maidensarah

Thanks! That’s what we will hopefully be applying with and same category. So when are you planning to move over and where abouts? Are you moving with children?

Congratulations! Can I just ask how long it took your from your EOI to an invite to apply? Thanks

Haha, I have full confidence in my husband

Thanks! My husband’s the main applicant and will be applying under accountant (general) with 75 points assuming the top points for the English test. I realise this occupation is currently an ‘iffy’ one therefore felt it best to proceed now rather than umming and ahhing any more. There’s no guarantees so I won’t be getting my hopes up, just see what happens. And get my husband studying for the English test as will need the 75 points

So we’ve made the first steps today towards the possibility of getting a visa. That is, paying some money to a migration agent for the first part that needs to be done - the skills assessment. We decided to go with Alan Collett at Go Matilda as per recommendations on here. Scary!

Okay thanks all. My son likes the hot dinners but if it was one of the other I’d choose packed lunch as both will be happy with that.

This may be a random question but I was wondering what most primary schools do for children’s lunches. Do they have the option of hot dinner or packed lunch? Do most take packed lunches or the other way round? Here all children in Reception, Year 1 and 2 are entitled to receive free hot dinners and I wondered if there’s anything like that there? My son (year 2) has the hot dinners as he loves them however my daughter (Reception) gets sent with a packed lunch as she wouldn’t eat the hot dinners. Just sort of checking they don’t all have to have hot dinners as she would go hungry. Thanks!

Yes this would be my worry that something like this would happen. However as she’s so young it’s hard to know how she’ll be in the future as she’s made so much progress I’m hopeful that in a while the gap won’t be very wide. She’s only a year or so delayed, I’m just hoping the gap closes rather than gets bigger. She’s also ‘summer born’ and apparently summer born children don’t catch up until they’re about 13 anyway. She would have started school later in Aus too so she would be a couple of terms ahead at least

No she’s not statemented, doesn’t have a disability and has recently been discharged by her paediatrician so I don’t think getting a visa for her would be a problem. She’s just had some development delays

Thanks. I suppose I should elaborate a bit more on the school worries. My oldest (son) is very good academically. My youngest (daughter), who’s 4 (5 in May) and in Reception year, has been developmentally delayed since birth for unknown reasons. She was late reaching all milestones such as crawling at 15m, walked at 21m, had a moderate speech delay and was only really saying 2 words sentences at age 3. Over the last 1 year in particular, her speech has improved massively and I would say she’s almost caught up in that area, however sometimes she needs extra visual information or smaller steps due to a slower auditory memory/processing. However she is making excellent progress, she’s reading first books and is writing, she’s just not quite at the same level as most other children. She doesn’t need 1:1 a lot in school, she doesn’t need it as her behaviour is outstanding and she’s good at following routines, just sometimes need a bit of pre-teaching. Her school is excellent and supportive and she’s used to it and I would feel guilty changing that for the unknown. Mainly because of her sensory processing difficulties. I’m not worried about the friendship side for her as she still prefers to play alongside and do her own thing.

I think it is grey most of the time. It was the thing I noticed most after coming back from a year in Australia. It must be grey as whenever it’s a sunny day it’s always a bit ’ooh what a lovely sunny day we’ve had’ kind of reaction. Saying that, one of the things that does put me off moving to Aus is how hot the weather could be in the future. I could cope with it now but what’s it going to be like for our children’s children etc.

Love the UK, just wish it were a bit warmer and less grey most of the time

Was about 8 degrees with the sun shining today where I’m from in U.K. (Midlands) and all the kids at the school I work at were running around with their coats off at breaktime.. felt like summer after the -6 last week

Budget is definitely not a million. Our house here is 2 years old, 4 bed detached in nice area and worth around £320k. So around $560k AUD so no where near the Sydney budget! Could prob afford more as husband’s salary in Sydney could likely be around $160k possibly more however I don’t think that would be able to afford us a million pound house. Obviously I could be earning but any job I do has to fit around children’s school hours and holidays so wouldn’t be much in comparison. In Brisbane he could earn around $120k however that is a lot less than he earns here in U.K. but obvs houses more affordable around Brisbane than Sydney within a similar commute. You can see my dilemma! All this assuming he could find a job too but he has a good C.V.

Hubby would probably prefer to commute by train or a bit of both. He currently drives to a train station and parks there and then gets the train into London. 2 tube stops and a 10 min walk. Takes him about 1hr45 min ish each way. So anything under that would be great! It would be nice to be near a beach but the main property would be somewhere that makes it easy to get a train to commute into the CBD and good schools. I’m just not sure we could afford to live in Sydney. Even with what he could earn. Is the Northern Beaches the name of the suburbs or can you advise of the suburb names? Thanks

Sounds great. Where abouts have have you settled? My ideal area would be around Brisbane just hoping it wouldn’t be too hot for my husband all of the time.

Thanks. Where abouts have you settled?

Oh no I don’t pine for a life before kids. They’re my world and everything I do is for them. When i think of Australia I think of all the places we could take them to that I went to and also they love beaches and the outdoor life. I like being outdoors but not in the cold or rain so much.

Well yes we are in a hotel all inclusive, but generally holidays in these areas have gone up a lot in price due to more demand and people less likely to go to places where the terrorism risk is higher I.e. Tunisia.

I dunno about quite a few with the cost it takes to go on holidays on the school holidays. (I don’t know if people are ‘allowed’ to take their kids out for holidays in Aus?) But a week away in Majorca in August is costing 3.5k and that’s with a free child’s place.

Thanks, and I’m also interested to know what your first post was?! If we moved to Australia I would intend to live there permanently as we would be applying for a PR visa. So unless we actually hated it after giving it a few years, which I couldn’t see happening. There’s no way I would want to uproot us all twice. I wouldn’t go out if our only option was a temporary visa with an occupation on the short term skills list for example. For me it’s just that initial decision. It is quite a big one after all.

Around Brisbane is my first choice to move to as it was my fave. Hubby could earn more in Sydney/Melbourne though however looking at the house prices to buy (thinking longer term) even within an hour’s commute I don’t think we could afford so earning less but paying out less for a house may work out around the same or better around Brissie. I know people who live in Bridgeman Downs and stayed with them a while.

I also loathe the winters and feel the cold easily. I’m generally always cold unless the heating’s on. Where abouts have you settled in Aus?

Thanks. Is it normal to change my mind so often though? Sometimes every 5 mins haha. Or at night I think no we’re quite happy why change it then in the morning I think why not give it a go. Was anyone else like that? I think it would be an easier desicion if we were not happy with life where we are. I mean, I don’t live in the greatest place in the UK or anything but it’s okay and I’m used to it. Maybe we could just be happy anywhere? Within reason!

Well it wouldn’t be moving for a better job as my husband has a good one.. hopefully one on par. I know it’s another 1st world country.. I’ve been.. We have a nice life here and are happy. I just like trying new things. I have lots of fond memories of Australia and think we would all have a great time there, whether permanently or temporarily if after a few years we decided we would rather be back ‘home’. But I don’t think you would know that until you’ve been there a while. I went there for a year. Probably more than most people who move out, some having never been.