Otamatea High School, New Zealand

[charmander]

This is a real long shot - my husband has an interview at Otamatea High School and I am wondering if anyone can tell me anything about the school or area.

He is already in NZ, 3 boys and I hoping to join him soon.

Hi

I don't know it but have driven by (my sil lives not too far away.) Take a look at the ero site which tells you about all schools.

www.ero.govt.nz/ero

www.ero.govt.nz/ero/reppub.nsf/0/D29CF471DA5E673ECC25727B00 74B478/$File/21.htm?Open

Wellsford is very nice and not too far while Whangarei is a large town also not too far away.

HTH

Thank you very much.
I am wondering how we would cope with the change from living on the edge of SE London to living there. Should be fun! (assuming he gets the job).

Thanks again Sibble

lol, well that will be different! We moved from Woodford to a semi-rural area outside Auckland and it was a huge change but Maungaturoto is very rural. It's very pretty up there, my sil lives in Ruawai (not far at all) and are dairy farmers.

If your boys are typical boys they will probably love it. I'm not sure why you're moving but a huge plus imo is children are allowed to be children here for longer. Don't get me wrong my boys have playstations etc but they spend as much if not more time collecting mussels for dinner, fishing, climbing trees, surfing, playing after school sports (all cheap and readily available), our sheep have just had lambs, sadly the goat died at the weekend but they took it in their stride birth and death become quite normal in the country I've discovered (like the conversation over dinner last night as to why the boy ram would have to live elsewhere as he can't live with his sister and the mummy sheep when he's older! to a 5 and 9 year old)........ Consumerism is not as rife, they don't wear shoes for school and are building go-karts for an end of term derby at the moment. If he gets the job I've no doubt it will be a huge change but hope you enjoy it. Keep us posted.

Will let you know how he gets on. He is already doing some contract work in Auckland and i have handed my notice in at work so we should all be together somewhere after Christmas. The things you wrote are the reasons we are heading for nz. My boys are 11,9, and 3 and i think they will thrive, although the eldest will need a gameswork for warhammer somewhere and broadband internet could be a deal breaker!

Hurrah! He got the job.
Just need to find one for me now in a primary school.

Congratulations and good luck. It really is quite beautiful up there (white sand beaches, fantastic countryside) even if it is a bit remote . We'll be passing not too far away next weekend on our way up to Paihia. I'm sure you will settle in well, we've found that people here are very friendly and especially so in smaller towns.

I am going for another long shot, should probably start a new thread but will try this first.

I have an interview (by Skype) for a job in a school near the Secondary School.

What kind of childcare am I likely to find for a 3 1/2 year old?

I really want the job but can't keep him locked in the car all day!

Childcare similar to UK, there should be private daycares in the area. If you search by the area on this page you will get ERO reports (like Ofsted)on local nurseries (called daycare over here). At about 3.5 there are free state-funded kindergartens too but children generally go to either a morning or afternoon session, not both (though some kindies are starting to do 9-3 sessions, so may be worth checking out).

From 3, children get 20 hours free early childhood education, free in theory, most daycares charge a small bit extra to cover their costs - round here (Auckland) this extra charge is between about 50 - 90 dollars a week so pretty reasonable. May be even less where you are.

There are also nannies etc. Oh and kids start school at 5 here, not 4 - usually on or just after their 5th birthday

Ooh, I see Sibble has already linked to the ERO page

Thank you so much.
I had not thought of looking there, although I have used it to look at schools, so thanks for the link.

Children starting school later is a double edge sword for me: as an infant teacher I agree, but as someone who works fulltime it makes my life harder!

P.S. (that is tongue in cheek, I do realise school is not there for childcare).

I need to calm down and see if I get offered the job first - easier said than done at the moment when I am booking flights, deciding what to ship/leave behind etc.

Thanks again WSS

To be honest, the ERO reports are all much of a muchness, I find (I used to work in early childhood centres), if you read a few they all start to merge into each other and the same phrases come up again and again! But it will give you an idea at least of what is in the area, how many children in each daycare, etc.

charmander if the area is very rural you might want to try seeing if there are local childminders working from home - look at www.barnardos.org.nz/ChildCare/KidStart_what.asp. I would fully expect in a small local community that you will find childcare through word of mouth once you arrive without too much difficulty. Good luck!

Thank you busy bee, you will look at that link. A very lovely person at my husband's new school is making some local enquires for me, so you are right about word of mouth.
It is reminding me (as I panic about everything) that one of the reasons we have chosen to move to NZ is the sense of community and friendliness.