Davina35

I have spent numerous, uncountable hours researching affordable (under $650,000 for us) areas in Melbourne within an hour's commute from the CBD and I just keep coming back to Frankston South. I like the fact that it has a fairly large business centre itself so may have work opportunities for us both without us having to commute into the CBD anyway. There have been a few articles over the years trying to disperse the negative reputation it has. Most recently a radio interview with a Mayor of Frankston which became an article in The Age http://www.theage.com.au/comment/theres-more-to-frankston-than-beer-and-bogans-20140106-30dg5.html. It definitely seems an up and coming area and having people like Petal's mum who has lived there for so long without any problems at all reaffirms that it is all just hype. We currently live in a London Borough and although a relatively nice, family orientated area the town centre has bars and clubs etc and on a Friday and Saturday night you see all sorts, not that I venture out much these days but I am sure Frankston has nothing that I haven't already seen already and am used to. I am looking forward to getting there, I hope it is everything we hope it will be. Just one question though, Frankston High looks a good enough school and I keep reading that it is in the top 10 state schools in Melbourne (??) - however, when I look on the myschools website and Naplan it doesn't seem to fair that well. Does anyone have any personal experience of the school or know much about it? If we were to live in Frankston South that is the school we would send our kids to anyway as we cannot afford private. Also, I have posted previously regarding primary schools in the area but has anyone got experience of any? I know Derinya is meant to be a good school. I did email them a while back just to ask how the intake works coming from the UK, but they didn't get back to me. Does anyway know how this works? I.e. will my children definitely get in the school if they are in the catchment area; do they allow for people moving into the area? As over here there are long waiting lists for all years. Thanks for any info. Davina

Hi Chrissie, good luck with your application, I hope it goes smoothly for you. I have 3 children, 2 boys who will be 8 and 6 when we make the move and a little girl who's just turned 4. How about you? Frankston South looks like it has everything we are after and I can't wait to get there and have a look around. It seems to be gaining popularity now and although it has had a bad reputation in the past, which still lingers with a lot of Melburnians, I think this is slowly dissipating. I just hope it doesn't attract too many people too soon as I don't want the house prices rocketing within the next few years when we are ready to buy! Will definitely post of our progress in due course. Davina

Hi all, I have only posted a handful of times on this forum over the past couple of years yet I have been perusing on and off throughout that time and it has proved extremely helpful. We finally received our PR visa after a few hiccups, it certainly took longer than we envisaged. Maybe as a result of my hubby being self employed and having to provide a lot of evidence to show 8 years' of full time employment, because of how long it took we had to have our meds redone (ouch, nearly another £1K for our family of 5). Anyway, water under the bridge and we have booked our flights and are heading to Melbourne July this year (yay) - it's going to fly by. I have already experienced a mixture of emotions. As the visa process was so convoluted and lengthy (we did do it ourselves which probably hindered us a little bit) I think we both began to think that we were going to be unsuccessful (along with family and friends!) and I actually started to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing. When we got the email granting our PR I was initially pleased but not too long after I began to have major wobbles and actually began to gently goad my husband into backing out (I didn't want to be the one to do it as I have been the driving force from the very beginning!). Thankfully I have overcome those feelings, and although still terribly daunting I'm feeling incredibly positive about the whole move. We still have so much to do though and not long to do it: decorating house and fixing things in preparation for renting it, plus my husband has a huge workshop that he has to sort through which is proving difficult as he is busy at work and whilst this is good as we need to boost our funds for the big move we also need to time to prepare and pack for it! My husband is having a few sleepless nights over it, his main concern being finding work. He is a plumber and has been self employed for 12 years. It's a whole different ball game in Oz and he will have to effectively re-train and start as an apprentice on a provisional licence, which at 46 he is not keen to do. But he is open to all work (as long as it pays relatively well) so may even go into a different field. I am going to look for secretarial work and may contact some agencies in Melbourne before I leave, although ideally would like to see the kids settled into school and my youngest start prep (Feb 2015) before I go back but will see how things go. I have been a stay at home mum for the last 4 years and am a little nervous about going back to work, especially in a different country. I have 5 shipping companies booked in for next Wednesday - that should be a fun day . I am really going to get stuck in to sorting stuff and decorating now. July is going to be here before we know it! We are going to look at areas when we arrive although I think we have pretty much decided on Frankston South, just need to go and check it out in person before committing. I will endeavour to post a bit more on here when I get the time and keep you updated with our move :yes:.

We are in the UK

Dugles, we haven't even been allocated a CO yet!!

Congrats and well done, can't wait for ours!

We applied 27 August too and still waiting, in fact haven't heard anything from them at all. Not got a CO and online just says "in progress" still. Meds were done Sept but police checks only uploaded Dec 12. Hoping to hear soon. We have Vic SS and meds and police checks all fine. I don't know why the hold up?!?!

Thanks, good advice. I will do that, and I keep chopping and changing my mind anyway so until we get over there won't know for sure and like you say always better to look at a school and see what it's like for yourself.

sorry missed out "best", Derinya is probably the best state primary in Frankston area

Hi Rich, I haven't any personal experience but from research and looking at myschools website I think the best one is Derinya (in fact probably the state primary in the whole of Frankston). From the myschool and Naplan websites Frankston Heights and Kingsley Park don't seem to be performing that well. The only other school I would be happy to send my kids to is St Johns Primary which is Catholic although it does take non-catholic students, it has a relatively small fee of $1500 per year per family. Hope this is of some help. How old are your children?

We are exactly the same, I am doing really extensive research so as we can rent in the right area for a year - 18 months before buying and do not want to have to change the childrens' school; but like you said it's tough going trying to get everything in place and right first time round and obviously we may move area and/or schools within that time. I just really hope that we love Frankston when we get there as that is pretty much where I think we'll go, we are certainly going to get our short term accomm there whilst looking around for the first month or so.

Personally I think an hour door to door is fine, it's what I am used to doing even though here in London I live only 12 miles (approx 20km) from the centre of London. I quite like getting a seat on the train and reading my book for the journey. Having said that I would LOVE it if we could afford to live closer to the CBD, within half an hour but on our budget it's just not possible. My main criteria for our area of residence will be good schools and affordability for us. My husband is a plumber and where we are at present the majority of work is local(ish) and he only does a few jobs a year in the centre of London. I should imagine it will be similar in melbourne and I am a legal secretary so may have to travel into Melbourne CBD but could possibly get work closer to home so for us it's not a necessity to be so close to the CBD.

Hi Richselina, when did you get your visa and when are you planning on going? Would you mind if I PM you? Thanks.

Hubby (main applicant) 44 and I'm 36 with 3 kids aged 6, 4 and 3

Hi Richselina, we are looking at moving out October this year but we are still waiting for visa grant. I have heard a few negatives about Berwick; mainly the traffic and the big housing estates going up around the area, but agree that the schooling and houses look good. Frankston South looks lovely and Frankston is looking more appealing too as I'm hearing more and more good things about it and the houses are very good value for money, closer to the station too. Schools are good. Of course it's just impossible to decide until we get there and have a good look around. We have 3 children who will be 7, 5 and 3 when we move out.