NorthernLights

Thanks everyone, very helpful!

Thanks, that's really helpful! Didn't know about the heat packs either so my sons heat owl will have to go :no:

Just that really!

Can I take knitting yarn (shop bought) from the uk to Australia when we emigrate?

Cant seem to find a straight answer on the customs website.

Thanks

Thanks Tina, sorry for the delay in replying, I missed your post. We're planning to live around the Ormiston area so the state school would be an option when they're older, but it's a relief to hear Ormiston juniors is well thought of. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Ip77. We're hoping to get out in January, in time for the new school year. We'll have paid for both applications so will keep both running until we arrive but it would take an awful lot to convince me that Sheldon is a caring school. We can wait a while but likely to have to make a decision before we go. Gut feeling was to walk away from the school as quickly as possible, but it may have just been that one staff member coming across very badly.

Thanks for sharing your experience, glad things worked out well for your kids. Any info your hubby can provide would be much appreciated.

Bit of a long one asking about Sheldon and Ormiston colleges if you can bear with me...

I'm just back from my 3 day (!) visit to Oz from the UK. I posted a while ago about choosing between Cairns, Toowoomba and South Brisbane, and we've opted for South Brisbane after very difficult deliberation. I only had a few days off work and had to spend a day in Melbourne for professional accreditation interview so only had a 2 day stop in Brisbane, which was manic to say the least.

I had a good look around the bayside area, and the daisy hill area, both of which suit our separate work places, one of us has to commute. So to schools - because of the commute, the only realistic options (other than Redlands college which I ruled out as they are very religious) are Ormiston and Sheldon for the Cleveland area, or John Paul College for Daisy Hill. Now, JPC I really liked, but Daisy Hill doesn't really fulfil the lifestyle we want (café/restaurants/shops in walking distance). Before we went I was sold on Sheldon, so only visited JPC and Sheldon, not Ormiston. I did like the Cleveland area and surrounds very much.

Sheldon, I didn't like. And here's the question - was it the person showing me round who has given me the wrong impression? Does anyone have kids there (especially juniors) who could comment? The kids did seem happy, but the whole place seems very sterile and there was a very strong focus on discipline for minor stuff and results. There was little on direct questioning to support the pastoral needs of the child. The woman who showed me round was so cold (and 30 mins late) and lacked any ability to convey that they actually care. Plus, no languages til year 4 and only Mandarin then, no school nurse for first aid and they insist on kids in Kindy attending 5 days a week. The teacher turnover is high and she told me they performance review and ask teachers to leave if they aren't getting results. I came away feeling very upset by the whole atmosphere. I really am not bothered that discipline is strong - but the way it's done for even little children seems very scary. I can't imagine the need to send a 6 year old home for having the wrong length hair/wrong style of scrunchie

In desperation, I phoned Ormiston and spoke to a lovely lady in Kindy, who was so kind and said all the right things. The registrar for the college also spoke to me and was extremely reassuring and said all the things I was looking for. BUT, I didn't get to see the school. So now we have to decide, which is right for us, from several thousand miles away.

Can anyone with direct experience of these schools help at all? I remember a couple of people on my previous threads commenting about the schools, so a bit more information would be much appreciated. What I'm looking for is a school that will nurture and be kind to my children, above the need for results. Both of mine are bright, hard workers who behave well at school (less so at home!) and don't need nor would respond well to harsh disciplinary techniques.

Thank you! Sorry for the essay.

Thanks for your reply. I thought you still needed to have an occupation on the csol for a 186 conversion from 457? I don't think it will be a problem to get employer sponsorship but I'll be keeping get a close eye on the lists. Thanks for replying.

We're a fair way down the process of emigrating from the UK. My husband and I are both doctors (specialists) so we can't apply for PR through 189 or any other visa until we have full specialist recognition, and we can't get that until we've completed the Colleges skills assessment, which will always include a 12 month full time equivalent assessment within the country. So we have to come out on a 457 (I believe). We both have job offers, but mine is part time, so will need 2 years assessment, and my husband is part non clinical so may need up to 3 years assessment.

There's been a fair bit in the press about Anaesthetists (my occupation) being taken off the SOL, and I've checked and it is on the list of occupations under review. My husband is a physician and that's not on the review list, but there has been a call to remove all doctors from the list (according to the press).

So my question - if we're in Australia on a 457 and in jobs, does that provide a different route to PR or are we still at the mercy of the SOL? How quickly can the SOL change if the occupation isn't on the review list, could it still be removed the following year?

This has put extra worry on as we're migrating with young children and it would be hard to have to turn round and come back after 4 years on a 457. We will almost certainly still take the risk, but it would be very useful to know if there is another way.

Many thanks.

On the off chance that anyone else needs to know, I got a quick response from their customer services:

"We required you to provided at least one address for each country and also the addresses for the last ten years."

So not all addresses from age 18 thank goodness!

Hi

Can anyone tell me how many addresses you have to put in the consent form? It says 10 years worth, but then on the next page it says every address from every country from age 18. This seems crazy - was struggling with 10 years! All addresses would be in the UK.

Can anyone who's been through this tell me the answer?

Many thanks

It's so great to read all these positives. We're planning a move out to south Brisbane in early 2017 and positive stories really help! Very excited about the opportunity but still a little terrified! Thanks for posting the good news stuff.

I know there are lots of positive stories out there about the PTE academic, but I thought I should put the other side. The fact that this is a computer marked test can lead to problems. They charge pretty much the same about for a rescore, which is done by the same computers and so totally pointless.

i scored 90,90,90,60. The 60 for speaking. I am a native British born, university educated professional. I have always lived in England and have no particular accent. I am considered well spoken. I spoke clearly and had practiced and knew the requirements.

I questioned the result. After strong persuasion they rechecked the technical aspect of the test and claimed it was fine. I didn't pay for a rescore as it seemed a simple way to throw more money away.

i am in no doubt that there was some issue with the sound recording. Either the other, loud, candidates voices were picked up, or my (extremely flimsy) headphone/microphone combo wasn't working effectively.

I certainly wouldn't retake it at the same centre. On the same day as me, 2 other candidates faced a retake due to computer malfunctions. None of the tests are ideal, the PTE certainly wasted my money and time.

Thank you Sina, that's very helpful.

Hi

We're hoping to move out to Brisbane next Jan/Feb from the UK. We have job offers at hospitals there as medical specialists. I'm an anaesthetist and hopefully going to to be main 189 applicant. I'm in the process of getting specialist recognition, but this at best will be "substantially comparable" with a further 12-24 months of observed practice before full specialist recognition. AHPRA, I believe, will give limited or provisional registration during this time, and not full registration until the observed period is complete after 1-2 years.

So, my question is, can we apply for PR on a 189 based on this provisional specialist recognition, or do we need to be fully registered with AHPRA as a specialist (1-2 years) before this is possible and use a 457 until then?

Hope that all made sense!

Thank you

Thanks Luke, I'm going to try! Wondering about doing the IELTS instead if the appeal doesn't help.

Hi Cider, thanks for answering. My first 2 or 3 responses I hit next without waiting for the 3 second pause. There were a couple of questions later where there wasn't enough time left for a 3 second pause but I did finish speaking. Mainly I had the pause.

Breakdown of the rest was 90 for spelling, vocabulary, written discourse, 83 grammar, 81 oral fluency and 75 pronunciation. Pronunciation is very odd as I have quite a bbc accent!

Perhaps it was the pause thing after all. Extremely frustrating.

Thanks grabri, the thing that puts me off appealing is that they say the remark is done by computer again. If, for some reason, I've genuinely scored low, then fair enough, but I suspect it may be some form of technical error as I just can't see how I'd have scored that low. I mean, it doesn't even give me 10 points, never mind 20. Crazy.

Thanks for replying. It's computer assessed and scored. I foolishly thought this would take the bias out but obviously not. I don't even have a regional accent. Very strange.

Anyone else get a silly speaking score unexpectedly?

I sat the PTE Academic last week. Got my scores today, 90, 90, 90, 60. The 60 was for speaking.

I'm English born and have lived exclusively in the UK and work in a professional role. I have no speech issues at all. I knew the test had a few quirks, I practiced with the official guide and made sure I didn't umm and err or leave a pause of more than 3 seconds. A couple of other people had computer issues on the day but mine seemed fine. My test finished quicker than I expected (about 2 hours) but I can't figure out what on earth happened.

I'm a bit shocked to be honest. It seemed to go fine. I've sent an email to query and will appeal. Has anyone had similar issues and appealed successfully?

Thanks

I had a friend who lived in Daisy Hill near the koala park - a beautiful place and cheap rent. It's cheap because the commute into Brisbane is a hard slog - not an issue if you're working in Logan. Don't write off all of Logan - Logan Village is very pretty.

We also knew a number of people who lived in Cairns - they loved it - due to laid back lifestyle and climate (which wouldn't suit everyone). They moved to Brissie for work opportunities.

As much as I loved Toowoomba, I reckon it would be tricky with teens - far more to do in Brisbane.

Make it as easy as you can re: commuting - whatever people will tell you, roads get very busy in Brisbane - so be as close as possible to keep the distance down. You have a lot of great options so can't really go that wrong...

Thanks for replying, you've confirmed much of the things we've thought. We may be lucky and have some choice, but I suspect fate will intervene. You're right though, I think all the options are very strong for differing reasons. Not a bad situation to find ourselves in! Long road ahead yet.

I am currently living in Toowoomba moved from Gold Coast. I do prefer living on the gold coast, but I guess Toowoomba is not so bad. Actually, the weather is much batter than the gold coast. Also, one of my co-worker who is used to live in Brisbane and has 2 kids likes living in Toowoomba due to its children's education aspect. But I know someone who has left Toowoomba, because she couldn't find a decent job. For me, I would live in a northern part of the gold coast and travel to work in Logan since it's quite close.

 

Hope it helps!

Thanks Kat. Is the weather cooler or just less rain? Wondering how it's better.

What is it about the Gold Coast you prefer if you don't mind me asking?

One thing we've wondered is whether there'll be enough for the kids to do once they're teenagers and beyond. Sounds brilliant for young kids just unsure once they're older. What do you think?

Hi we live in Cairns, been here 18 months we live Kewarra Beach which is the northern beaches. We have 2 boys 15 & 14 and they have settled in great and play football. We also are from the North East of England (Hartlepool) and came strait to Cairns (we hate the cold so love love love the heat) If you have got aircon and a pool your fine. The mozzies love me and my kid`s, hubby has never been bit. I take vitamin B still get bit but not as much. The locals call it Paradise and I agree, I miss my friends and family back home so much but so glad we made the move. Feel free to pm me if you want all the best for your move

Thanks, sounds like you've settled brilliantly, can only hope we manage to cope as well as you! I react badly to mozzie bites which is the only reason I'm particularly bothered about how many there are. Hopefully I'd just get used to it and will definitely try the vitamin b advice. Glad your boys manage football out there, sounds like kids acclimatise easier perhaps.

Thanks for the advice and may well pm you if we end up having an offer in cairns.

We have friends live in Cairns moved from Adelaide and love it ( English emigrants in the first place )

As newly arrived immigrants we went straight to Adelaide and settled ,love the place but having been to Cairns ,Port Douglass Mooloolaba etc we absolutely loved it

i think if we ever moved in Oz then Mooloolaba would be the place for me , the humidity never really bothered us but there again after the heat of Adelaide I think we enjoyed it !

I've been to Adelaide and thought it beautiful. Unfortunately only a very brief visit as our holiday was cut short by bad news from home. Would love to visit again. Lovely to hear than other poms can manage the humidity and heat in Cairns. Sounding better by the minute.

30 degrees in the evening - no problem wondering if you'll have to cancel bbq plans then!

Thanks for the offer of photos, will get back to you once we're a bit clearer about actual jobs.

Planning the move is such a strange combination of excitement and terror at times. Made so much harder by wondering if it's the right thing for the children.

Hi, pretty much as Pom Queen says. We live maybe 20 -25 minutes to the hospital the job I just got is across the road it takes me that long on a bus rather than parking in the city. Never seen any snakes but I'm sure they are around more towards the rainforest. I have seen a croc on the side of road but it was last year in wet season up near Catalan wetlands he was spotted again just the other night. It's very rare to see them and just as you would anywhere you don't venture into places that have the warning signs. The mossies have always liked me so I just spray myself if I'm going to sit out or go out in the evening I don't find them a problem. As Pom queen says spray round the house with mortein in Sydney I was forever fighting with huge huntsman spiders not had any spiders or creeps since we've been here.

I don't feel isolated here in cairns it's easy to get about and you don't have the craziness of the big cities. I'm going back to Sydney for a weekend break and cost me $190 return with carry on bag the airlines do some great deals here even Bali for $170 at certain times of the year.

We are now heading towards the end of wet season and I have to admit we've not had anything this year like you would expect although the humidity is pretty much up there still. Once the humidity has dropped its like a beautiful summers day blue skies, temperatures from what I know don't really drop below 17 in the day.

We have found our electric bill has doubled but now I'm being savvy with the aircon there's only one electric company so your kind of stuck with it.

they are developing all over cairns there are some really good properties to buy especially in the northern beach areas. Also plenty of places to rent they are nearly all on real estate if you want a look put in post codes QLD 4878 and 4879 that's the areas we have lived here.

anyway anything else you need help with or any more info I'm always around.

debbs

Thanks very much Debbs, really helpful and reassuring. Certainly tempting as I get up ready to scrape the ice off the car and stand on my sons footie sidelines in thermals, still freezing!