Hello to the Sunshine Coast.

[sharpfamily]

Hello to everyone,
We are Alan & Sylvi (both aged 46)and we shall be moving over to the sunshine Coast area in July of this year. We have 4 children, but only 3 will be coming with us - our 22year old has decided to stay here in the UK.
Our son Martin,19, has been training here for the last 3 years to become a motor mechanic and is hoping to find work in this field.
Our daughters are aged 8 & 11 and are looking forward to the move but are obviously a bit worried about making friends and starting a new school - advice on schools would be much appreciated.

We would really like to have contact with any of you already in the area and hopefully meet up when we get there.

Feel free to get in contact, I will reply in between the de-cluttering & packing.

Cheers,
Sylvi.

[Arnold]

Hi there,

Good on ya, its a very big step! We came out last September and are living in Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast. We have 2 boys ages 7 and 9, they started school in January. They go to a private school, they are much cheaper than in the UK. The boys have both settled in really well, and made some lovely friends. At the end of the first week both had been invited to friends houses, which was a huge relief. The school seems very good and very organised, to be honest it feels like they have been there forever.
I will just say that speak to people before you put your children into school, get as much info first. Alot of the schools here are very hot on catchment areas, if your not in the area for the school of your choice you will not get in, unless you have a contract for a property in that area.

Also for your info, you have to buy all your childrens school books and stationary here, they are not provided by the schools. It works out about $100 per child per year for school work books!!! You provide pens, pencils, calculators, literally everything they need to work. The school we found includes all of that in the fees, along with swimming lessons however this is not the case for all private schools. So make sure you request all information from the schools beforehand and check what the fees include if going private.

Do hope this helps....what area are you thinking of moving to on the Sunshine Coast???

[sharpfamily]

Hi Arnold,
Thanks for the info on the schools.
I did send you a direct reply to your email address - did you receive it???.

We are looking at the Maroochydore area at the moment as a business that we are interested in buying is in the area. However, we also have to think about our son and his job requirements and look at wether he can actually apply for jobs/trainee positions before we get there....so there are still a few factors to look at.

I agree with you about the private school fees, they are much lower than those in the UK and it will be difficult to choose but I was hoping to get a short list together of schools to view on our arrival. It sounds awful, but I would like the girls to get into school as quickly as possible so that they settle and don't feel they are on holiday again....after all they will get the long holiday at the end of the year. They will soon get bored too if they don't have all their toys etc from the UK to play with straight away and we are having to go out and view houses & businesses etc....so school should keep them occupied.

Things are moving along OK at the moment....we have had a sale agreed on our house and have now had 3 removal firms round to give us quotes......now just waiting for them. I'm just going through every cupboard sifting the 'need to keep' items from the 'think its time to get rid of items'. This should keep me quiet for quite some time!!!!

Look forward to hearing from anyone else in the Sunshine coast region who can give us any hints or tips on schools, where to live (or not!!), mechanic style jobs for my son etc etc...

Bye for now,
Sylvi.

[egghead]

we would be happy to meet up with people when we get there (hopefully next year)
keep us updated with your progress
bec an chris

[kelly]

we have a long wait but can we join in with the meet ups too, i will need a friend when we finally get there.
kelly

[afiyafifi]

Hi My Name Is Karen ,my Husband , Myself And 3 Out Of The 4 Of Our Children Our Moving 2 Queensland Next Year And Would Really Like To Get To Know Some One Else That Is Moving Over There. The Children Are A Bit Scared And Dont Want To Lose There Friends It Would Be Good 4 Them To Talk To Some One Else Thats Going .my Son Is 13 And My 2 Daughters Are 10 And 1. Sorry This Isnt A Reply To Your Question

[carolinejane]

We fly out next friday. we will be staying in mooloolaba and looking to settle in mountain creek or buderim. about 10 mins from maroochydore if that! We have 2 boys 10 and 7. I am sure you will find that you will all be fine with your chosen area. \i wish you all the best