state primary schools in sydney, nsw

[bellow]

does anybody know whether they are generally good, bad, or...i also put a message under "travel" but thought it would be good to also put it here.

anybody in sydney????

sorry - just noticed this thread. i grew up in sydney but now live in london. the state schools varied a lot depending on area... however generally i think they are pretty good. do you know which part of sydney you are looking at?

thanks for this. we don't have a lot of money, so we will need to find an area that is fairly unexpensive, family-orientated, with ok schools, but lively, and close to transport and possibly the beach. But not suburbia...Are there any areas that you would recommend?

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I am in Brisbane so no real useful advice but figured if the NSW ed dept is like the QLD one you could find some info from their website.. It is also important to remember that public schools here are state schools.

here might be of some use.

This is all very interesting. There seem to be some areas where flats are very affordable, at least for us: Randwick, Kensington, even Cogee. I even found some fairly nice looking flats on the net in Balmain and Mosman. Are these nice areas with generally good schools? Also is the area around Marrickville, Stanmore cheap because it is very poor and depressing? We do not want to be in the sprawling suburbia, we don;t mind edgy (we live in Hackney after all), as long as the schools are ok (even if not great) and the general atmosphere is open and friendly, and there are facilities for children. We are in the process of getting the documentation together for the move, my partner is Australian and we fancy a change of scene..would you know how long it takes for a spouse visa to come through?

sorry - missed you again. both balmain and mosman are lovely leafy suburbs not far from the harbour - i went to school near mosman. i think these areas would have decent schools. stanmore/marrickville are kind of up and coming inner city suburbs - probably cheaper as they're not near the harbour and more 'citified' - i think they are comparable to hackney in a way. i do know that they have good cheap restaurants there and are near the centre of town - not exactly slummy but perhaps studenty (not poor and depressing - and def not sprawling suburbia)? i don't know about schools in these areas though...
you'd be safe to look in the mosman and balmain areas and their surrounds (although they're probably not exactly cheap). don't know about your visa query though... let me know if you're interested in any other areas... good luck (it's a fab place to live and i really miss many aspects of it - brill for kids).

Hi bello

My dh is Australian and I got a spouse visa about 9 years ago then it took about 6 months with a lot of forms to fill in and medicals to pass etc. I am not sure if it would take longer or less time now.

I am not sure about schools although dh suggested private was the only option in Sydney??

As far as living near a beach it will not be cheap but if you can afford Mosman and Balmain you can definitely afford the more expensive areas. We lived in Mosman and could walk to the beach but it is quite an expensive suburb ( I think there was only 1 pub in a 5 mile radius) but lots of coffee shops and restaurants. Balmain has a totally different atmosphere and is near water restaurants and pubs but not the beaches. It is more bohemian and lively with probably a younger population than Mosman. I would class Marickville as fairly dodgy (but not more than Hackney - no offence intended).

Just my opinions but hope it helps. Sydney is such a huge place and so diverse with N,S,E and W being quite different. It depends what you like really. Probably best to rent and if you don't like the area try a new one although of course that is a lot more tricky with kids. When we were there rents were far less than London but prices of houses fairly comparable.

Thank you. In Balmain and Mosman which sound lovely we would probably only be able to afford really tiny flats (which may be fine, we live in a tiny flat now...), probably a bigger place in the inner city. Do you know the area around Waitara, Hornsby and Turramurra, do you know anything about the schools and general ambience? There seem to be affordable houses there and there is the train that goes to the centre of town. I will look at more property websites to get more ideas. Our plan was once the visa comes trough (some people claim they got it in a few days, others in 6 months..) is to rent out our flat here and rent one in Sydney. If we do decide to stay we would then think about selling up in London and buying there. We want to make sure we like life in Oz. Thanks for your opinions.

i know the waitara, turramurra etc areas very well (grew up near there). they are further out of town, fairly affluent family oriented areas with pretty big houses... nice but quiet (not lively but safe and 'nice'). schools around these areas would be good i'd imagine (my stepbrothers went to school in turramurra and went on to uni and good careers). there is a train into town but you'd probably need a car as well. they're not near the beach really either, but they are near lovely bushland. you'd get more space and a house here but it sounds like you'd be more at home somewhere like balmain in terms of ambience. i'll let you know if i think of anywhere else (i've just gone blank!)

Hi Bellow

My dh grew up in the general area of Hornsby, Turamarra. For me they are a bit residential and surburban (although Hornsby has a huge upgraded shopping area). They are nice 'leafy' suburbs whereas Mosman has more of a city commuter population and Balmain probably (its a while since I was there) has a more trendy, lively crowd.

Somewhere around Manly would be great to live with children (and without) but I would say would be expensive. It is slightly further out than Mosman by bus (no trains in the Northern Beaches suburbs) but has a ferry directly to the city and a lovely beach. As well as a nice street of bars and restaurants. It probably wouldn't cost any more than Mosman or Balmain but is a bit more lively than say Mosman

Funnily enough in Manly there do not seem to be any reasonably priced flats....will keep on looking. Thanks to all of you.