benj1980

We've been over just over three years now. We both work in a local school (we are WA based). I sent resumes into local schools and had a bit of luck. I went in start of November and schools were planning their final teaching lists for the following year so I was lucky in that regard. I'm also a teacher so a little different to planning for TAs or EAs as they are known here. You find out more information on the school gate than you will on here concerning local jobs and other things of interest. We've met friends through kids sport and the like, there is a sense of who you know as a opposed to what you know so get networking!

12 hours ago, Steve deighton said:

 

Hi we have just moved to Adelaide been here 3 days I already have work but

My wife and kids don't my wife is a teaching assistant and we are concerned that the term will start soon and she won't find anything .if anybody knows of any jobs that would be good

Bit of a long shot don't you think Steve? I'd recommend looking at jobs in your local area in papers online and starting from there. Your wife can send her resume to local schools, TA experience is transferable however TAs tend to have a cert 3 or 4 over here. You are right it will be difficult to find work in a school at this late notice and the fact that schools are on holidays won't help. In the first instance I'd settle the children in, sort their schools, try and work out where you'd like to live long term, sort out all the paperwork - banks, centrelink, medicare, health insurance etc and try not and get everything done in the first week! It takes time and a few weeks to receive all the documents that you'll need via the post.

Congratulations on your move over, it's a big deal and I bet you are still stressed about getting everything done. I know I was!

This is a new qualification, but I believe that it has been done recently. You are required to have four years of university education with 45 days supervised teaching practice, if you can prove this all is good.

1 minute ago, 31Hillbury said:

@jsmull I’ll have a look into that then, I thought that site was linked to the visa application. I can have a good luck at that later. 

@benj1980 she just has results back from the test and got S-9 L-9 W-8.5 R-7 so she will book the test for feb and get some more practice in before the test date. 

Pretty much plan on moving as soon as it comes through but expect it will be late 2019 at the earliest? 

Well that's annoying. You need nearly every single question to be correct in reading to get the 8. A small drop in concentration and you need another test! Writing is where people normally drop points. 

In my timeline signature there could have been a November IELTS but I got a 7.5 in writing first time round, grrrhhhh..... I guess I was worried about failing AITSL at the time?!

Why wait to do the IELTS? Many people have not received the magical number required and had to retake (myself included!) It will only delay things if that happens. It's a great feeling to get over the line with IELTS and AITSL, you know you are on your way then! Where are you looking to move?

3 hours ago, Whereonearthami said:

Thanks Moran, that looks very helpful!

Do you know the criteria someone would have to meet to qualify under the agreement?

I was previously sponsored on a 457 visa under the Marketing Specialist category so this sounds as if it could be promising.

I read that as thanks Moron! There was me thinking you'll get no other advice/support calling people names like that!

Speaking to a fellow Pom yesterday... Do we still have an entitlement to live in NZ if we have PR in Oz? I believe this was the case a few years ago? Is there a pathway to citizenship this way? Or was this a myth?! I'm not going anywhere I might add, my wife would kill me if I suggested moving again any time soon!

I'd go but them I'm happy in Oz! You're fortunate to have access to the country obviously many strive for it and fail. Sometimes I think maybe we take this for granted and forget about why we ensured that we have these options available to us. For me the reason for PR in Oz was my children, I can't live my life through my parents. I left early enough for them to accept I won't be there in their late years although they visit regularly now and we will go back within the next couple of years...

No option of sponsorship from your current role? After a student visa you'd be in the same boat trying to gain a visa after spending thousands and thousands as an overseas student. With no guarantee of a visa at the end of it, would your new qualification be suitable back in the UK?

It's not the smartest choice and smells of desperation!

15 hours ago, panashes said:

No, I am not. Applicants who are aged 16 and 17 must submit a separate application. So my father has only included my siblings under 15 in his application

I think parents would normally be the driving force behind an application that's all. I.e. organising the paperwork. Good luck with it all. If you are looking for HECS you'll need to defer I'm afraid.

Are you not doing this with your parents? The waiting time is over a year at the moment.

Coming down to my neck of the woods! I'm not sure that completing an apprenticeship in the UK and then coming over is very beneficial. I know a couple of sparkies who have struggled to get work when first moving over.Their qualifications aren't deemed sufficient so they need to complete additional courses to be registered. Local businesses didn't want to take them on as technicians because they knew they would leave as soon as they were qualified. It worked out well for these two guys in the end but it was a bit stressful for them for a while struggling for work. One still works for the same company doing the same job basically without being supervised I guess!

Come over and west and wear my rose tinted glasses!

16 hours ago, milliem said:

We have now been here six years last November when I arrived just myself (teacher) and my son (then 15) 

To say the first couple of years were a little rocky would be an understatement.  I had a regional visa so could not live or work near my sister and family so I found myself a little isolated in a regional town near the Sunshine Coast.  We said despite how miserable we felt, we would give Australia 5 years, then go home if we still didn’t like it. 

The private school I worked there in was mostly made up of farming kids so not many were heading to university. However, it was a nice friendly and safe environment for my son (Aspergers) to complete  his last two years of high school.  There was nothing to do there so I spent my spare time as a rural firefighter, playing bridge and doing as much professional development as I could fit in. I also saved like crazy as we had arrived in Australia with very little money.  I budgeted just 60 dollars a week for our food. Rent was cheap and the rest went in the bank. These were quite dark times. I didn’t see much of my sister, the whole point of coming to Australia and we didn’t make many friends locally.  As a single mum who worked there were not many avenues for meeting people and making friends.  Thankfully fellow firies were very friendly so I enjoyed getting out there.

 After two years there I had had enough of being stuck there and having gained 5 more visa points I decided to spend another 10k and applied for PR. I started frantically applying for metropolitan jobs.   I was a little over zealous and was quickly offered a role in a beautiful school on the Gold Coast.  Things were finally looking up.  The bad news was that my current visa would not let me work on the Gold Coast.  They held the job until December but still no visa. So they readvertised.   I was beginning to think I was stuck forever.  Then I did the crazy thing of just resigning anyway. I figured I now had some savings to keep us going.  I moved out of my house and put everything in storage. In early December I got a call from an agency asking if I was free for a semester contract in Brisbane. I said no and told them about the visa problem.

They said let’s not tell them about that for now but go along and chat with them.  It turned out to be a top school and the interview went so well, they said they would wait until the week before term 1 for my visa.  At this point I didn’t even tell my family as they already thought I was crazy throwing a perfectly good job away.  I headed off to the states on holiday with my sister.  15th January I returned and no visa.  I found several voice messages from the school saying contact us urgently.  I couldn’t bear to turn another good job away just yet.  On the 19th I finally emailed them, 2 days before school start and said, no visa but I expect to have it in two days. The latter statement was a lie but hey.  They said okay.   That night I drowned and lamented in red wine about what might have been.  Next morning I woke up and there it was. The golden email!  I could not believe it.  The gamble had paid off and I now had a job at a top school. My family were in shock and so was I. That resulted in much more red wine. 

A week later, I found myself working in a place alongside people who really were at the top of their profession and teaching highly dedicated and ambitious students. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute. My son went to college and made a few friends. This was the turnaround for us. My next move, we built our own house on the Gold Coast. In the Uk all I could have bought was a 2 bed apartment in a crappy part of town.  This was a big stretch financially so I started a side business from home which added a good boost to my income. I also did lots of other jobs around the coast.  I commuted to Brisbane for a while for my main job but then I took a chance on another temporary contract in a great private school on the Gold Coast.  Two years later I still work there and am now a head of dept so my main income has also had a boost.

so things are much better now.  We are just looking at building a pool in the next few months.  I have not relaxed quite yet, I still have the side business which my son helps out with but this is home for us now. As a young country Australia is very much a land of opportunity if you are prepared to work hard. It made a difference for us.  We also got a fresh start in a new place.  We joined a tennis club and a gym and occasionally get to the beach. We love the variety of the all parts of the Gold Coast and Brisbane is just up the road. 

As soon as we got our new house we also adopted a rescue cat and she had a hard time before she came to us.  She is all good now and we love her dearly. 3 years later, she is still the cutest

Millie 

Good on you Millie. Our paths have crossed a few times on here and you were good enough to send me an IELTS book quite a few years ago now! Interesting how you joined the Firies as I have done the same. A good way to meet local people from all walks of life. Glad it's all worked out in the end, you were due some luck but I think sometimes you make your own luck. Best wishes and what is the business? Anything interesting?!

On 30/11/2018 at 11:58, Kenfrapin said:

Wow, my last post was in May 2017 but somehow I have a feeling I posted more recently than that

All settled in our new home and, as we love to do crazy things, also got our 2 boxer boys the weekend we moved in. 3 months in and the 4 of us are well settled and enjoying true Aussie life. I've never done so much gardening in 4 years in the UK as compared to 3 months here. Bunnings is my new church and I an improving DIYer, actually managed to get grass cover over our huge backyard all alone (pat my back)

Still waiting for summer to start in Melbourne and getting ready for the XMas break. We continue to enjoy UK tele thanks to ingenious methods and Netflix continues to eat more into our nightly TV routine. After a year and a half of saving up for home with no travelling, we make our first getaway to Bali for Easter 2019 followed by a trip somewhere in Queensland in July/Aug but just havent decided where. Both of us have changed jobs a few times but the market is fantastic and we havent yet had any difficulties in getting decent wages. Overpaying our mortgages the most and also managed to buy another small piece of land up north as an investment. Again, never ever possible in the UK

Our only gripe at the moment is crossing the West Gate Bridge into Melbourne CBD. An additional 2 hours in traffic now everyday, with 5:45am wake ups instead of 7am when we used to live in the city. But hey ho, we knew what we were getting into and those extra 2 hours is totally worth the location and money spent on getting the home we wanted

Finally, as a treat, here are our 2 boys that only Australia could gift us. Say hi to Marco (brindle) and Polo (white), our baby boys

As a big dog lover I love this pic! Grass looks great, but for how long? 

18 hours ago, Amber Snowball said:

I think LR is “low risk”!!!

Ah ok, I was thinking the English is good for a Liberian!

@Welshy I've come over and are living my dream. I have more money, SPARE TIME and work opportunities here. You sound switched on and know what you are getting yourself involved with. I don't know if you have children, but mine love it here. That is my realistic account of migrating to WA. I'm in Mandurah though not Perth as such. Of course there is negatives but I don't think it's as bad as some of the posts on this thread! Good luck to you.

Scott you can take General for migration purposes ie extra points.

@boo-yaa I'm intrigued by your country of birth. Liberia? 

If you know the area you are going to live it really isn't as daunting.

I spoke to a friend recently about this. He trained as a chef in Australia as an international student and has ended up with PR. He laughed that he couldn't do it now. It cost him a fortune in any case and caused a great deal of stress going from one visa to another. He moved over about 8 years ago.

I think there are a few too many buttercups on here. The reality is that a lot of the students who come here hope to live here permanently, they can be Poms or from anywhere else. Why would you spend a far greater amount of money than it would cost to do the course in your home country to achieve a qualification. If you completed teacher training here, you would need to get it assessed against British standards in the UK. I'm presuming it would be the same in say nursing. Many courses have units that wouldn't be relevant in another country due to different laws, environment and procedures. So if you were looking to work in your home country after qualification you've added a hurdle. There are wealthy Asian students in particular who come over and this is also a fact, I had it at Uni in the UK. Dad has sent them to the UK to learn about Western culture before joining the family business, whatever it is... I totally agree the vast majority of students fall into one of the two categories, having recently worked in conjunction with a University I have met students who would come under either category!

I just read this thread for the first time. The bumps you've had sounds similar to teaching as there are new ways to qualify as a teacher in the UK. Perseverance is the key, it seems to take Australia a while to keep up to date with the UK's qualifications. That said it is entirely their decision whether to do this. I'm glad this is working out for you guys. There's many who do new style qualifications and aren't so lucky.

It's worth it when you get here!

I wish all posters miserable, whingeing Poms or not a Happy New Year. 

Hopefully a big year for me and my family!

On 28/12/2018 at 07:36, Marisawright said:

It's such a personal thing. I have a couple of friends who moved from Sydney to Perth and love it.  On the other hand, my niece, who loved living in Sydney, tried settling in Perth and hated it.   

Totally agree. Although my sister really liked WA, I'm sure if and when she does move she'll look back to Sydney. It has 'more going on.'