canberra

[Guest lorna2610]

hi we are currently in the process of securing the 176 visa with sponsorship from the act, we have been told it will probably take about 9 months to 1 yr by our agent, my husband has recently submitted his paperwork to the ACS for verificaTION, i am doing research on canberra at the moment and any info would be very helpful, we have a 3 yr old son who will be 4 by the time we come over what is the school system like what age do they start, i am also 5 months pregnant so when we move over i will have a newborn so at the moment im looking to find out more information on schools and areas of canberra in which to live i've never been to oz so i have no idea what it's like also what's the IT job market like at the moment any info anyone could give would be extremely helpful

 

Thanks

 

Lorna James Connor & Bump

[Guest destinationoz]

Hiya Lorna and family

I can't really help you - I'm fairly new to this but there's lots of info on canberra and schools etc on here and plenty of people that can help

We are hoping to go to canberra too so maybe see you there - good luck with the whole process!

x

[Guest Squem]

Hey Lorna!

 

I can't help you either but we got our visa in March for canberra... hopefully be living there by the end of the year so might be able to help then hahaha

 

Good luck with it all xxx

[Quoll]

Kids start preschool (which I think is now 15 hours a week) when they have just turned 4 or will have turned 4 before 30 April of the January in which they start. Preschool is free and you can usually get a place in your local preschool but if he is of preschool age rather than school age for 2010 then get his name down as soon as you know where you will be living - he may not get a place in the one closest to home though. They go to full time school - kindergarten - when they have just turned 5 or about to turn 5 (before 30 April). Schools are generally quite good and if you dont like the local state school then there is a very strong Catholic system alongside it - nearly 50% of parents choose private education here and there are a range of options. A local school is obliged to take kids in its catchment area so there is never a problem about whether a child will get a place or not. Personally I dont go much on the Tuggeranong schools (any of them although some are better than others) because they were all built in the era of open learning spaces and team teaching with the result that classrooms can be quite noisy with just the ambient noise of 4 classes with no walls between them and that doesnt suit some kids.

 

There are some suburbs to avoid - Charnwood, Richardson and parts of Narrabundah for starters although there are not so lovely bits in many suburbs. I dont think I personally would be heading for Banks or Conder either but it probably comes down to where you can find a house that you want to live in 24/7 that you can afford and beat off all the other renters. Best place to check is Real Estate & Homes for Sale, Rent and Share | allhomes because they pretty much all go on there these days. You'd probably also want to live reasonably close to where you have a job so get that first before you worry about all the other stuff. Although Canberra isnt much of a commute in the scheme of things you do not want to be living in Gungahlin and working in Tuggeranong, not unless you were a touch masochistic anyway. Canberrans tend to be Northsiders or Southsiders and never the twain shall meet:biglaugh: I'm a Northsider so would always recommend Inner North for ease of living but the houses probably wouldnt be what you would want to live in because they are older and not so flash.

 

IT jobs - no idea but the general consensus is that it isnt nearly as easy to walk into a job as it used to be and there are many more applicants for positions these days. The biggest employer is the government both federal and local but the downside of that is that you have to be an Aus citizen or eligible for citizenship to be employed by them so that takes a big chunk of opportunity out of the job market for non citizens.

 

Having kids here - it's OK. The maternal and child health service isnt nearly as good as it once was but you should get by. If you need to put a child into child care so you can go to work, that can be tricky as there are more working families than there are child care places so you need to put your name down as soon as you know you will want one.

 

If you need specifics about schools or suburbs I would be happy to pop in my 5c worth, just pm me.