit cheaper (relatively) than the Anglican schools because they get a huge subsidy.

Hello @W8ey I'm hopping onto this thread a bit late. What have you decided about schools, areas to live, the rest?

We may be moving to Sydney next year and have broadly similar requirements for schools, accessibility to CBD, community vibe and the rest and we're interested in the Northern Beaches. I'd love to know how you have got on with all your research? Our eldest daughter is a similar age to your son but if lots of schools are single sex that may limit us anyway...

Thank you!

Hey @W8ey
Did you move?? How is it? Where did you end up??
Also live really close to Twickenham and have the urge to head to Sydney after having sat on the Richmond train line into Waterloo thinking what are we doing paying so much for our house, childcare etc in SW London - and starting our day on the 6:05 train eating each others hair!!!! 🙈

Hiya Lisyloo & Villa68
Still in the big smoke! Ha ha
My husband had a really good job offer here so we decided to stay for a little bit longer but it is a global position and the company have an office in Sydney 😁 so it’s still an option. I guess with the pandemic everything has been put on hold but my dream for sunny skies and goldern beaches 😀 are still never far away.
I was quite surprised tho at the prices of Sydney properties and especially the closer you are to the CBD. Very similar to London prices or if not even more. I thought Richmond upon Thames was expensive!

Ahh - good luck for your future!! 👋🏼
See you over there maybe!

I was just reading this and didn’t see the date and was amazed at people suggesting Mosman and Chatswood for $2m! We’re in Hornsby Heights and a normal family home just sold for that here and we’re basically an hour from the city. House prices have gone mental (again) and even very small places in areas like Pymble would be well into the 3-4 million mark. Crazy.
If you do ever come though, it’s a great place to live!

Hi @W8ey and @Ozgirl75 - thank S for the replies!!
We are flying on the 22nd July (hubby has exemption to travel linked to job - so feeling very lucky but also aaaaaaaaaaa - this thread has been great for helping me pin point areas for the list when we get there.

Good luck!