caramac

:notworthy:

We pay much less in GDP for the NHS than most other countries and that amount has reduced over the past few years from 14% to (I was shocked to hear the other day) 10%! The tories have an agenda to convince the public that it's unsustainable so they can sell it off to either themselves or the American insurance companies. I'm not sure that they would be queuing up to buy it if they thought they couldn't make a tidy profit from it. We have an ageing population and cuts in the care system is one of the main reasons that the NHS is seeing the pressures it is this winter. That, plus cuts and the inability to persuade drs to become GPs, thus putting additional pressure on primary care, mean that secondary care is really suffering. If no one wakes up and really sees what's happening the NHS will be gone, or the taxpayer will be paying an awful lot more into the pockets of the insurance companies and private providers.

My husband is a dr (psych). We've lived in Australia twice before and are looking to return again (husbands RRV was granted this morning before he'd even finished uploading his documents! The rest of us are citizens, so don't know if that helped..). We've lived in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne ( returning to Melbourne - or Canada or SE Asia..). What kind of things would you like to know? There are things we couldn't help with because our initial entry was so long ago, and things change constantly, but happy to help if we can.

I definitely noticed it when we lived in Australia and I'm pretty sure it was the different powder. I got my mum to bring a box of Persil tablets with her when she came to stay, which amused the guys at Perth airport, and the smell was the same as when I used them in the UK. I did find one in Australia I really liked, but can't remember whether it was Radiant or Dynamo.. Looks like I'll be experimenting again if we're there again later this year.

We've a lovely winter here so far. There was a smattering of snow today, but it had mostly gone by the afternoon

Money is usually the driver for these decisions, but I think it's more to do with the way health services are set up in Aus - there are far more private Drs who are pretty protective over their practice. There are still lots who don't even have nurses in their clinics, whereas in the UK there is much more of a team approach, certainly in the more 'modern' areas. They do exist in Aus, but again, in the more forward thinking, (and mainly) public services.

That's a shame LKC - it would have been good to follow your plans, but I completely understand why you don't feel you can post anymore. It's hard enough sorting everything out without others thinking they know better than you what's best for your family. Good luck with your plans and your move, and hopefully you'll feel able to update us all when you're settled again.

Good luck LKC! From our experiences of moving back here, in terms of housing it's much easier to move this way - we haven't needed rental references in any property we've rented here and, in general, pets are much less of an issue for landlords. We've had hamsters, Guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs with no problems. I think your reasoning for moving to Scotland is sound. Our youngest daughter had to move from Sydney at the end of year 5 to mid year 7 in England. She doesn't have the additional needs that your eldest does, but she still found it a challenging time (she had gone back to her 'old' school where the teachers knew her, but moving around for different lessons, different subjects etc made it a bit tricky for a while). Scotland hasn't had the major changes in curriculum that have been imposed in England recently either, so that might also make Scotland a more attractive prospect. We have family in and around Edinburgh (some are teachers) and they seem very happy with the education their primary aged children are receiving. As long as you don't mind the weather, I think it'd be a great place to live.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that she wouldn't encounter the same issues at a private school. Our daughters experienced exactly the same problems at their very expensive school. It was horrendous. However, you could try to persuade her to at least look at different options, state and private - she might have a look and feel at home straight away. Definitely talk to her teachers in the first instance and see what they say, but be aware that she may well seem fine to them. You know her best, so keep watching her and try to keep the communication open without asking leading questions (easier said than done!). You'll soon see if she's settling. It's only been six months and the long holidays are coming up, so see how she goes over Christmas? Six months is a tough stage - the 'honeymoon' is over, but you haven't really settled and made firm connections. Maybe the holidays will give her time to see friends on her own terms and spend fun time away from the classroom with them (unless they're spending all their time smoking weed!). I feel for you (and her); it's a tough time and 14 is a difficult age to start afresh, but it can work out ok in the end. We came back to the UK which was an easy (and the right) choice for us, but others weather the storm and settle eventually.

You wouldn't have to wait for three years for the girls to start school. You come back and apply for a school you like (in some areas the good/popular ones are oversubscribed, in which case you might not get your first choice) and they start as soon as you're organised. Similarly with the NHS. Come back, register with a dr and you're away. If you need hospital appointments, you may need to prove your residency, but it doesn't always happen. The only thing I would say is, if your daughter needed to engage with children's mental health services (not school based psychologists/assistants) the waiting lists for assessment can be at least two years, so if you think you may need to access them it might pay to research your preferred areas before moving. On a salary of £30/35k you will be entitled to child benefit and I was able to claim that as soon as we arrived, but that's going back a few years now when it was a universal benefit. It may have changed since. You can check on the government website for up to date information. I don't know what the upper limit is for tax credits - they're on a sliding scale and you get nothing over a certain income. Might be worth checking that too. With no mortgage, you should have a good standard of living on that salary, especially away from the SE. There is a lot of competition between energy companies, supermarkets etc, so even though it's a bit of a pain doing comparisons, you can get some good deals. I don't know how much it would be for you to bring the cats, but our little, cat sized dog cost just over $3,500 to bring over.

It's a horrible feeling. Is it your first trip back to the UK since emigrating? I remember feeling the same way when we were on our first trip back to the UK - I could easily have stayed here and cried almost all the way back on the plane! However, to my complete surprise, once we arrived back and settled back in I was fine. Try not to overthink things (impossible I know!) and see how you feel when you get back, then maybe you can start to plan from there. How has your daughter coped with your holiday? If it hasn't been too stressful for her, maybe she'd cope better than you're anticipating? I do believe that children are happier if their parents are happy (until they reach the teen years when life tends to be all about them :wink:) and having a mum who isn't stressed must be better for your daughter than one who is. Support for children with additional needs is pretty good here, so she would have the help she needs to settle again, so I wouldn't put that obstacle in my way. Try to see going back to Australia as not permanent, simply the next phase. Would that help? You're lucky that your husband is easygoing and wants you to be happy (and looking at jobs in Scotland is a good sign!), so you don't have to feel trapped. It must be so horrible for those who have no choice - the trapped feeling must be so much worse. I do feel for you - enjoy the rest of your holiday - this Autumn has been absolutely glorious!

Me too, with you, but I'm on my phone (battery gone on iPad) and my ageing eyesight is so bad I can only see a couple of words at a time and can't keep up with what I'm typing! I don't like this getting old business.. Sorry if it came across badly.

That's why I said 'almost all' in brackets. I know there are some which haven't yet changed, but wasn't sure exactly which ones. It was different every time for all our kids and that was before Gove's changes. It would be best for the op to contact the colleges and schools she's considering to find out what they would advise. We moved back from Australia when our eldest had missed the first term of year 10, and moved again (within the UK) when our middle one had just finished year 10, so I know it can be done, but it's not easy and you need a supportive environment for it to work, especially when the curriculum and syllabus is different. It worked for our girls, but they did have to be very self motivated to adapt and study independently to cover the differences in courses. There were subjects the middle one couldn't take at her new school because the differences were too great to catch up with, despite her being very conscientious and hard working.

A lot will depend on your date of birth, but I'm not sure that coming back to repeat year 11 is a good idea, except for the domestic fees at uni point. All (or almost all) GCSEs are linear courses now, which means they're all full two year courses with all exams taken st the end of those two years. However, depending on your age, date of birth and educational level, you could go straight to a college and take the full two year courses for GCSE or A levels. If the latter, you could then take a gap year before starting uni which would qualify you for the three years residency requirements for domestic fees and conditions.

Both lovely places. I've lived in Norfolk on and off for the past 30 years (how the hell did those years go by so quick!) and my heart most definitely belongs there now, but I wouldn't live in Thetford. There are lots of lovely towns and villages surrounding it though (Watton is pretty and 25 mins drive away, as is Bury St Edmunds) and, as others have said, Thetford Forest is a giant playground. That said, getting in and out of Norfolk is a bit of nightmare - there are no motorways, although the A11 is a dual carriageway all the way now, the trains are slow and it takes almost as long to get from Norwich to Liverpool St as it takes for us to get to Kings X from Newcastle, and at weekends for the past I don't know how many years, the weekend trains have had a replacement bus service somewhere on the journey! Of course, it's location has it's plus points. Traffic isn't horrendous because Norfolk is somewhere you don't pass through to get somewhere else, so it's the destination rather than a carrier of 'through traffic'. The landscape is quite flat (although not as flat as The Fens), but the coastline is stunning and Norwich is a pretty, accessible and easy city. I guess it comes down to what you prefer and where you might feel most at home. I know I'll miss the scenery and hills of where we live now when we move next year, but my home is Norfolk, despite not having been born there. Can you visit before you have to make up your mind?

I and our girls react to the rape too. And it's always bloody exam season when it's at its height! Hate the stuff. My husband is sensitive to some of the tree pollens in Australia, but he's the only one.

They did, but it wasn't recognised. People would take to their beds, or sit indoors, unable to do much from Oct/Nov until the longer days arrived again when energy levels returned. It doesn't always manifest itself as depression. I don't get depressed or low mood, but I do feel more tired and my limbs feel like lead. I find it harder to wake up and get motivated to do anything. I find taking vitamin D helps a bit and my lightbox works too. Having a dog has helped too because he has to go for a walk every day and even the low level of light outside at this time of year is better than being inside, but sometimes it's a real effort to make myself go! It's thought to be at least partly caused by decreased levels of serotonin and/or melatonin in some people's brains, but there is still work being done into understanding it. It's rare to find people suffering with it within 30 degrees of the equator where the daylight is more constant and brighter. I was never affected by it living in Perth even though that's outside the 30 degs, mainly, I suppose, because the winter sun is pretty bright there too. Some people are adversely affected by summer weather too and suffer similar symptoms. The human brain is an amazing organ and we're only just scratching the surface of understanding it.

Yes it is and can be really debilitating for some.

It's academically selective, so it should rank well. It's also quite difficult to get a place if you're coming in in a non entry year. Our older two were assessed as being able enough to secure places (at Sydney Girls' and N Sydney), but there weren't any for them, so we were advised to try again for year 11. They all have a high proportion of Asian students which isn't a problem in itself, but the girls did seem to spend a lot of time going from school to music lessons, to tutors etc and that wasn't something we wanted. Mind you, what we got wasn't something we wanted either so it's definitely worth looking at!

Im at work atm, but will pm you when I'm home and have a minute. Might be day or two though..

I've pm'd you

My daughters went to Ravenswood. I wouldn't recommend it... PLC is huge and still seems to have a problem with bullying according to friends, but I've never been there. Are there any other schools you're considering?

We moved back when our eldest had missed the first term of her GCSE courses. She had missed quite a lot, volume wise, but she worked hard and caught up (quite a lot of the work she did in her own time). She had gone back to the school she left the previous year, so all her teachers knew her and she felt comfortable asking for support where it was needed. I would advise getting them back as soon as possible and choosing a school where they're not fazed by supporting kids who've moved at difficult times (some can be very intransigent and some brilliant). Try to stick with subjects they've done in Aus. Even things like geography can be transferred quite easily even though the content of the course can be quite different - our middle daughter used some source material she'd done in Aus for her GCSE which was obviously ok as she got top marks! History may be trickier as the exams are based on topics they've covered in class. Ask the teachers to look for 'gaps' in what they've learned - even between the UK exam boards the syllabi can differ, as we found with our middle daughter's maths when she moved school at the end of year 10. She ended up going to her teacher's house at the weekend so the gaps could be filled! If possible I would try to start at the beginning of year 10 to give them the best chance, but I know it's not always possible. The IB is a good alternative if your child is a good all rounder who is self motivated. Im not sure what everyone means by coursework though. None of mine have done coursework. That hasn't been around for years afaik. They have done controlled assessments, all prepared for and carried out in school under exam conditions. There is no speaking and listening part of the English exam anymore though. Apologies for spelling and grammar - am on my phone and need new specs!!