Moving from Australia to bristol; please help!

[BecR]

Hi there. I googled and some wonderful links were provided to your related discussions.. But I am still stressing about our up coming move! My husband has been offered a job in Bristol but we have never traveled out side oz! I have tried emailing companies for info but no one seems to reply.. Please help! I have a 3 year old and 1 year old and I know my hubby will dive head first into work!!! Very scary! I have no clue where to live... Travel for hubby into Bristol or better to live in city ? Car or no car? We are used to having our own cars... Rental housing? I Tried emailing an estate agent for info on bonds/ rent / dog and what info they would need but that was 3 weeks ago.. No reply... I also rely on play group to keep me sane and would love to get my 3 year old into an activity or 2? Any tips on ANYTHING would be appreciated!! Thankyou :)

We came from Oz a couple of years ago and found that we couldn't really organise anything until we got here. Luckily we stayed with my parents in the Midlands and did a overnight trip to Bristol to pick out a rental. Will your DH's work help with relocation? I would maybe take a look on Rightmove to get an idea of the rental market so you get an idea of prices and areas (bond=deposit in the UK). Transport will depend on how far away you live from DH's work. Some people will cycle but roads are very busy; public transport is expensive. You will almost definitely need 1 car but cars are cheaper to buy here than OZ, especially second-hand. There are loads of activities for the little ones to do.

Good luck!

Hi - I moved to Bristol 10 yrs ago from the north of England - not quite so scary but still a long way from family and a big move. It's a great city.
Where will your husband be working?
We live just on the border between Bristol and South Gloucestershire which is on the northern outskirts of the city. For young families I'd particularly recommend Emersons Green which is a big relatively new estate and has loads going on for children. You could live there and manage without a car very easily if you needed to. The traffic getting into Bristol and around the ring road is pretty bad, and parking in the city centre is expensive, so being relatively close to your husband's workplace is worth thinking about. Alternatively, being on a bus route into the centre as there are lots of bus lanes so that's relatively fast. We're also a "cycling city" and there are good cycle routes in many places into the city and around the ring road.
Bradley Stoke is another biggish new area that has lots of families.
Both of those areas have a lot of rental property and would be a good initial base to make some friends and scope out the territory.
I guess you also need to check out the local primary schools if you are intending to stay in your first property any length of time.

Wow !!!!
thank you very much ladies! Very very much appreciated!
I will look into the towns suggested and harras hubby tonight for more info on work location! Thankyou again!

We moved from Australia last November and I have a 3 year old as well. We chose to live centrally so that we could manage without a car. My husband is originally from Bristol so he came over first and organised a place to live. I found it more difficult to find work here due to the economic climate but eventually got something. We both work in the city centre and so can walk to work. You can manage without a car over here as groceries, etc can be delivered. Buses can be unreliable though. Read up on childcare vouchers if you are looking into using day care centres. 3 years olds get 15 hours a week (term time only) free nursery care. The school year starts in September. I am guessing your 3 year old will start school in September 2014. Check out Ofsted reports for local school info. Ofsted is the educational regulatory authority. Be ready to pay real estate agents fees to apply to rent a property. Check out the Bristol City Council website for info. What else do you want to know?

we used a relocation agency when we relocated from overseas. We did not know anything about Bristol and we couldn't have done without them.

Wow, thankyou ! I have emailed schools after reading up on ofsted reports but no one is answering my plea... I am confused about when my son would start? His birthday is in December... And I read that applications open in September the year before? It's getting confusing and scary... I have never been out of oz.... I am also wondering how common it is to have dogs allowed in rentals? I want to being my dog with me but once again emailing the right people is getting me no where! Thank goodness for mums net!!!!!!!

If your son is 4 in December he will start Reception (the first year of school) in September 2014. The application's will be open from September 2013 and usually close during the first 2 weeks of January 2014. Once you have decided where you are going to live and have a confirmed address in the UK you will be able to apply to the local Education Authority (LEA) via their website for a school place. There are several (LEA'S) in this area - Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset - so it will depend where exactly you live. Did find out the location of your husband's job offer? Bristol can be a nightmare to travel around in rush hour so it would probably be best to live the same side of the city. If the job is right in the centre, anywhere around the outskirts would be no more than 50 mins commute even at peak times. Schools will not be answering emails as we are at the start of our long Summer break!
www.southglos.gov.uk/Pages/Topic%20Pages/Children%20and%20Young%20People/School-admissions.aspx This is the info from the South Gloucestershire website - it is last years, as the 2014 info is not yet out, but it may give you an idea of the process.
Can't help you much on the dog issue - but in reality it's probably down to individual landlords. Once you know where you will be looking and when you need to move, you can register with local estate agents and they will take all the details regarding what you are looking for and they will provide you with info on any relevant property. To give you some ideas of property you can look at www.rightmove.co.uk
Hope your move goes well.

Thankyou so much for that! We got word last night that he will not be placed in Filton but in Weston super mare. I have looked into schools in that area in my insomnia and there is one or two that look good. We will not have an address there until February which I presume means we will miss the regestration for schools... Do you know if he has to have completed any kinder garten before he will be accepted into grade 1? Thankyou for letting me know about holidays, I was starting to think there was something wrong with me , no one was answering.

My hubby will be going for 3 months before me and the kids to set up a home etc I will let him know to register with real estates so they can match him with properties.

Thankyou very much, this info is priceless!

I would have a look around Nailsea, Backwell and Clevedon rather than Weston Super Mare. They are much nicer areas with good facilities for families and good schools. Weston has never had a great reputation around here!
As soon as you get an address you will have to make a late application for a school place if after the january deadline. This means yours will get looked at after all the 'on time' ones, and unfortunately means you may not get the school you want - class sizes are restricted to 30 children in reception. You will get offered something as they must by law find you a school place. You can also go on waiting lists of any preferred schools.
Most children here will have gone to a pre school for up to 15 hours a week, as it is free for us from 3 yrs old. The curriculum for pre school and reception is based on the idea of learning through play, so no formal education - but a lot will have done numbers 1-10, know some of their phonics and be able to recognise their name. More importantly they like them to be able to go to toilet unassisted, get dressed, eat with knife and fork etc. All children will have had different per schoolling and it's not compulsory so in reception they cover everything again, so he won't have missed anything that's not repeated.
The areas I mentioned above fall under North Somerset LEA. So you'll need to look at their website for specific application details - I would link but I'm on my phone!

Thank you again. I will look into those places mentioned. It's great to have insider info. My son is already counting and toilet trained so I'm not too concerned . I will look at the schools and public transport around suggested sites.
Thankyou. :)

If your husband is working in Weston, basically anywhere between Bristol and Weston along the A370 is nice - places like Nailsea, Backwell, Cleeve, Congresbury, Flax Bourton. If you have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk you can draw a search area along this route to have an idea of what's available. The public transport between Bristol and Weston is pretty good, but to be honest if you're out of central Bristol I think you will need a car.

North Somerset schools admissions for 2014 will close on (I think) 15th January 2014, but it's worth contacting them in advance to see what you need to do if you're not going to have an address until February. To be honest, you are probably better off out of Central Bristol if this is the case as the school place shortage is much worse in the middle of Bristol than the surrounding areas - you'll stand a better chance of getting something good out of Bristol if you're applying late. Schools will be running open days from September for next year's admissions, but if your husband contacts the schools you like directly he should be able to arrange to look around at another time.

Good luck!

Hi Bec, sorry I know this is old now, but have you moved yet? Im a Bristolian living in Sydney if you needed any further advice ??