apickerell Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 YAY!! Well after having a baby, waiting for another job in the same company to come available I can now officially say that we are moving to Canberra! Soo excited! :tongue: Now the fun begins! I have myself, my husband, my two step children and a 5 month old baby. Whew... Anyways, Can anyone tell me about how the school system works? I am coming on a 457 visa and will be applying for the fee waiver for my two older children, but do I have to be in my permanent rental to do that? Would they be able to go to school if we are in a temporary rental for a month or so? We are considering leaving the two older children here for about a month or so until we find a permanent rental. This is because of myself and my husband will be working. The baby will be able to attend my childcare where I will be teaching for a week or so but We will have to get care for her. I think it might be easier to not have to find care for the older two as well. I feel bad about it but We are just not sure. If they can attend school from the beginning it will work out and we will bring them with us when we move. However if they have to wait to attend school than we need to leave them here until we secure our rental. does anyone have any advice on locations? I am looking at the banks area or somewhere around there but I will be working in Majura Park. Is that too far for a commute? Is there another area that is decently priced like the banks area but closer to Majura Park? And lastly does anyone know of a temporary rental that we can use for the first month, if it is just my husband, baby and myself for the first month it could be just a room or 1 bedroom apt. But if the kids are coming from the start than it will need to be at least 2 bedrooms. We don't have to find a furnished apartment though because my employer has furniture for us to use. Thank you for your advice! We are super excited about this move! God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I dont know what grounds you think you might get a fee waiver but usually it is because yours or your husband's occupations are on SOL otherwise you are not likely to succeed. You may want to consider the Catholic system where the fees are considerably lower than the government system which is hovering around the $10k pa per child at the moment (depends on their age). For government schools you will need to have a permanent address to enrol a child. On a 457 visa you wont get any help with child care at all so reckon on $70 - 80 per day for the baby.You'll probably want to be looking northside if you are heading for the Majura area - try the Gungahlin, Belconnen or Inner North suburbs on http://www.allhomes.com.au but, no, probably nothing is going to be as cheap as Banks - youll need two cars if you go that route as it will take anything up to 2 hours on the bus and cycling isnt really going to be an option LOL It's not a commute I would like to do with the rush hour traffic every day. Alternatively (and this comes with restrictions too) you could try Queanbeyan which is in NSW - school fees for 457 visa holders are half the price and rents tend to be cheaper. It's closer than if you were coming in from the far flung corners of Belconnen or Gungahlin.That same site has some short term rentals on it or you could search on the serviced apartments websites for a holiday let or http://www.stayz.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Childcare I think is likely to be more than that. Our childcare has just gone up to $95 per child per day (3-5 year olds). I don't want to scare you too much but you are not going to find it easy getting childcare places for a baby. There are very long waiting lists here and most people seem to be on those for a good few number of months before getting a place, even if they do get a place. Options may be easier if there are places further out like Banks though. Family Day Care is another option that people use out here, I will see if I can find some links for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Childcare I think is likely to be more than that. Our childcare has just gone up to $95 per child per day (3-5 year olds). I don't want to scare you too much but you are not going to find it easy getting childcare places for a baby. There are very long waiting lists here and most people seem to be on those for a good few number of months before getting a place, even if they do get a place. Options may be easier if there are places further out like Banks though. Family Day Care is another option that people use out here, I will see if I can find some links for you. Ouch, I am out of touch with childcare fees! Almost cheaper to send your kid to Grammar than child care these days huh! Babies are likely to be more than that then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apickerell Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 We are coming on my 457 visa and it is on the SOL so I believe we would qualify for the fee waiver. What do you think about having the kids wait to come until we get settled into a house though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 http://mychild.gov.au/ is a good website to find out about childcare and look for potential centres (do not assume the vacancy information is correct as it doesn't take into account wait lists necessarily. https://child-care.commsatwork.org/family-day-care-home-care for Family Day Care, Communities at Work being the main provider Southside I believe. http://www.det.act.gov.au/school_education/enrolling_in_an_act_public_school will give you information on enrolments into a public school in the ACT. You won't have much joy in contacting any schools this week or next week though as they are on school holidays. You may find it easier to come over before the older children if you are going to be working immediately. Having said that, I don't know how logistically viable that is for you or how your children and partner would feel about it so I imagine you would need to take all those things into consideration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masemase73 Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 hi wanted to inquire if you applied for SS. and if so, did you succeed? regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 We are coming on my 457 visa and it is on the SOL so I believe we would qualify for the fee waiver. What do you think about having the kids wait to come until we get settled into a house though? You'll have to wait for a permanent address before you can enrol them anyway most likely so you'd either have to have them in care or staying with someone else until you can enrol them. It all depends if they are old enough to travel as UMs as to whether they can come alone after you. If your occupation is on SOL then you will need to talk to International Students section. They will be there now as they are an office function, not a school. http://www.det.act.gov.au/school_education/international_students/temporary_residents_and_dependents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apickerell Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks so much for all the valuable advice! My baby' medical arrived in Sydney on Monday and was finalized that same day! WOOHOO! Also my boss has found us temporary housing through a contact that she had. Feeling so blessed right now. hopefully this visa comes through soon and we can get tickets this week. We plan to fly out the 12th of Aug. As for the older kids, they are old enough to fly UM. So that is our plan. however we may have a friend bring them out. not sure on that yet. If we stay at the temporary housing for a couple of months can the children start school while we live there? How permanent does the housing have to be? We were thinking about maybe bringing them out just a couple of weeks after us and maybe staying in the temporary housing for a couple of months and then getting our house. Any ideas on this or should we stick with the original plan to get our house first. Any ideas are helpful at this point. thanks! Excited to get out there very soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks so much for all the valuable advice! My baby' medical arrived in Sydney on Monday and was finalized that same day! WOOHOO! Also my boss has found us temporary housing through a contact that she had. Feeling so blessed right now. hopefully this visa comes through soon and we can get tickets this week. We plan to fly out the 12th of Aug. As for the older kids, they are old enough to fly UM. So that is our plan. however we may have a friend bring them out. not sure on that yet. If we stay at the temporary housing for a couple of months can the children start school while we live there? How permanent does the housing have to be? We were thinking about maybe bringing them out just a couple of weeks after us and maybe staying in the temporary housing for a couple of months and then getting our house. Any ideas on this or should we stick with the original plan to get our house first. Any ideas are helpful at this point. thanks! Excited to get out there very soon! Can't help with the housing but we have organised local snow for the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunniecat Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 childcare places have waiting lists that are anything up to 12 months, so you will need to get that sorted as soon as you possibly can. they charge around $85-100/day from what I've heard. you could try stayz.com.au or airbnb.com.au for somewhere to stay for your first few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks so much for all the valuable advice! My baby' medical arrived in Sydney on Monday and was finalized that same day! WOOHOO! Also my boss has found us temporary housing through a contact that she had. Feeling so blessed right now. hopefully this visa comes through soon and we can get tickets this week. We plan to fly out the 12th of Aug. As for the older kids, they are old enough to fly UM. So that is our plan. however we may have a friend bring them out. not sure on that yet. If we stay at the temporary housing for a couple of months can the children start school while we live there? How permanent does the housing have to be? We were thinking about maybe bringing them out just a couple of weeks after us and maybe staying in the temporary housing for a couple of months and then getting our house. Any ideas on this or should we stick with the original plan to get our house first. Any ideas are helpful at this point. thanks! Excited to get out there very soon! Well, do you want to be mucking them about chopping and changing schools when they have just arrived in a foreign country? Not a terribly sensible move I would have thought. You might end up living miles away from your temp accommodation in which case they would be quite disoriented. Schools dont really like casual blow ins for a few weeks but, of course, if you dont tell them how temporary the accommodation is then they arent going to know (unless it is a hotel of course). Id be waiting until you have something more permanent - you could pick up somewhere in a month at this time of year I should think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apickerell Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Well, do you want to be mucking them about chopping and changing schools when they have just arrived in a foreign country? Not a terribly sensible move I would have thought. You might end up living miles away from your temp accommodation in which case they would be quite disoriented. Schools dont really like casual blow ins for a few weeks but, of course, if you dont tell them how temporary the accommodation is then they arent going to know (unless it is a hotel of course). Id be waiting until you have something more permanent - you could pick up somewhere in a month at this time of year I should think. Quall, thats a very good point. I guess its mainly my frustration with leaving them here for the first little bit. As a mom, I just want them with us as soon as possible. It was just a though though. But I agree, I think it would be better to wait until we have a permanent house. It will be better for the children too to come to Australia and to be able to settle into a home. See.. thats why I like this website! As for the snow, I CANT WAIT!!! I grew up in the US in Colorado and I went to college in Minnesota. So it will be so nice for me. although the timing difference throws me off some. Hopefully its still around when I get there in Aug. As for Childcare for my baby, I have a good friend that is planning on coming out for a bit to help me with her. Before she arrives though, My boss said I could bring her temporarily to my work which is at a Child care Place. Majura Park Childcare. its all working out. I just need to get over my feeling of failure with not bringing my two older step children with us right away. I had visions of all of us going together from the very beginning. Again, I know it is for the best though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben1979 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 YAY!! Well after having a baby, waiting for another job in the same company to come available I can now officially say that we are moving to Canberra! Soo excited! :tongue: Now the fun begins! I have myself, my husband, my two step children and a 5 month old baby. Whew... Anyways, Can anyone tell me about how the school system works? I am coming on a 457 visa and will be applying for the fee waiver for my two older children, but do I have to be in my permanent rental to do that? Would they be able to go to school if we are in a temporary rental for a month or so? We are considering leaving the two older children here for about a month or so until we find a permanent rental. This is because of myself and my husband will be working. The baby will be able to attend my childcare where I will be teaching for a week or so but We will have to get care for her. I think it might be easier to not have to find care for the older two as well. I feel bad about it but We are just not sure. If they can attend school from the beginning it will work out and we will bring them with us when we move. However if they have to wait to attend school than we need to leave them here until we secure our rental. does anyone have any advice on locations? I am looking at the banks area or somewhere around there but I will be working in Majura Park. Is that too far for a commute? Is there another area that is decently priced like the banks area but closer to Majura Park? And lastly does anyone know of a temporary rental that we can use for the first month, if it is just my husband, baby and myself for the first month it could be just a room or 1 bedroom apt. But if the kids are coming from the start than it will need to be at least 2 bedrooms. We don't have to find a furnished apartment though because my employer has furniture for us to use. Thank you for your advice! We are super excited about this move! God bless! Hi , Good luck with your move! My wife has just given birth to our child here & we have already started looking into childcare as the waiting list is massive (my wife plans to go back to work in 12 months). I cant help you on the school system / costs as we are still a few years away from looking at that! However, with regards to housing, we live north side (Casey) & Majura Park is abut 15-20 mins away from us (depending on traffic, which compared to the UK is not much). Its all new housing north side & the prices arent too bad depending on where your looking. Bonner & Forde are the newest suburbs & they're both pretty nice as is Casey where we live & Nicholls (just next to us). We like it up here in the north side, as the houses are all very new, very child friendly i.e parks, playgrounds etc & not much crime..thats not to say south side is but i'm just speaking from our experience of living north side for almost 2 years. Also if you work in Majura Park, you can leave Gungahlin (north side) on Horse Park Drive which turns into Majura Rd & hey presto your there! To be honest though Canberra is a relatively small place & doesn't suffer from major traffic issues so wherever you live you wont have too much trouble getting around. I work in Queanbeyan & it still only takes me 30 mins to get to work from Casey! Which some of my colleagues at work deem a long drive?? Anyway good luck & if you need any more help, let me know. Oh & its a good time to look at rentals as the supply is higher than the demand at the moment so rental prices north side are pretty static / lower than they were when we arrived 2 years ago Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clickettuk Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Aside from all the important stuff, you've picked a great place to start life in Australia. Canberra is amazing. It might not be many people's first choice, but it is great. I've been here nearly three years now and I love it. It'll be cold when you arrive but Spring will be here soon. Spring, Summer and Autumn are amazing and Winter isn't too long and actually mostly sunny (but cold). Maybe we'll catch up with you when you get here (although we fly to London tomorrow for a four week holiday - my first time back in three years since we emigrated)!!!!! Michael and Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Aside from all the important stuff, you've picked a great place to start life in Australia. Canberra is amazing. It might not be many people's first choice, but it is great. I've been here nearly three years now and I love it. It'll be cold when you arrive but Spring will be here soon. Spring, Summer and Autumn are amazing and Winter isn't too long and actually mostly sunny (but cold). Maybe we'll catch up with you when you get here (although we fly to London tomorrow for a four week holiday - my first time back in three years since we emigrated)!!!!! Michael and Mark Sssshhh. Tell 'em it's awful, like most Canberrans do. There are enough poms here already, not to mention bloody tourists crawling all over the place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apickerell Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 Thanks for the info! HAve to say the snow and winter excites as I have been living on an island with no winter or snow. Yes, teriible i know...:tongue: how could i ever leave? ha ha. anyways we are set to leave Aug 12th and I am super excited. Finally told the kids about us coming first and then them coming after once we get a house. They actually took it rather well and my mommy guilt is much better. Half packed, just waiting for Rebekah's visa to come through. Its in a que waiting for a CO:mad:. I emailed them and they basically told me to leave them alone so that they could process applications... nice huh... yea. Thinking it will come through next week though as it is very straight forward and all of the documents are submitted. We have temporary housing for about 3 weeks or so. My boss found us a nice 2 bedroom place for 150 a week through one of her connections. So that will work until we can get a house sorted out. I start working basically immediately lol and my husband will do his White card and start looking for work as well. He is a carpenter. Thanks again everyone! Its nice to keep in touch with people. God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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