Maisiemoo Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I am looking for some advice..... We are looking into the possible move to Oz (dependant on my Oh job) and I have a few niggles... Firstly we will be looking at Perth (anywhere that is best for the kids!) We have 2 girls whose birthdays are 27/02/04 and 09/09/05 our oldest at present is finishing off Year 1 primary and our youngest just missed school by 9 days and therefore starts this September. We are very lucky that although the area we live in is HORRID and the 25th most deproved borough out of 354!! the school is outstanding which is why we tolerated moving back here. (Honest just check out Heywood on Google earth and you'll see how bad!) Anyway I am going off on one! :chatterbox: I read some threads on Brits moving back and it now has put lots of uncetainty in my mind about the whole thing. The bad comments tend to always outway the good! Firstly can someone give me first hand opinions of the schools circriculum, would my oldest have to drop back a year (she is extremely bright - not sure where she gets it from! :huh:) Also I have heard that Bullying is quite bad, but is it any worse than in this country are there are statitics that I can weight up. We are quite prepared to rent and pay more to be in a better area but I would really appreciate anyones constructive opinions. I know there are a few people who have a massive downer on being in Oz but I just want to take on board peoples general opinions and fact and go from there to make my own decision. xxxxxx Erika (39) The bald one (36), Elisha Pie (6) and the Maisiemoo (4) xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest37336 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hi Erika. Whilst I cannot answer ALL your questions I will say this. I have travelled around the majority of Australia, with the exception of Tasmania. I have backpacked by myself for several years, with very little, if any money. I have been to Australia with my young family as an immigrant twice, with substantial amounts of money, and with not a bean in my pocket. Each and every time I/we managed to muddle through. If I had listened to some I would have never made the move to Australia. I was told over and over agin that I would never find work/accommodation in Broome/Darwin/Cairns/Perth/Sydney/etc, etc, etc. I was told that I/we would find it easy to find work/accommodation in Broome/Darwin/Cairns/Perth/Sydney/etc, etc, etc. I was told that the area I was about to go to was a nightmare. I was told that the area was a joy to live in. I was told that I was a fool to even contemplate to go to Australia. I was told that to go to Australia was the best thing I could ever do. I was told that the Aussies hated us Brits. I was told that the Aussies loved all of us. I was filled with dread each time I got of the airplane. I was filled with excitement each time I got of the airplane. The list is truly endless. Suffice to say that the truth normally lies somewhere between the two very opposite opinions. At the end of the day it is ONLY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY that make the decisions that will lets face it, will affect the rest of your lives. You may arrive in Australia and find it a living nightmare. You may arrive in Australia and find it your heaven. The truth is the vast majority of people find a happy medium and go from there. It is very, very, easy to be swayed by opinion, both good, bad, and indifferent. The VAST majority of opinions given on PIO are offered in good faith and the sincere wish to help. Some are extreme, fair play. But if commonsense prevails you can normally pick the bones out of all the opinions and come to an educated and informed decision about your future. You are doing the right thing simply by asking for help and advice, good for you. But at the end of the day only you and your family can come to a decision. The truth is out there, just take a deep breath, look at every piece of advice and take the time to assimilate the information in a logical and thorough manner. Remember that very few people are afforded the opportunity to emigrate, so take the bull by the horns and go for it. It could be the best thing you have ever done, it could be the worse, but as I have said, normally some middle ground is where the vast majority find ourselves. Good luck. Onward and upward. Hope this helps in some small way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suters Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hi we have freinds in Mandurah who also have a very bright girl she did go back a year but helped with the setling in process she is doing fantastic the school is North Mandurah if this is any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mrs Nix Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Interesting, I thought the UK was ahead because our children start school so young. What age do they start in Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Your chosen school may want to assess the children first before deciding. I also get the impression from my SILs (NSW not WA though) that often parents seem to decide which year the kids are in (but this may just be the area they live in). So you can end up with a year that has a range from 6 year olds to 8 year olds. My understanding is that kindy (in Aus) is the equivalent of year 1 (in Scotland) - hopefully someone with recent WA experience can let you know (or find a school website). Bullying - happens in most schools/classes anywhere. Part of being a kid, as hard as it is for the child and their parents. You can ask what the schools anti-bullying policy is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maisiemoo Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hi Erika. Whilst I cannot answer ALL your questions I will say this. I have travelled around the majority of Australia, with the exception of Tasmania. I have backpacked by myself for several years, with very little, if any money. I have been to Australia with my young family as an immigrant twice, with substantial amounts of money, and with not a bean in my pocket. Each and every time I/we managed to muddle through. If I had listened to some I would have never made the move to Australia. I was told over and over agin that I would never find work/accommodation in Broome/Darwin/Cairns/Perth/Sydney/etc, etc, etc. I was told that I/we would find it easy to find work/accommodation in Broome/Darwin/Cairns/Perth/Sydney/etc, etc, etc. I was told that the area I was about to go to was a nightmare. I was told that the area was a joy to live in. I was told that I was a fool to even contemplate to go to Australia. I was told that to go to Australia was the best thing I could ever do. I was told that the Aussies hated us Brits. I was told that the Aussies loved all of us. I was filled with dread each time I got of the airplane. I was filled with excitement each time I got of the airplane. The list is truly endless. Suffice to say that the truth normally lies somewhere between the two very opposite opinions. At the end of the day it is ONLY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY that make the decisions that will lets face it, will affect the rest of your lives. You may arrive in Australia and find it a living nightmare. You may arrive in Australia and find it your heaven. The truth is the vast majority of people find a happy medium and go from there. It is very, very, easy to be swayed by opinion, both good, bad, and indifferent. The VAST majority of opinions given on PIO are offered in good faith and the sincere wish to help. Some are extreme, fair play. But if commonsense prevails you can normally pick the bones out of all the opinions and come to an educated and informed decision about your future. You are doing the right thing simply by asking for help and advice, good for you. But at the end of the day only you and your family can come to a decision. The truth is out there, just take a deep breath, look at every piece of advice and take the time to assimilate the information in a logical and thorough manner. Remember that very few people are afforded the opportunity to emigrate, so take the bull by the horns and go for it. It could be the best thing you have ever done, it could be the worse, but as I have said, normally some middle ground is where the vast majority find ourselves. Good luck. Onward and upward. Hope this helps in some small way. Thank you so very much for this. I honestly can say that you have said the most sense from family, friends or anyone and you are right!. Again thanks for this it has got me back on even thinking ground :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maisiemoo Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Thanks for all the replies, it gives me some good knowledge and food for thought. I will definately ask more questions. We have looked at Mandurah. Bullying is scary full stop where ever. I was bullied so I worry porbably more that others. But touch wood! Exciting and scary times! Thanks again more advice is welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jooby Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 As for places to live, I have done NSW, Perth and Qld. For children, particularly as they get older and looking at Uni etc. I decided to move back to NSW as choice of tertiary education (and to some extent job opportunitites) in WA are very limited (although good Unis) and QLD just wasn't for me (personal preference). On bullying - as a generalisation only (and only in our experience) we came from a nice middle class UK village with nice middle class children lol - I found bullying was much more of an issue there than here. Australian children seem to be less racist, more tolerant of cultural differences, and just generally more accepting. Again I stress this has been my familys experience, and I did make the effort to research where we lived/what school they went to etc. Kids here seem to be just less "angry" and certainly don't appear as deprived and depressed as the big gangs of youths I saw hanging around town centres on my last visit to UK (although we live in a big country town, it would be similar if you go to certain inner city areas here). There are rough areas in any city/state but as you wouldn't want to go/live in rough areas in UK you just do the same here and avoid them. Certainly these "bad" areas seem much more localised and you don't have to rich to be able to afford to rent/buy in a decent area in Aus. Just something that I have found funny here, in the UK rich people live in the country areas (except london of course) and poor people live in the inner city. On the whole it seems to be the opposite here - the city is seen as the place to be (with a holiday beach house lol) and people who live in rural areas are seen as poor and backwards - which is weird! In regards to school/education - most schools seem to be flexible with which year children go into, both of mine got "put up" as they were bright (one by a year, one by two years) - they were 7 and 10 when we emigrated. You can have them assessed and discuss with the individual school the best fit for them with which year would be best both educationally and socially. Like the other OP said - it's YOUR family and your life - we still do the same work/school/shopping/holidays thing here as back in the Uk. The big difference for me is that I see my sisters' kids (similar age and educational level) spend all their time in their bedrooms or watching the telly as 1. it's too cold to go out, 2. it's too expensive to take them to sport/hobbies, 3. they can't get a part time job as there aren't any, 4. they can't go out on their own at night cos likely to get mugged/attacked by idiots 5. everyone just seems so bloody miserable. ps. they are in the UK if you hadn't already guessed lol As the other OP said, take the bull by the horns, do as much research as you can before you make a decision. If you come and don't want to stay, at least you and your children will have had the adventure of a lifetime. And they tend to be very adaptable. If you're coming from Heywood, even the dodgiest suburb in Perth will seem welcoming Hope it all works out for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julzcary Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 If its any help, my 2 kids have just started at school in queensland. I have a daughter who's 7, who was technically in year 3 in the UK, but has done 2 years a year above her age as she's pretty bright. They've put her in year 3 as they said that was her correct school year. My son is 12 and started his first year at high school in the UK in september, and has gone into year 8 here, which again, is the first year of high school. So both of mine, have gone into the same school year that they left in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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