Tina2

Billie, the sunshine coast is a very popular area and as such has a variety of good schools. The first thing to do is sit down and decide "what sort of school you want" state or private ? there is a good thread under the education forum on the good and bad points of both state and private under the title state or private. Do you want a co-ed school ? do you want a seperate primary, and high or do you want a school that goes through from Prep to 12 ? Do you want your children in a smaller school or a larger school again both have pros and cons. Smaller is often more intimate with teachers knowing students on a more personal level, but these schools can be lacking in some facilities like indoor halls/gym and pools. Larger schools can be up to 3000 students so the children do get a little lost in the crowd but the school tends to have more facilities.. Once you get that list sorted, have a look at http://www.whereis.com/ now you can key in any town and press find and you can see the area and by expanding the map see local suburbs. Another good thing is if you press Directions after you find say Merindan you can key in a different town and it will then tell you have far each place is and driving time. Now knowing the towns you are keen on have a look at the web site http://www.myschool.edu.au/ you can key in a town and it will give you all schools in that town and each school has a link to its web site. You can check out academic standard of any school you choose but remember Naplan is not always 100% as some schools remove struggling children so there results are better. I find the easiest graph is to scroll to the bottom of the my school web page once you have chosen your school and click on results in numbers it is the easiest to understand basically the more green boxes the better the school, the more red the worse the results. With Merindan use caloundra as your search area. My pick would be Pacific Lutheran College but that is very much a personal choice, i love the lutheran schools, christian with out being pushy, good education standard and reasonable cost http://www.pacificlutheran.qld.edu.au/ if you prefer a state school there is https://meridansc.eq.edu.au/Pages/default.aspx which is prep to 12. You need to be aware that with state schools they have catchment areas and you must live in the catchment to go to that school. Each state school will give you there catchment area. Private is very much "if they have a vacancy" Hope it helps and good luck.

I would like to break this question down into two sections. Firstly funding, some would say private schools should not be funded as it is parents who choose to send their children to a private school. If the government were to stop all funding to Private schools the amount of funding saved would not come close to providing enough places at state schools for all the children that would have to leave the private system as many private schools would be forced to closed so where would all those children go ? I might ad i know many many parents who work 2 and even 3 jobs to send there children to private schools. What is the difference. Firstly as a parent you get to choose the school your child goes to rather than having to send your child to the school with in your catchment. Few public schools have chaplins, so parents who have a religeous faith may prefer a school where religeon is taught. There are many very good state schools but they tend to be in the better suburbs, where parents have better jobs becasue they have worked hard to achieve and that work ethic is often past onto the children resulting in better over all result for the school. Schools in areas of high unemplyment, and high crime tend to have schools where children have less interest in working in class and can become very disruptive. This work ethic is seen far more in private schools because in general the parents of children at a private school have a keen interest in how there children are doing in class and tend to also be more supportive of things like working bee's, and helping out at sports events and the like. Private schools have the ability to "disapline" and "remove" disruptive shildren from the school. With the closing of most "special" schools so that children with a disability now attend regular schools, the private system tends to have the funds for extra resources to support these students, sadly state schools struggle in many cases to help these children. Private school have the ability to "cap" class and school sizes, although state schools also have a "prefered' cap number if the area within there catchment area keeps growing then they simply have to keep taking more children till they simply burst at the seams. Many state schools now have 6 or 7 prep classes with around 25 children in a class that is around 150 to 175 new very young children in prep, a nightmare for a handful of teachers to cope with. As the new way is now to build huge state schools that cater for Prep to 12 many of these schools have a student body of 2000 plus students. I hear many parents saying state Primary is fine then we will look at Private for High school. In many cases if a child gets behind in primary they find it very challenging to reach the very often far higher academic standard of the private high school. As friends from primary may well have gone on to state high, if a child is unhappy having been sent to a private high school they may become quite vocal in there disire to go to the local state high with there friends, in fact they may well refuse to go to the Private high school in the first place. There are also other challenges with the change over from state to private like standard of manners and uniform that some children will find a challenge. In our family despite the struggle at times to pay fees, the eldest child went state for the first 6 months of primary, she was then changed to private and since then all children in the family have gone private. Just the required amount of homework in prep yes prep (which can be done at homework club if parents prefer, sort of free coaching) sets the way for the remaining years at school.

You (and other parents ) may find this a handy web site https://www.careforkids.com.au/search/ccvac/?drop_menu=ccvac You can registar your details to be sent alerts of vacancies at child care/kindy centers. Unlike schools you dont need to be in a catchment area. This is a link to yellow pages where you can search for kindy/preschools in your chosen area http://www.yellowpages.com.au/search/listings?clue=pre-schools&locationClue=Mt+Gravatt%2C+QLD+4122&selectedViewMode=LIST&emsLocationId= Basically there are two types of Kindy/Preschool government run which is around 5 days per fortnight and private long day care centers, sorry not as familiar with the kindys as i am with the schools. Another good web site is http://www.whereis.com/ you put in the suburb, even a street in a suburb and it brings up a map of the street and suburb, if you then press directions you can put in a different address, press directions again and it not only brings up a map showing the route, but also gives you distance in km and the time to drive between the two areas, so you can look at a house you want to rent and it will tell you how long to drive between the house and a school, work, kindy, shops what ever. ( ad some time for traffic delays LOL)

You are very welcome ! So much to do i am sure and if i can help i will, i know the Brisbane schools pretty well. This is a great forum with lots of people who live in Brisbane area who i am sure will also help. Do ask schools for a map of there catchment area though, before you get to excited over a property you might like to rent, if you are not in the catchment area you have little hope of getting into the school of your choice. The better the school the tighter the restrictions on there catchment area. I know one state primary down the coast that had a very limited number of places outside there catchment area that were offered a couple of years ago that had parents camped out "overnight" in the hope of getting one of the places, becasue it was such a good school. Mt Gravatt is a nice area and good access into Brisbane if that is where you will be working. Good shops as well. If you intend to put your 2 year old into kindy that is something else you need to look into as places can be very limited, with many mums now returning to work. Happy packing !

Morning Emily Glad it helped. You may like to take a look at Macgregor Primary, it is close to Mt Gravatt and a very very good primary school. Before i retired in my work role i often visited the school and it has continually had a very good repretation for very high standards, not only in education but also disapline. Hope this helps you http://macgregorss.eq.edu.au/wcms/ Enrolement is strictly controlled, so if this school is of interest you need to email the school and ask for "a map of there catchment area", this will then allow you to find accomadation with in the catchment area. Best way to find accomadation in the area is to use http://www.realestate.com.au it has homes to buy and rent. Good luck hope all goes well

Thought i would ad an update to this thread. The government in all there wisdom have now changed the law in regards to when single mums must return to work or starve. The age has been dropped to when your youngest child turns 8 year of age ! Yes at 8 "unless you have family who can care for the child or can afford before and after school care which costs a fortune" who looks after your child . if your family are back in the UK , and your ex partner either cant look after the child or does not want to look after the child? At age 8 single parents are moved of the parenting payments on to New Start which is below the povety level Not trying to scare anyone but this thread is about what happens if you split once you have settled in Australia and this is just another thing to think about. Bad enough when your family is interstate but when they are in a different country the challenges can be immence. for those interested http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/10/sole-o17.html

When you get onto the www.myschool.ed.au site it is a bite confusing as they changed it some time ago and it takes some understanding, but is a useful tool. Once you are on the web site key in a suburb, your want and it will list schools in that area. Dont for get to fill in the security question at the bottom. The easiest i have found to understand is - scroll right down to the bottom of the page of your chosen school, you will see a box saying results in numbers, click on that. In the simpliest form the more Green boxes a school has the better the results, the more Red the worse the school did and the white boxes are where they are on average. Sadly the results are just a guide as some schools are now pulling students out of class on testing day only leaving the brighter children to do the test.

HI, Depends very much on what sort of places you like. It is a large country town, came in 3rd as the best place to raise kids in Queensland. Has some of the best schools in Queensland, becasue in days long gone farmers would send there kids to "town" to board at school, now the schools are both day and boarding, private and state schools. If you are into night life well lets say Toowoomba is not the place for you as there is non well very little, but there are plenty of good resturants, but it has some stunningly beautiful city parks. "The Range" is the challenge ! you need to go down it if you want to go to Brisbane - about 2 hours drive or the Gold Coast about 2 1/2 hours drive, it is a "nasty" steep winding road with many trucks going up and down all day long, having said that it is the main route up and down from Toowoomba that sits up on the Darling Downs, and finally there is thought of building a new road - dont know when that will be. Weather is far less humid than closer to the coast and winters are colder. It is a far slower pace of life, and personally for me it is a really lovely town. This might help you - http://www.toowoombaholidays.com.au/visitor-information/ http://www.toowoombaholidays.com.au/destinations/ https://www.eqi.com.au/qld-schools/toowoomba.html for some strange reason this only lists a couple of schools in Toowoomba dont know why as there are many many schools up there. Best best it the my schools web site and key in Toowoomba. http://www.myschool.edu.au/ http://www.toowoombarc.qld.gov.au/ Good Luck

Hi Millie can i ask where and when you heard Victoria is opting out of NAPLAN ?

Sheldon College is a brilliant school, not sure of the fees though, but you could ask about a scholarship for your boys as kids coming in from the UK tend to be a bit ahead of there peers in Aus. Many scholarships cover a fair bit of the fees. http://www.sheldoncollege.com/

Sorry i fail to see the point you are trying to make. Results for Lauriston Girls Armidale are excellant http://www.myschool.edu.au/ResultsInNumbers/Index/61949/LauristonGirlsSchool/46150/2012 And Macrobertson Girls though a government school is a "select" school that is girls are required to sit a very selective entrance exam, ":ssign2:DEECD Select Entry Unit" so one would expect there results to be of a very high level

The Naplan result for 2012 have been posted if anyone is intersted in checking before enrolling in a school http://www.myschool.edu.au/

You are totally correct Petals, life is very very different in Australia and another contributing factor is climate change which seems to be happening at a faster rate than elsewhere. Queensland in particular southern queensland are going from sub tropical to tropical with horrendous down pours and flood, victoria on the other hand which 'use to be cool" at least in autumn and winter is now getting hotter and hotter in parts this week which is Autumn here in Australia never ending 30+c in fact upto 38 next week, so yes it is just to darned hot to go out and do those outside pursuits. It must also be remembered we have snakes and spiders that kill here, and in parts paralisys ticks that kill dogs and can make humans very sick, all can be found just walking through the bush. I saw a family while on holiday over Chistmas, (who told us later they were on holiday from the UK) out playing cricket with the kids, ball went into a paddock with meter high grass and they just walked into the paddock with thongs on ! God they could have been bitten by a snake in no time at all. In parts of Australia driving through areas that are dry and have relatively long grass in 4X4 vehicles or trail bikes can set off huge bush fires again that kill. You cant just go off for a walk in the bush like you do in the UK you need to "plan" know where you are going, check weather and fire service sites. I know as i drive along looking at this "dry brown land" i to long for the green grass and cool woodlands of the UK.

Donvale Christian college is another very good school in the area http://www.donvale.vic.edu.au/the-college-home/our-college

Pindara Private is a good hospital in that area for maternity http://www.pindaraprivate.com.au/

Hello, if your child has just turned 5 they will start school in 2014 but will be able to attend a pre school program at a kindy, though places can be limited in some areas. i guess it is hard to decide on a school or area when you cant actually see the area. it may help if you look at http://www.whereis.com/ it will let you key in the street of where you will be working then zoom in and out to see local suburbs and gives you time and km distance from your work. State schools are zoned so that is you must live in the zone to enrol your child. Another site to look at would be http://www.myschool.edu.au/ this site shows you the academic results of schools in your selected area and also in many cases the school web site. Once you find a school you like you need to look if you can find a home in that location http://www.realestate.com.au/rent will help you find a rental or a home to purchase. Be aware some schools are prep to year 6 some are prep to year 12 so something else to think about. Oh and also http://maps.google.com/maps?ct=reset google maps will let you see what streets areas actually look like down side is the gold coast is growing very raplidly so the views tend to be a couple of years out of date but it will give you a rough idea.

And permission from the courts can take weeks if not months and will most likely cost far more than the holiday. Things continue to deteriate here in Aus in regards to Family Court leaning more and more towards what the men want so be very very careful

Exactly ! Whopperdaisy, when you are in love and the sun is shining and the world is great you just never think of the "what ifs" but this is very much reality in Australia. If you Ex suddenly turns in a jeckle and hide and gets nasty and refuses to allow you to move life can become a living nightmare, as the law is on there side it is as black and white as that. If your break down ends up in a family court and orders are set, you are stuck fast until your last child turns 18 Here in Aus for a very simple break down involving split up of assets and family orders for children each side will be lucky to walk away with change from $150,000 in legal costs.

Hi Freesia here are just a couple of links http://www.news.com.au/money/federal-budget/tough-love-budget-targets-single-parents-to-save-700m/story-fn84fgcm-1226346302653 http://www.deewr.gov.au/Employment/JSA/JobSeekerSupport/Pages/parentsCarers.aspx http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3606249.htm www.acoss.org.au/.../ACOSS_2012_sole_parents_submission.docx http://www.mychild.gov.au/pages/CCJobs.aspx A family member is half way through a course which she has had to pay for out of her meger income only to now be told the course is scrapped and she will have to either "find a private college " to help her finish it (she cant afford private even if she found one doing the course ) or move onto a higher level, start from the begining and pay for the entire course herself.

Yes 2Tigers and many single parents are in panic mode right now. The government has also slashed funding to education facilities and financial support to single parent who were sudying to help them get a job. So with the Jet payment gone, unless you study a certificate 4 or above (to help with child care while you study) and forced to find some sort of work even though you have no one to care for the kids while you do so it is looking pretty bleak here in Aus.

not sure where this goes so please Mods move it if there is somewhere more appropreate. Can i now advise people who are reading this thread to carefully look into the new laws just past in Aus in regards to what will happen to single parents from the start of 2013. Once your youngest child turns 8 you loose a whole range of centerlink payments even the payments you get for the children if you work- if you dont work you also loose a heap of benifits associated with your health care card. The idea is to force single parents back into the work force. Yes brillient idea is the first responce, but stop and digest the reality. Single parents are basically on there own with the kids as stated previously due to the family court laws they cant move closer to family or friends to help when the kids are sick or after school - so what happens to an 8 year old child while the parent is forced to work ????? It is illegal to leave an 8 year old at home on there own. The parent cant move to find work, move to find cheaper accomadation and with employment vacancies (except in the mines) on the decrease how are they supposed to support the kids ? Only answer is to hand the kids over to the other partner if he / she is working and has the support base for the kids but if he/she is not the ideal parent what sort of situation are you then putting kids into ? No good going to the family court and many parents are now to scared or to broke to do so. Just some food for thought.

Sure i can agree with that but also children from that sort of back ground tend to want and have the ability to achieve at a higher level, therefore you tend to have less disruptive children in the classes, so back to where we started schools with less issues and higher achievers which are the schools parents want to get there kids into, which = higher rents and high costs on housing.

Johndoe, sure but the good schools are few and far between and it takes a lot of research to find the good schools. The very reason i have shared what schools i have found to be good. Also unless they are private schools you need to live in the catchment area of the good state schools that means buying a home tends to be more expencive in those areas and rents are higher.

Hi All, been here many many years and for reason to involved to get into cant go home. I have read the comment that Aussies are very patriotic, sorry for me that is the issue in reverse. Aussie just dont seem to give a dam about this country, they polute the oceans, leave tons of rubbish on beaches, graffetie is all over your front fence the day after you just painted it, rubbish thrown out of car windows, cigaret butts thrown out of car windows in the middle of bush fire season with not a second thought. Sure they may keep telling poms that Aus is the greatest place on earth but few put that into practice. As i said i have been here many many years but i still get the - Oh you are a "pom" like it is some awful sickness to stay away from. On a personal note maybe it is that i am getting on in years but when i watch TV and see things like remembrance day in the UK and here - I Vow to thee my Country, it still gives me goose bumps, you just look at the faces of the troops and general public, all singing with not a hymn sheet in sight. Such pride at being British - that is what i miss so much you just never see or feel that here. They raise the Aus flag for some reason and some dont even bother to stand, many stand looking at there shoes, and very sing the anthum. Take buildings, Aus dont give a second thought to pulling down heritage buildings and putting up a glass box to live in, yet in Britain people are so proud to live in and be the care takers of 14th century buildings, preserving something for our youth. We get the strangest of looks at events where our grand children at 6 and 7 are expected by there mum to stand, shake hands and introduce themselves to associates of the family. Dont get me started on the landscape, Brown, Brown, Brown, dry, dusty, full of snakes, ants that bite, flys by the thousend, sharks in the ocean, never mind the blue bottles that sting like you cant begin to imagine. Education is years behind the UK and many other countries for that matter. Health care is expencive, clothes are either expencive or poor quality from your Target type stores. Pride of any type is totally lacking that about sums it up. Good Luck.