Help We're New - Looking 4 Info

[guys&dolls]

We're new to the site and looking 4 help! We are looking to emigrate to Adelaide at the end of the year (2007). We being my wife and I plus our two girls aged 7 and 9, and are looking for answers to loads of questions. Firstly, ideal family location to live, friendly, safe and desirably close to beach. Also we require any info on good rated schools both academically and sports wise. Last but not least (asking for the world here), anyone know of companies looking for experienced stress engineers !!!!??

We would be grateful for any answers to any of the above.

[tinbasher]

Hi

Try Careerone for job search: http://www.careerone.com.au/

or contact job agencies in the area probably a search on yellow pages might help you on this one: http://www.yellowpages.com.au/siteEn...referrer=wigen

If you want to live by the beach start at Hove and drive along the coast all the way down to Osbourne. All the places you find along that route are really nice. As for schools, if you want a public school then you have to live in the zone to get into that school. So it would depend on the area you choose. There are quite a few private school around those areas as they are very popular over here. The best thing with the schools is to wait until you come over and have a tour around them to see what you think, which is what we did.

Hope this has given you a starting point.
Alli

[guys&dolls]

Hi Alli,

Thanks for that, getting the right school is really important as we want to get it right first time so the girls can settle as quickly as possible and not keep moving them around.
What sort of costs would be looking at for private school as it seems much more the norm over there than here?
It may be a stupid question but do the schools have air con?
My oldest daughter is a bit reluctant about the move any tips about things to do for a 9 and 7 year old to do in Adelaide?

[The.Colebecks]

Welcome

Hugs
The Colebecks x

[guys&dolls]

Thankyou, this is a great site xx

[tinbasher]

Hi

The most expensive primary schools are around $4,500 per year. At most of them you get a reduction for having more than one child there. Obviously there are cheaper schools than that. We got price-lists from a lot of schools and some of them started under $1,000. The Roman Catholic schools on the whole are cheaper. Most of the schools do have air-conditioning, although my daughters school does have a few classrooms that still do not have it. On the whole the private schools are clean and tidy and have well behaved kids, that's not to say that they do have their problems. There are plenty of things for the children to do, especially if they like sport. There are not really any soft-play areas like there are in the UK, especially for older children, however because the weather is nice most of the time you don't often need to spend your time indoors. You may find at first they will be bored as you spend most of your time in the car driving all over the place whilst you get all the paperwork sorted. That was the hardest time for my daughter who was 10 when we arrived but once she started school then things changed. I have not met many families over here whose kids have hated it and wanted to go back. Take them to Cleland Wildlife they'll love it.
Good luck
Alli

[guys&dolls]

Thanks again Alli thats really helpful.
My youngest daughter (7) is all for going and is a real outdoor kid but its a different story with my oldest. Her best friend has just move out to oz and is living in Burnside, they have been intouch via email, webcam etc but she gets upset when she talks to her. I tell her this is a good reason to go and she can see her friend again but she is a comfort zone sort of kid (if you know what I mean).
Would you say the Private schools are better than the government run schools?
My youngest is having a lot of trouble at school with being bullied and being used as a punch bag for any child who has "problems"!!! Hence why she cant wait to get out of here.

[tinbasher]

Hi

Burnside is another good area, there are so many over here.

Our daughter goes to a private school, however if there had been a good public school where we lived then I would have happily sent her there. There are some good public schools as there are in every city. We had the same problems in the UK with bullying it was terrible, we had to fight with the school to get help, it was awful. So that was another reason why we thought we'd try a private school to see if it made a difference. The second week she was there a girl hit her across the arm, as you can imagine we were beside ourselves. My hubbie marched straight into the school and demanded to see someone, straight away action was taken. They even gave her counselling and they all sat down together and had circle time. In the UK we had to wait for 3 years before we got to that stage. After that we have had no more problems and our shy little bullied girl is now confident and flourishing. So from our point of view it has worked well. However there are many people here who are more than happy with the public schooling, but as I said before it all depends on where you live. My advice to you would be when you come over go to lots of schools and have a look around them, tell them your history and ask them about their bullying policy.

It is hard for the kids at first, however they adjust really well. I asked my daughter if she preferred it over here and she said definately. In the UK she couldn't play out much due to the weather and she had watch TV or be bored, but over here she is rarely bored. We spend more family time togther. There are lots of free barbecue areas over here, so we'll hop on our bikes take some pack-up have a barbie then cycle home again. Just simpe things like that, but that's all you need.

Sorry waffling a bit.
Bye for now
Alli :)

[Lazy Cow]

Right (she said, rolling up her sleeves, ready for a fight!)

IMHO every school is different and just because Mrs T's local public schools are feral, please don't think that's the norm. Grr!

There are a lot of private schools in SA (don't know about the rest of Oz), but what might seem cheap when translated into pounds, isn't when you are living on Australian wages, so the majority of children attend public schools.

It was super hard trying to suss a prospective school out. Our kids were just 10 and 13 when we arrived. The 13yr-old had been attending grammar school in Tonbridge, but both started in primary school as children are at primary school until yr 7 (13/14). The elder then went to one of the three schools that offer the IGNITE programme- it offers enhanced learning programmes for the gifted and talented (goodness knows how she swung that!)-, and is a public school. She much prefers it to the grammar and feels much more challenged (and not just by having me as a parent!).A friends daughter went to a private girl's school - a 'good' one- where she had such problems with bullies, she left and now happily attends a public school. The younger has a fab time and although he says there is still bullying, the principal is great at sorting it out, and it doesn't seem to re-occur. In his experience. And it's apparently easy as to change schools if the child isn't happy.

I HATE bullies. Our younger encountered problems with a few of the high school kids. I went to the school, they immediately listened, spoke to the lads involved, and kept us informed every step of the way. I bet both your girls will have a fab time here, with the beaches, the koalas (loads of them, in the trees, the gardens etc), budgies in the trees, friendly child-orientated living, and so many cool hobbies to be had !

??
LC.

Oh and don't listen to Mrs T., she's just a qualified professional!:p

[tinbasher]

LC please be careful Mrs when you role your sleeves up as I suspect that because you are so lazy you will have large bingo wings! I should have said there are lots of good public schools in Adelaide. Please accept my apologies if I have offended you MC, I did offer to shout you a pot of Bisto!:redface:

Mrs TinB