A new beginning

[MandG]

It looks like my husband has sponsorship for us to move to Sydney. It's all a bit real and more than a tad scary at the moment.

We have two daughters of 10 and 8 who are super excited. They are home schooled here in the UK and we will continue that in Oz.

We're looking at renting for a short while and then buying somewhere within about an hours commute. Obviously, schools aren't a major concern but we would like to live in a nice area that is fairly rural and close to the sea if possible.

We've never been before which is slightly mad but as my husband will be 45 this year we need to get a wriggle on.

Anyhoo, just thought I'd say hi and try and gen up as much as I can.

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Maria

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

Have you investigated whether or not the NSW Department of Education will permit you to home-school your children? If not, I would suggest that you contact them and make sure you know what their stance will be.

If they insist on the children going to a conventional school, the next step might be to investigate the School of the Air, but that is intended for children in rural outposts and although it is more a correspondence course than anything else, it may not be possible to enrol for it if you live in an urban area with schools.

I've also heard that it is allegedly no use for secondary education anyway, but that is just what an Australian lady living in a remote roadhouse in WA told me when we stopped there for coffee etc. I just accepted her opinion because educating her children was none of my business.

Additionally, most new migrants to Oz find that attending a regular school helps the children to make new friends quickly, meaning that the children often settle faster than their parents do, which helps the children and relieves the stress on their parents.

If you are going on a 457 visa, the Dept of Ed in NSW may not be worried about how your children are educated for as long as they are only temporary residents. But presumably you would want to upgrade to PR at some stage? If so, then I would check whether they would be equally content for Permanent Resident childen to be home schooled.

Finally, which curriculum would you propose to teach them? The Australian one or the UK one? There are quite significant differences between the two, but the NSW Dept of Ed should be able to provide details for you to examine, I would think.

Best wishes

Gill

[MandG]

Thanks for the reply Gill.

Luckily we have an Aussie friend who home schools over here so we know that we can do it there.

I've got some contacts for home school groups over there and will join in their activities. The girls currently do Brownies, Guides, drama etc and we'll be looking at finding new activities for them.

As for the curriculum? I need to do more research into the Australian but will probably opt for that. We're not anti school and they may well decide to go back at some point. If they are up to date with the Oz curriculum it will be easier for them to slot back in.

So many things to think about :)

[sharleen29]

[nikci]

We are also headed to NSW but the Central Coast, am told it is great for families and not too far from central Sydney.

Hope all goes well.
Nikci

[MandG]

Thanks Sharleen and Nikci :)

I'll have a look at Central coast on the map. We've got a list of areas at the moment that we're ticking or crossing off as we hear reports.