SerenaJ

Thanks Eira. What is a family daycare provider? Is that the same as a childminder? Someone who looks after other people's children in their own home?

Hi there, We're in the process of contacting a number of primary schools that are on our shortlist for our son (we plan to arrive in Brisbane early December with a view to him starting in the January). On making enquiries about facilities, clubs and activities and childcare we have found that many schools are saying there is a waiting list for their out of school hours care facility. I've yet to contact the care providers directly and find out how long the waiting lists are, but I wondered what on earth the other options are if we can't get in. What do other parents do? Does it come down to having to hire a private childminder to collect them from school, or are there other 'community-based' group facilities? We've always been so lucky with our after school care provider in the UK, who always have spare places available, that it's never occurred to me we may run into this as an issue...

Wow - sounds like a tough market. We'd be happy with a 3 bed. Pool would be good. Certainly don't think we could stretch to £1.4m though. Best of luck with your search - hope something comes up soon for you.

Wow - it sounds like you're describing the exact priorities that we have! We have always lived in character homes in the UK, and love the sense of history that comes with them. I love the quirkiness of small towns / villages and the sense of things having grown organically, rather than an area having been mapped out on a grid system without charm - so although we are going to be living in a city, I'm trying to find the 'village within a city' feel. You say you are 10 minutes away from Paddington -do you mind me asking which area that is? Is that on the Bardon side, or the Ashgrove side? Or are you further east? It's hard to get an idea of distances on foot when looking at street maps, and I'd be happy to be 10 mins or so walk from the cafes and shops, but not too much further, otherwise we'd probably not make use of them as much as I'd like. Also, you mention you have children... are they at primary school? My son is 7 years old so we would be looking for a good primary school for him - do you have personal experience of any of them, or know of others nearby that comes recommended by friends. It's heartening to hear that your wife has built a lovely circle of friends there, and it sounds like there is a really good sense of 'family' and 'community' which, again, is what we're looking for. Your post has really lifted my spirits in so many ways as I begin to navigate the steps towards our move (we're planning on telling all our friends over the next two weeks, so it's rather an emotional time). Thanks again for taking the time to write. I really appreciate your help.

I see what you mean. Thanks.

Sounds like just what I need! Thank you. :-)

Yes, I see what you mean. I guess we'd need to consider that our son may end up in a high school that his primary school friends don't go to if we buy elsewhere after renting.

This is interesting... Do you live in Paddington yourself then? How do you rate life there?

Thanks - that's helpful. Maybe I just need to drive around when we get there and get a feel for places first before we narrow our search area down.

Yes we spend a morning in Bulimba and really liked it there. Why is buying proving so difficult? Is it lack of available stock? Or budget?

Thanks. Lots of options to consider. I think I probably need to print off some kind of street map for each suburb, mark up the locations of the schools and then also mark up the where the bikeways are or the bus / trainlines. Then decide on which streets I'd consider living in within a certain radius. Sounds like end Nov would be a good time to come over, then we'd have almost 2 months to look for somewhere to rent before school starts and we need proof of address.

Could I just ask why you suggest avoiding Toowong. I've had it recommended by a couple of other people as being leafy, near cafes etc. What are the downsides? Thanks.

Thanks - this is good to know. I'm unsure what you mean by possible surcharges at the end of a tax year? Are you saying there could be a tax bill for certain things?

Thanks. I'll keep the EMP in mind when looking. Going back to catchments etc, we do plan to stay in an Air BnB place when we first arrive. Will this address be sufficient for acceptance into a school, based on catchment, or will we have to have a 6 month rental contract on somewhere to prove we are settling in the area? We're now thinking of taking an extended holiday in SE Asia en route, so may not arrive until mid November. If there's only 3 weeks left till the end of term, do you think it would be obligatory for my son to be in school, or would it be acceptable for us to wait until we have settled in a proper rental and then get him enrolled in the local school at the start of the school term in Jan?

Hi there, I'm just wondering how accurate the online salary calculators are such as http://www.paycalculator.com.au/ I'm trying to estimate approximate disposable income, based on expected household income, but I'm unsure whether these are an accurate steer as to what you would actually be left with after tax and Medicare. Would anyone be so good as to punch in their annual income and see if the result tallies with what they get in their monthly pay cheque? Are there any other levies or deductions that I'm not aware of? Many thanks.

Thanks - that's useful to know that once the child is in a school, they can stay. We were concerned as initially we'll be in holiday accommodation, then we'll move into rented, and then we may buy, and each of these places may be in slightly different areas, so we did wonder whether our son would have to keep moving school. That's a big relief! Thank you for all the useful information.

Thanks. I'll check out the bike paths too then - sounds worth looking into. Do the catholic schools not care if the children are not catholic then? Like they do here? I think I'd just feel a bit weird about my child being taught to take part in a religion that didn't match our beliefs as parents. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about 'selective' or 'partially selective'. Is this to do with catchment? Or taking exams? Sorry... we've not looked as deeply into the education side of things yet as we have employment opportunities. Also, regarding catchment, how does it work if you start off in the catchment of a school and then move? Does the child get to stay in the original school, or do they have to move? I'm just thinking if we rented near a school we wanted him to go to and then ended up buying elsewhere, so we were in the catchment of a high school we ultimately wanted (but whilst he was still in primary).

Thanks, I may keep more of an open mind to the private schools then... we'll see. We actually stayed in West End for a few days when we were there... it seemed Ok but I didn't get the feel that it was somewhere I wanted to live. Felt a little more 'alternative' and quite studenty, although I could be wrong. Thank you for giving me places to avoid. That's just as useful as places to consider :-).

One of the downsides of being granted a permanent visa and not being sponsored by an employer - we have to take the plunge first and sort out jobs second! We've done a lot of research, of course there are no guarantees, but we're open minded about the fact that we'll probably have to be flexible and do whatever work we can get to begin with; casual etc, and that it will take time to find the ideal role for us both. Thankfully we will be bringing a cushion of cash with us, so we could coast for a little while whilst we look for work.

Yes, I can see it's important to research the flood areas as well as traffic bottlenecks, thanks.

Yes, we've been researching and following prices in these and various other suburbs on realestate. We would be more in the one million as opposed to two million price-range ;-). I'll track down the Dept of Education maps and refer to this when we're considering viewing properties, thanks. One of the attractions of Paddington / Bardon was the proximity to the CBD. I would happily walk or cycle if this is an option (I cycle to work in the UK). I'm not familiar with Wilston so will look into that area a little more. Reviews of Wilston seem to suggest that although there are restaurants etc they tend not to attract many people and the atmosphere is a bit flat. Is that just one person's negative view I wonder (it was from a couple of year ago so things may well have changed).

It's more to do with the fact that we're estimating our budget, so can't assume we'll be able to afford private until we're settled and see what disposable income we have. We wouldn't rule out private completely. Would prefer to avoid religious though, as neither of us are religious in any way. Your original post seemed to suggest public school is OK at primary level, but then private schools become more sought after for high school. Have I understood correctly?

Thanks for the info. We visited Ascot/Hamilton on our recce. Seemed like a lovely area, tree lined streets etc. I'm not familiar with the other places you mention though - are they very similar? Do they also have a similar strip of cafes and restaurants (like Racecourse Road)? Houses in Wooloowin look a little more affordable, but not sure if it has the same kind of 'hub' area within it or not?

Thank you for the information. Yes, we would be looking to rent at first although we would like to buy after a while. We don't have a huge budget, but we would have a reasonable deposit from the sale of our home. It's just hard to know exactly how much mortgage we could afford to take on until we are both in work, but we can take our time with purchasing. Thank you for the tip re high schools. Again, I think we've ruled out private due to the extra expense, but it's possible we may be able to afford it when the time comes. Do fees for private schools vary from school to school?

Hi, We're planning a move to Brisbane at the end of the summer and, although we did a recce 2 years ago, we were only in the city a few days and didn't see every suburb. We're keen to find a suburb with a bit of a community feel, very leafy, lots of trees around, prefer to live in a character home / Queenslander, walking distance to some cafes / restaurants. Also, near good schools (not private) as our son is 7. We won't have jobs initially, so we're having to do things in this order: suburb / school then job... rather than pick a suburb based on where we work. We're used to commuting, but would prefer not to have to travel more than half an hour to the CBD if possible. I've been looking at Bardon and Paddington. Does anyone live in either of these areas and can they give any insights? Also are there any other areas that match the above criteria? Thanks in advance.