need2chew Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We are looking to move to ACT, we have secured State Sponsorship and now looking at Employer Sponsor. Can anyone advise of best places to settle, we have a 3 yr old son so would be interested in views on childcare and schools. Should the Employer Sponsor work out we'd need to be close to Griffith to avoid commute. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Hi Welcome to PIO, there is a great lady on here who may be able to advise, her user name is Quoll. Good luck with everything. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Welcome to another ACTer! Griffith is in the inner south - as a suburb it is pretty good but there are some areas to avoid (check out the neighbours). There is also the Caley Cres end of Narrabundah (probably avoid the rest of Narrabundah if you can). Griffith doesnt have a school any more and the younger kids go to the early childhood centre at Narrabundah (personally I wouldnt) and then on to Red Hill for yrs 3 - 6. Bits of Red Hill are nice (check the neighbours) and the school is OK and Forrest is lovely but $$$ and the school is good. Personally I love Yarralumla and the school isnt bad either but $$. There are Catholic and other private schools in the area (can you afford Canberra Boys Grammar at about $10kpa? They have an early childhood program) Child care - sorry out of touch with that one these days but if he turns 4 before 30 April next year he would be able to get 15 hours of preschool per week. Child care is generally considered to be tough to get and you need to get your name down pretty quick when you arrive. All depending on your visa conditions you may get some rebate for child care but it is around the $65 per day mark if you pay in full when I last checked. (Cheaper to send him to Grammar LOL) The inner suburbs are the older suburbs so, read older houses which may not be the kind of house you want to live in. The big mcmansions on small blocks are out in Gungahlin and the newer suburbs. Inner suburbs are also more expensive but if you dont have to then spend on 2 cars you could be saving quite a bit. If you head to the outer suburbs you will need 2 cars. I could go on (and I do, quite often!). Have a look at the Inner South vacancies on QLD real estate properties & homes for sale, rent and share | allhomes for starters and try not to arrive between end October and end February because the rental market is a nightmare at that time. Dont go to Jerrabomberra unless you want to be treated as a NSW resident btw, it has all sorts of service implications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Thanks Quoll, I hoped you would come to the rescue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Family Anderson Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 We too are moving to Canberra (hopefully by end of August), but are looking to rent in the Gunghalin area as Mrs Wife (whose company is tranferring her) will be based in Turner and it looks like a fairly simple commute, however reality may change all that when we arrive!! However the company is kindly putting us up in an apartment in Kingston for a month or so , which is right next door to Griffin, so i would be interested to know about the childcare as we have an 18 month old baby girl who will probably get fed up and bored with a stay at home dad and she will need to socialise too! From what i have googled the childcare prices are similiar to that in the UK, but as we are going on a 457 we will not get any of the tax breaks etc that resident would You may want to take a look at this link which may guide you! Child Care & Day Care in ACT AUSTRALIA. Listings from TrueLocal ABC Learning Centres (ABC Learning Centres - Home) seem to be a chain of childcare in Canberra and the rest of Australia, and looks similar to the Busy Bees that we use here in Swindon. Thier website has good pictures of all their site and seems to have alot of information. Hope that helps! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restfamily Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 I used Busy Bees in the UK and was very happy with them, but lets just say I dont send my child to their centres here. I use Stepping Stones in Symonston, as I live in Kingston and am very happy with it. Just bear in mind childcare in Australia is cheaper for a reason, there are significantly more children to adults. In the UK for your child's age there are 3:1 here in the ACT its 5:1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Family Anderson Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Wow 5 to 1 thats alot for the little ones! Thats somthing to bear in mind when we get there. How long did you have to wait to get a full time place as i see that there is a waiting list for a full time place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need2chew Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 Welcome to another ACTer! Griffith is in the inner south - as a suburb it is pretty good but there are some areas to avoid (check out the neighbours). There is also the Caley Cres end of Narrabundah (probably avoid the rest of Narrabundah if you can). Griffith doesnt have a school any more and the younger kids go to the early childhood centre at Narrabundah (personally I wouldnt) and then on to Red Hill for yrs 3 - 6. Bits of Red Hill are nice (check the neighbours) and the school is OK and Forrest is lovely but $$$ and the school is good. Personally I love Yarralumla and the school isnt bad either but $$. There are Catholic and other private schools in the area (can you afford Canberra Boys Grammar at about $10kpa? They have an early childhood program) Child care - sorry out of touch with that one these days but if he turns 4 before 30 April next year he would be able to get 15 hours of preschool per week. Child care is generally considered to be tough to get and you need to get your name down pretty quick when you arrive. All depending on your visa conditions you may get some rebate for child care but it is around the $65 per day mark if you pay in full when I last checked. (Cheaper to send him to Grammar LOL) The inner suburbs are the older suburbs so, read older houses which may not be the kind of house you want to live in. The big mcmansions on small blocks are out in Gungahlin and the newer suburbs. Inner suburbs are also more expensive but if you dont have to then spend on 2 cars you could be saving quite a bit. If you head to the outer suburbs you will need 2 cars. I could go on (and I do, quite often!). Have a look at the Inner South vacancies on QLD real estate properties & homes for sale, rent and share | allhomes for starters and try not to arrive between end October and end February because the rental market is a nightmare at that time. Dont go to Jerrabomberra unless you want to be treated as a NSW resident btw, it has all sorts of service implications. Thanks Quoll, very useful, not sure what month we'd arrive, would all depend on the outcome of the employer sponsorship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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