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Hi, We are being relocated to Sydney in September with my husbands job and are considering the following schools: Redlands St Luke's Grammar School John Colet If anyone has had any recent personal experience with any of these schools I would be so grateful for any constructive thoughts or criticism. My daughter turns 5 in December and so will be expected to go into Kindy In January 2020. Many thanks

trHi, My husband is being relocated to Sydney in September and we are faced with the tricky task of finding a school for now four year old from London. I know she is still young but we only plan to be in Sydney for 2/3 years and then move back to the UK. Having already had over 18 months of learning to read and write (as they start earlier with this in the UK) we have been advised to put her into year 1. She adores what she calls 'work' and her teachers in the UK, teachers I know in Sydney and two educational consultants have recommended this would the best move especially since we would prefer her not to be too far behind when we come back to the UK. We wanted to send her to a Public school but they refuse to even asses her for a Year 1 place. Does anyone have any views or experience with this situation? Or found a private school that worked well in this situation? Any thoughts or ideas so appreciated. It seems so daunting with never having been to Sydney and not being able to look around schools before we leave the UK. We were thinking of northern beaches as where we may base ourselves but again this is not set in stone. Thank you!

I have the opportunity to move to Australia with work and was wondering what the situation is with medical treatment. For example if I need to see a GP or am admitted to hospital etc. Obviously in the UK this is free under the NHS but what is the deal in Australia please?

There seem to be a few questions on here about Primary Schools in ACT and we have just gone through the process of researching, visiting and choosing a school so I though I would share my findings with anyone who is interested I did a load of research first from the UK in terms of "good" schools - alot of info came from this forum and alot came from other forums. I have a son who is gifted in Maths so I really wanted a good school for him. I do think you need to visit the schools when you get here if you can and alot of this can be arranged before you get here. Its well worth the time. I printed off a map of Canberra and put it next to my computer and shaded areas where there were the "target" schools and their catchment. I shaded area private schools differently. Jut this visual aid helped in me narrowing where we may be looking for housing and also allowed me to further research commute times and bus routes.... The list of schools I visited were: Gov schools: Curtin Primary North Ainslie Aranda Kaleen Torrens Private schools visited: Emmaus Christian School Holy Trinity , Curtin St Peter and St Paul, Garran Montsorri, Holder Girls Grammar School I wanted to visit more. Garran and Chapman Gov schools will not let you visit unless you have a confirmed place to live and paperwork to prove it in their Catchment. They must get innundated! Both are EXCELLENT schools with excellent NAPLAN results but I could not visit them. If we decided to live in either of these areas we were prepared to take a chance on the schools but nothing happened to be suitable and available at the time and this is a key thing as the rental market here is a nightmare. Will maybe post findings on this separately if people are interested. There were more private schools I also wanted to visit but they were full and therefore did not want even a speculative visit for going onto a waiting list. You can check the results of a school my going to http://www.myschool.edu.au/ and finding the school you want and clicking on NAPLAN on the left hand side. I would look at results in "numbers" as the graphs and others are confusing. I would also not take the results completely to heart as its a relatively new thing - but I do thnk its fairly good indicator of things and is a good benchmark - some may disagree. I just wanted schools that were above or exceptionally above average in most of the areas tested as this was a promise I made to myself on moving here in that I just wanted an excellent school for my son. All the Gov schools I visited were good and I would not be worried if my son went to any of them however not all were best fit for him - some had an Arts focus and were creative, some focussed on other areas etc...but once I had a short list of favourite schools we narrowed our search on houses to certain areas. I have to say if you look at the "ranking" of the schools I visited, they all had relatively good results so Im not sure how the other schools I did not visit were so cannot comment... All schools in Canberra (and rest of Ox I think) received a massive grant of around $1,5 million dollars when the world went into recession, to inject money into the local building trade so they all have a new gymnasium, library or hall or something. This applied also to private schools. In comparison to the Private schools, I would say places like the grammar school are in a class of their own but I did not choose it as they had this strange policy of wanting to put my already advanced son back a year into Pre School instead of Kindergarten which is where his age allows him to be, simply because he was a boy and therefore may not be "mature" enough!. Im sure if I pushed it they would have said ok to Kinder but it was not for us in the end.. I really liked Emmaus and have put both my kids on the waiting list there and my son will go to North Ainslie in the meantime. Some private schools are definately better - just better equipped, better results, seem better organised, facilities are newer and the libraries are lovely. That said Torrens primary had a gorgeous library and I though this was an EXCELLENT government school and was definately in my short list and would have chosen this over some of the private schools I saw. its all a matter of taste and what your child needs. The problem with the very good private schools is that they all have MASSIVE waiting lists and I mean a 2 - 3 years long at least and so we did not have any choice. If I did I would have chosen Emmaus. I like Holy Trinity Catholic school in Curtin but Curtin Primary which is a government school was just as good in some ways (if a bit chaotic). If we lived in Curtin I would have chosen Holy Trinity simply on the fact that it was smaller in size but eveything else was the same and Curtin has a good "gifted" scheme. When we arrived we looked at houses in ALL areas (except Tuggeranong) and we looked at things like commute to Civic/public transport as well as the area of the shortlisted schools. We loved the space in the massive houses in Gunghalin but when I did some research, the schools results near to houses we looked at were not great, this was only in a few of the suburbs and we decided it was too far so did not research too many of the areas here.. We wanted to try and get away with having one car (Cars are EXPENSIVE) hence choosing the Inner North in the end. We liked Belconnnen and looked in Aranda but no houses came up in the time we were here and looking and I think this is what you also need to consider. I think you need to have a few areas to consider as had we found a house in Aranda we also would have moved there.. but nothing came up.. My husband came on a 457 visa and we were advised my Saskia Hancock at the Dept of Education here that unless we were on the SOL list, we would have to pay an annual fee of 9.9K$ for going to government school. Some private schools are cheaper (the catholic ones) but the problem in some of the good ones is getting a place. Holy Trinity, St Peter and St Paul had space, Radford who I approached did not, Emmaus does not, St Josephs who I approached did not... There are many which do have space of course but you will find that the ones with excellent results will not (much like the UK) As it happened, my husbands work is on the SOL list so once we had found a property on a long term rental, we emailed Saskia Hancock stating we wanted to register Ethan at North Ainslie as we were in the catchment. She issued us a waiver, told the school of this and we enrolled him directly with the school. It is worth taking time to research and people talk about more than 50% of the population put their kids in Private schools and this may scare lots of people off and make you think that the gov schools are terrible. I do think you have to chose carefully and do your research. Definately some gov schools have problem kids there who may have been chucked out of all the local private schools... and this is a difference in that gov schools have to take kids in their area even if they are full and cannot select whereas the private system can. Look at the demographics of the area, the houses etc..I think this is often a good indication of the school overall. Definately the facilities in the private school are better, but there are good gov schools. Most private schools have lower fees also than the government imposed $10K. (The grammar is around 11K so you may as well consider this if you have to pay the gov fee. private schools are generally around 2-4K a year so not that expensive. Just find a good one that has a spot. Hope all this helps...happy to answer any questions Angela

What's a good private health insurance provider? Would it be better to go with Medicare or a private insurance provider? What are the costs like? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I would like a cover that includes dental as well. Thank you.

Allo All , just wondering if anyone has their children in private schools on the Sunshine Coast ? We are looking to enroll 2 boys 9&6 into a school in the Buderim area around May/June and was wondering if anyone could recommend a school and why. If anyone has a preference for a particular school over another , the info would be greatly appreciated. There seems to be a really good choice of quality schooling , however we are not biased about public education either , just prefer to know what schools not to go to .if anyone has had any experience good or otherwise it would be terrific to know , as this is a very important decision for us . Great forum this , best to all JohnyE:cool:

Hi All I'd love some info, tips and advice. As you may know I have been searching for accommodation for my brother. I think I have found one but as the saying goes, if its too good to be true then .... So I have found a really good unit, good price etc via another forum/website but how do I know that the person renting it out is the legal/responsible person to be renting it out? Can I ask this person for some ID - drivers licence, etc and maybe sight some household bills in his/her name and more importantly can I ask to see/verify that they have the lease/mortgage in their name? I ask, because my friend here in Sydney moved into a shared place believing she was living with the owner and it turned out it wasn't and the house was being re-possessed. She had to leave immediately. I'd be grateful for any advice. BEGal

Hi We are looking to move to the Brisbane area and I am looking for ideas for Areas where we can access good schools. Does anyone have any suggestions of locations and names of schools we could review Also thinking of going private and would appreciate any advise on how the system works in Oz Many thanks

Hi Can anyone in Australia give me an opinion based on experience of private schools VS public schools? Has anyone sent their kids to private school and was it worth the cost? Thanks Karen

Hi all our first post! We are hoping to move out to the sunshine coast, has anyone got a view on what the state schools are like, is it worth paying for private. Bearing in mind we will have to pay for state schools as we are goig on a 457 Visa. If anyone has any suggestions on good schools or where we can compare school performances, that would be great. We have been attracted to Buderim and Peregian Springs area. Thanks Daz

Right... along with 1) finding a place to live (schools, commutable, affordable... blah blah) 2) sussing out what work would be like for the missus (a pharmacist if anyone has a job for her!) 3) is working out the requirements for the 457 application... It says I need to provide proof that I have health insurance. I thought I could be eligible and could enrol on Medicare being from the UK but seems like I may not be plus I can't enrol until I have landed. Now I think my options are: 1) take out cover here in uk for travel insurance? (that covers the requirements for the 457 - painful? would need ot find out what minimum cover is required....) 2) take out some private healthcare from a company in aus. some links that might be useful MBF: Overseas visitors health insurance options for Australia HBF: Overseas Visitors | Health Insurance Cover for Overseas Visitors | HBF Medibank Private: Overseas Visitors Insurance & Visitors Cover - Medibank Private HCF: Private health insurance from HCF health cover fund HBA: Travel, Work, Study Health Insurance for Overseas Visitors to Australian - HBA Health Insuranc Now.... I need to attach proof to the application (along with all the other documents!) some have a waiting period eg medibank which is $210 per month for family of 4 on the basic cover. This period can be 2 moths to 6 months depending, this is only for the period by which you can start claiming for treatment and not the time I have to wait for cover? How have others gone about attaching proof of cover? If I have to wait for them to process my application before submitting my visa app it might delay things! Any advice appreciated!

I am in a dilemma - If we go to Oz, NSW to be exact my husband & I will have to pay $4500 x 2 for my daughters schooling. (on a 457 visa) This will eat away at our budget, some of the threads I have read is that it could be cheaper to send to a private/catholic school. To be honest a catholic school would be ideal as my oldest has just been confirmed and my other daughter is making her 1st communion here in N ireland in May. I sent an email to a school when I was looking in the glenmore area of sydney, they emailed me back saying fees were $1800 per year but unfortunately there were no positions. I have been looking in other areas for housing as this is our prime hurdle that we need to get over, next would be schooling. But I am wondering will schooling be the 1st. My husband has been offered a sponsorship with a company in south sydney in the CBD. Would it be cheeky to ask them to include the schooling fees with the 'package'? They havent come back to my husband with the 'package'. The main thing at the mo is negotiating the $$ - which at the mo is nowhere near what we could survive on. If someone could guide me - it would be great. Thanks Jo

Which is better? or does it make a difference?

Hi, Due to the lack of short term rentals available in January I have contacted someone on Gumtree and agreed to rent their rental house for a month. Is this safe? They've agreed to only charge 2 weeks up front and accept a Bond upon arrival instaed of sending up front but I'm worried that I could end up with nowhere to live upon arrival?! Just looking for some reassurance really? Is there anything I could ask to prove who they are/own the property? Thanks, Steve.

Hi guys I would be grateful for ay information on this topic We will be arriving in Melbourne (hopefully) in March 2012 . the start date is flexible for a few months. I have a child who is 5 yrs old. He does have special needs (speech and communication issues) possibly ASD. When does school semester start ? Does it cost to enroll in a public school and how much is the fees (as we are on 457 visa) . IS there good support in public schools. What does private shcools cost . Ay good schools in the private sector that will cater to children with special needs? I will be with the locum sevice so where I stay in Melbourne will primarily depend on the schools. thanks a lot

Hi guys, Can anyone give me any tips on the best / cheapest private medical care? I was just going to go Bupa...... thanks!

Hi All, I was just wondering what people's opinions are of having a baby at a public v private hospital in Oz. I've recently found out I'm pregnant and although my husband and I have private health insurance with Medibank which includes obstetrics, I'm not sure whether it's worth having the baby at a private hospital. I work in GP Clinic and my boss is also my Dr - she recommends I go private but I'm not sold. Does anybody have any experience of private / public hospitals and if going private, do you know roughly what the out of pocket expenses are? I know I'm in the very early stages of pregnancy and don't want to get my hopes up too early, but my Dr has told me I need to make a decision about this sooner rather than later. For reference, the private hospital I'm looking at is Peninsula Private and the public ones are Frankston / Sandringham - all in Victoria. Thanks for your help!!

Can anyone recommend a good independent financial advisor who can assist in the transfer of my UK pension to Australia? I am based in Frankston near Melbourne. I've been living here for over a year (emmigrated on 02/03/2010) and realise I probably should have done something about it by now! Afraid it got put on the back burner as life has been a little hectic since we arrived... Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you Janet

Hi folks, Sorry if this has been answered previously but I've had a look and cannot find an answer to my specific question. I'm from the UK and have been offered a job in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I'm about to fill in my visa forms and have to start thinking about healthcare cover for my family (myself, girlfriend and 2yr old daughter). As many of you will know, I require private healthcare for my family in order for my visa application to be approved, even though we will not be in the country to use it. We are eligable for Medicare through the reciprocal agreement as we are from the UK but this doesn't apply until we are in Australia. In light of all this, I'm looking for the cheapest private healthcare cover around, that still meets the requirements of the 457 visa: does anyone have any experience of which insurance companies are the cheapest? The plan is to reassess my healthcare options when in Australia and just pay for the cheapest product available for visa purposes. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions on any of the above? Thanks, Dariuzthepole

Hi Guys, we will be moving to Brisbane, Redlands area, as a family around January time, just in time for the New school year. We are in the process of looking for a school to send our 2 daughters aged (on time of arrival) 9 and 6. We are looking to live in the Cleveland/Wellington point areas, and were just wondering if any of you can recommend schools around there. We have had contact with St Mary MacKillop Primary School, but were just interested in any others that might be suitable. Cheers

Ok, so here is the situation. We pay the recprical costs of around $75 a month. We also pay (family of 4) $370 a month for platinum cover with HBF. I am sponsored on a 457 Visa. Other people at the same place of work on a 457 who arrived earlier than me have private cover paid for by work. Why dont I have the same arrangement? Because the company did not offer it to me and i was advised that I needed to arrange private cover separately. Is this ok? or should the company pay for me as well? I know what i want the answer to be....... Thanks. Steve.:cool:

Hi there I am looking for some advice/tips on how to get my daughters into an all girls independent school in the Perth area. Has anyone else managed to get their children into private school at short notice? The schools I have contacted seem to have 2-3 year waiting lists with no prospect of a place! We are aiming to be out there in January. Many thanks.

Hi All, Last week we arrived in Brisbane (Wife and two kids 7 yrs & 5 yrs) and busy in searching for private school and accomodation. My work site near to Eagle Farm. So we are looking for school & accmodation within 20 KM. My friend told me Clayfield, Camp Hill & Upper Mount gravatt are good areas. Please suggest me some good private school (primary) names and good suburbs to live. We prefer catholic school and live near to the school. Regards Paul.

Hi there, I'd like any advice about peoples experience of Brisbane State Primary Schools. I am really concerned that in general queensland schools have extremely poor grades compared to interstate schools, and qld is generally considered one of the worst states educationally. This may be partly to do with the children starting school somewhat older than in the other states. In any case, I am wondering if we need to look at private schooling throughout to ensure our kids have a good education. (I went to state schools for my entire education prior to uni in nz so this seems unusual to me). Everybody we know in australia though has elected to do this. I was there recently looking at a (private) school and the young 9 year old who was showing me around told me her parents had moved her out of her state school because they were only "singing" their times tables in Grade 4 (I think that was the Grade). The school she was attending in considered a "really good state school" in a good area. My question is, do the private primary schools teach more advanced curriculum, more in line with other states etc? It seems like a lot of money but we can do it if that is what is required for a good education. I definitely dont want them to fall behind and have a poor education. (Also - is IB only for high schools? I dont know much about that) Thanks for any help in advance.

This is a fairly specific question - so I may be whistling. My two eldest boys have reading difficulties and are probably dyslexic. They are both very bright, and have managed to maintain their results just below the national average despite the difficulties they have. If we moved back to Perth, we would probably go for private education. Does anyone know if they will get good support levels at private schools? and whether the support they get would be better than they would get at state schools.