Rightio - let's have an OZ/NZ rollcall for those of us here and moving to, because I can't keep up.

[arfishy]

I keep seeing 'emigrating to Oz' and 'have left Oz' threads and I can't keep up with who's here and who's coming here and who's gone. And I only see about 4 of us posting too [stern looks all round].

So can we have a roll-call so I can see what's what?

Me - Arfishy. Sydney 3 years, DD - 5, DSS 17, DSS 23.

just bumping it for myself so I can find it again

Hi all

We are thinking of moving to Oz - have a choice of Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth depending on where dh and I can get jobs.

I would love some information on the areas and in particular schools - I have a dd (7 next month) and ds (5) and am puzzled as to what years they would be in as it seems different all over the place?

Also as they are in Yr 1 and Yr 2 now how does that fit in with Oz schools who seem to start much later - eg when do they learn to read as both mine are on chapter books so I would hate for them to have to go thro the whole phonics thing again?

all advice much appreciated

Sydney and Perth in particular are v. v. expensive. What sort of fields are you in? I would say avoid Sydney unless you can afford to live well. I come from Sydney and the crappy suburbs are incredibly depressing - relentlessly hot and bleak and hours away from anything.

I have never lived there myself but have met quite a few people from Canberra who are evangelical about it as a place to raise children. It's quiet and safe and has a small-town feel. I also get the impression that the government services are very well-funded.

Sorry, forgot to say I can't help you with schools as DD is only four months and we've not yet got around to that.

Hi Spring,

I'm in Sydney. DD is 5 and started school at the start of Feb. The cut off is for children turning 5 by April, so we are a class of 5 and 6 year olds now. She's in Kindergarten. IME most 5 year olds here can't read as they've only just started school.

A 7 yo in DD's school would be in year 2.

I can't really advise too much about Aussie schools in General though - I wanted a non-denominational school and could only find 2 in Sydney, so didn't have to look at too many! There are lots of religious schools, good public (non fee paying) schools and loads of private schools.

In terms of living here, what are you after? Depending on your visa you may not have the choice of Sydney. There are some beautiful places here but it is expensive. I was surprised.

MrsBigD - so you're here? How was the trip? Where did you end up in Sydney? How is it all so far?

Sorry I missed your earlier posts, I've been busy in RL.

Arfishy, if you don't mind my asking, what are the schools? We want a non-denominational school for DD and thought putting her down for Ascham was our only option.

Can you tell the miserable bastard Presbyterians turned me off religious education (actually, religion full stop) for life?

LOL ninedragons DD is at Ascham. Funny you pinpointed that after one post from all the Sydney schools!

I looked at Kambala, St Catherine's (Anglican but not scarily so) and Ascham.

The Sydney education system seems to have been the exclusive preserve of God-botherers for a century now. I wish someone would start a non-denominational co-educational school - the single-sex thing bothers me slightly but not as much as the Jesus stuff.

Did you have to put her name down the second you peed on the stick? I am hoping we haven't left it too late. My cousin had all her kids down for schools before they could sit up unassisted.

It is odd in Sydney isn't it? There are so many religious schools but I never really meet many truly religious people. I suspect it might have something to do with the heavily reduced fees .

Funnily enough I was in the same boat. DD and I arrived here when she was 2.5, fully intending to return to the UK at 3 (and I already had her down for school there). As it happened we stayed, and so I had a panic when she was 3.5 that we wouldn't get into a school.

Kambala was completely full, but that was OK as they are in the middle of a 6 year redevelopment programme and I felt that DD would miss out on the new facilities.

Ascham we just squeezed into as they had just added an extra class at Kindergarten level. There was no chance at all in getting into the pre-school (for 4 year olds).

I saw St Cath's third and didn't rate it as much as the other two and have subsequently heard whispers about it. Shame as it's the closest.

How old is your DD? Is it next year you are coming here?

She's only four months so we're probably worrying prematurely. The local infants' and primary school is excellent (I went there myself, actually, many many many years ago) so we are only really concerned about high school. Apparently the local infants' is seriously oversubscribed and you have to queue overnight to secure a place. DH and I are planning to bring an esky of champagne, get all our rivals plastered and then tiptoe past them in the morning when the gates open.

We're moving back in November (maybe October or even September if I really spit the dummy, but realistically November).

arfishy yes I'm finally here. Landed 16/5 and currently in Ryde but hoping to move to Chatswood in a couple of weeks and to secure well paying job for husband so we don't have to live of tinned spaghetti

springsunshine dd is 6.5 (December baby) and she'll be going into Year 1. cut off date is 31 August for school year starting January (which I find a bit odd as I was used to cut off mid-august for school starting September). Sydney is a bit pricey and have to second that there seem to be a few bleak suburbs around. Haven't seen that much yet though so can't really qualify

Ninedragons - if you want Ascham then get your DD onto their pre-school list now. When I was looking around there were lots of pregnant women, so the waiting lists for 2013 are filling up. They told me that a lot of locals use the preschool and then move their DC onto other schools, so the pre-school is particularly over-subscribed. The pre-school is the feeder for Kindergarten and I've found those children are much better prepared for Ascham life than those who have come from other pre-schools.

MrsBigD - how are you finding things? You arrived just in time for it to be getting chilly here, which is a shame. What is Aussie life like - different to how you expected or the same?

Thanks for the warning. We are doing a flying visit next month so may organise it then.

Obviously your DD is much older, but do you know off the top of your head what the regulations are regarding car seats and taxis? We are going to have to get a cab from the airport but don't have a car seat - can you rent them or book a cab with one fitted?

We are embarrassingly laissez-faire about rules, coming from Asia, where a scooter is considered good transport for a family of five and three chickens.

Lol, tis true. I came here from Asia too.

I know that Taxis Combined will provide a seat if you pre-book, so you should be ok. Check it when the taxi arrives, as the drivers aren't always clued up on the fitting.

Thanks everyone

I am an accountant and sort of accidently spoke to an agency about jobs in Aus and he seems confident I will get some interviews

The advice on Sydney is good - had not relasied it was so expensive. Will probably concentrate on the others particularly as dh is more likely to get work in Canberra or Melbourne

Getting nervous but also looking forward to taking things forward

I would die before I admitted it to a native Melbournite, but Melbourne is SO civilised and has such a great quality of life [whispers] I think in many ways it's better than Sydney. If my parents weren't in Sydney I'd seriously consider moving to Melbourne.

Right, I'm off before someone shops me to the Sydney Police and they rip up my passport and sodomise me (you know how violent Sydneysiders are when you diss their city).

LOL ninedragons you are very funny!!

I have been back in Oz for a whole year now and I can't believe how fast it has gone by!! We flew into Tullamarine airport on 29th May 2007...

I am in Melbourne and it is so lovely here today, 17c very sunny and no clouds. I'm so glad to be here!!

MrsBigD - where are you? I want to hear how you're getting on.

Hi arfishy, Getting on alright I think, though everything seems a tad expensive when doing a food shop. need to get used to the $.

we will be in Chatswood as of next Saturday Signed the lease yesterday and went straight to the school to enrole dd

She is starting on Monday... yippieh... and she's looking forward to it. Just wondering how she's going to cope with going from a school of 65 student all together to a school with close to 700 students! Saying that class size itself is about the same LOL

DH is having some interviews and it's looking good.

I'm not sure when I can get back to work as nurseries/pre-schools in the area have waiting lists 6 months - 2 years... charming eh? And out of the 4 there 2 only do term time and school hours. But at the moment I'll take what I can get. Going to waitlist dd with all of them

Feel free to cat/email me. I can't cat atm as I can't subscribe due to lack of credit card

Hi MrsBigD! You went all quiet on us after Singapore. So you're in Ryde at the moment and then off to Chatswood? When I first arrived in Sydney I worked in Chatswood, so I can picture you ambling through the ginormous Westfield that dominates the entire town. Good food around there too - lots of Yum Cha.

I'm trying to think about the food thing. IIRC when I arrived if I shopped like a Brit, everything was very expensive. So don't recognise a brand and chuck it in, because it might be an outrageously expensive import (although this is more of a concern if you're a fool like me and accidentally shop in the food hall of David Jones). Ditto raspberries, duchy of cornwall, pg tips etc etc. My cheapest shopping is just for me and DD - nothing processed, not much meat etc. When DP arrived and started eating meat our bill went way up. Although it was worth it to see how much fun he had with our amazing Australian BBQ. I think the processed stuff is expensive here too.

How old are your DC again? The childcare here is a nightmare. I ended up with a nanny, as all the daycare centres laughed me off the phone when I tried to get DD in shortly after arriving. I finally got her into a new one when it opened, but it was unmasked in the press as the most expensive daycare in Australia (hmm, yes, that would be why there are spaces!).

How are you finding other things? Enjoying the Asian food? The mild autumn? The Harbour?

Fingers crossed for your DH with the interviews. I find the whole Australian work culture a little alien tbh. It's quite tough getting jobs but when you get there everybody is a complete slacker. Most odd.

Hello all. Just need to update where I am. We're in Canberra until August then back to the UK as planned however it now seems we're temporarily moving to Sydney in the New Year for 2-3 years [very excited emoticon].

This, of course, means they may be many threads from me about rental accommodation, childcare, spiders etc etc. I apologise in advance

Arfishy, I'm going through the supermarket and calculating for whatever is cheapest but not too horrid (like chicken and ham Home Brand luncheon meat I do stay clear of LOL)

DD is 6.5 and DS is 3.5. He's a September baby so misses the cutoff by 1 month and won't go into Kindi until 2010! argh! I will have to write to the authorities to see whether he can be assessed for early start. He's so ready NOW!

Haven't gotten to the Asian food yet. We had lots of it for our 10 days in Singapore with ds going 'I want rice only' and dd wanting dumplings or deep fried prawns!

At the moment we're food court victims which keeps the kids happy as they love McDonalds. After next week it will be homecooked stuff again! It's getting way to expensive, but it's so much easier in our nomadic state.

You think Chatswood Westfield is big? Have you been to Paramatta??? That's even bigger!!! Going there tomorrow to pick up some shool shoes for dd and an all in one pj for ds as he keeps kicking the covers off and his normal pj's expose his lower back and he gets cold... also desperate for a printer to print of application forms for all the local nurseries . Why oh why can't our old babysitter be a bit older (she's 14) and come over for 1 year's work experience as our nanny!? ;)

p.s. anybody up for a Sydney meet?

I am in Perth.....and so was/is suzywong.
I've been here for nearly 4 yrs now.