Help - primary schools, locations, jobs???

[Linnyloo]

Hi

I'm  on here as I don't really know where to start and googling is confusing the hell out of me!

After 12 years in Melbourne we have decided to move back to UK to be closer to my family for a while (I'm from Essex - the London until I was 30. (My husband is aussie from Melbourne, Daughter 6 and Son 3.5 - all Aussies).

First thing I thought I should do was get my Aussie citizenship something that I've been putting off.

My husband has a Italian passport which always served him well for working in london in the past but I guess now with Brexit it'll be relatively useless - so need to see what that means.

My main concern at the moment is picking somewhere to live, and enrolling my daughter who is currently in prep in a good state school.  How is this even possible when all the good schools are oversubscribed and we don't even have an address.  My sister is in Braintree, Essex but we're not a fan of it and my dad is in North Wales.  Would prefer within an hour commute of north London / Braintree in a pretty village/small town (like half the country).  I would expect for us to have a family income of at least £80k.

 I'm also thinking about the logistics - what first - jobs, house, school?  What will my daughter do while we'll sorting all this out? I would loath to move her around after we get here- both kids are shy and I feel like we've got one chance to get it right.

Sorry this is a bit of a mind dump - lots to think about but I've got a 12 month deadline in my mind.

any tips, help, advice greatly appreciated.  Thank you 

 

 

[Quoll]

I'd go for jobs first if it were me. There are some nice little villages along the Liverpool St line to Cambridge that might be worth a look but the SE is expensive, more so than N Wales. That said, once you've lived in Australia nowhere is that far from anywhere else! I've been to Manchester for afternoon tea (and a wool shop) from Cambridge.