Doncaster

[Mike&Fiona]

Hello all,

Well visas are now sorted, house up for sale or lease and we hope to be out in Feb.

So we have stepped up our search for an area to live, our main drive is to find a place with a good government school and not too far from Mulgrave where I will be working. Baldwyn would be nice but the property seems a bit on the high side.

We found a couple of interesting houses in Doncaster, looks a decent neighbourhood but whats the schools like? East Doncaster Secondary seems to be rated but what about Doncaster Secondary?

Anybody got kids at these schools?

Mike

[moving2melbourne]

Originally Posted by Mike&Fiona

Hello all,

Well visas are now sorted, house up for sale or lease and we hope to be out in Feb.

So we have stepped up our search for an area to live, our main drive is to find a place with a good government school and not too far from Mulgrave where I will be working. Baldwyn would be nice but the property seems a bit on the high side.

We found a couple of interesting houses in Doncaster, looks a decent neighbourhood but whats the schools like? East Doncaster Secondary seems to be rated but what about Doncaster Secondary?

Anybody got kids at these schools?

Mike

Hi Mike
I don't have children at either school, but I have recently been working on the 2007 results for all schools in Melbourne. Out of the schools East Doncaster is the higher ranking, completions of VCE was 99% and VET 81% with 70% going to uni.
Fees in Yr 10 are around $350 per year.

Doncaster Secondary completions of VCE 97%, VET 84% and again 70% go on to uni. Fees are $320 per year.

The study scores for East Doncaster rank higher but I am sure either school would be fine.

Good luck with the move.

[ced]

Hi, can't help with schools but we live very close to Doncaster and go shopping there regularly and it is a nice area, the only down side is there are no trains and trams only buses for public transport.

[treesea]

Balwyn would be worthwhile if you could afford the exhorbitant prices though, because Balwyn High is one of the best state secondary schools in Victoria. And it has a good tram service. Doncaster is a nice area, as is the neighbouring Templestowe, but I agree with ced - only having buses to rely on for public transport is less than ideal.

[davlap]

Hi
We moved to Doncaster East in late Sept 08. Prices were quite good for rental compared to other areas. Doncaster East Secondary was the best school we visited. James is in Y8 from Feb 09 (just turned 13) and settled in really well, plus they have a great academic record.

Thought it was a bit far out at first, especially with no rail links and further from the beach.
But it is not too far from most things. We have caught the half hourly bus into CBD (30 mins), drove to Blackburn station (5 mins away) and caught the train (30 mins). Train is better as they are more frequent. Lots of bush, we can drive for 10 mins and then walk for hours - Currawong, Westerfolds, Warrandyte. We have seen roo's, rabbits and an achidna ! Some of the parks are along the Yarra river and you could cycle for hours along the tracks. Beach is 45 mins drive away as are the mountains (Dandenongs). Wife works at Box Hill, takes early bus (20 mins) and I pick her up (10 mins)

There is lots of large shopping nearby - Pines , Westfield (incl village cinema) and smaller areas Tunstall, Devon Plaza, Jackson Court. These have a really great variety of restaurants and small shops. We go for a meal every week and have not tried them all yet. It takes 5 mins walk to the closest bunch. We have cinemas at Westfield (5 mins), Eastlands (10 mins) and Forest Hill (15 mins) which also has bowling.

The area is low rise, neat tidy and spread out, with wide roads and a feeling of space with a lot of reserves (parks) close by including Ruffys which is very big and has council events there. Lots of clubs around, James plays cricket. I am trying to get some tennis with 'younger' people as the club socials tend to be over 60's (any offers!). There is a large aqua centre at Doncaster with 50m outdoor and 25m indoor pool.

You can pm for specific info and I am trying to keep up a website (mainly for people in UK) at www.dlapin.com/Oz

Look at google earth or melways. Melways allows you to pick things in the area such as rentlas, trains, schools, restaurants etc.
http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi
Pick Melways greater book, Page 34 Grid B11. We live in May street.

Hope this helps

[treesea]

In East Doncaster, there is a brilliant Chinese restaurant on Blackburn Road called the Tai Pan. I don't know about their a la carte, but I have had some really nice yum cha lunches there, and quite reasonably priced. Their har gow (prawn dumplings) are simply delicious.