GaryVFR8

Hi Kezzabird,
What part of Tassie you looking at moving to? Me and my lovely wifey are moving to Karoola near Launceston. We are due to arrive in Tassie on the 1st of December. Hope to meet up to lots of BE Tassies in mid December for a pre crimbo meet. Who's moving over with you?
Good luck,
Gary :bber: and Vikky

Teabag

Hey Kezza - how exciting!

My update: Okay I think I will invite you to read my livejournal, so if you PM me your email addy I can add you.

Things are going great, Kids have been here a week now and they are enjoying it.

carina

Hi Kezzabird

I have been watching your progress with interest, as we are hopefully heading to Tas. Things certainly seem to be moving fast for you, you have been very lucky to sell your house so quickly. We were a bit concerned about there not being much for older kids too, as our eldest son is 9, but like you say it may change soon. We haven't even had an acknowledgement yet, as we sent out application off at the end of March, its nail biting stuff !! more too come yet a fear ! but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end.

How did you find out that Tas has good schools ? we have heard conflicting opinions on this, and is something that concerns us, with having 3 kids.
Did you use an agent for your visa or did you DIY, we did'nt use an agent, so I'm just crossing my fingers that we did it all right

Best of luck with your plans, August is'nt far away - you must be very excited.

Carina

kezzabird

Hi Carina

I can't beleive this I just typed you up a really long message and my computer lost connection and lost the bloody thing!!!:curse:

Are you the one who's hubby is a diesel fitter? If so I can guide you through any thing if it comes back incomplete or not right. We had a solicitor in Hobart help us with ours he came recommended by the Tas state gov. But then I didn't find out about expats until after I handed in the application. I'm sure if I had found it I could have muddled my way through with the help of everyone on here. There is a wealth of info on here its amazing!

I know what you mean about the nail biting bit! Then after its acknowledged theres more nail biting! Then theres selling the house!! Then theres telling the family

I think I got the info about schools from the Tas stand at an Oz expo, they gave us a DVD about people who have made the move to Tas and about the infrastructure including education. And I'm sure it was mentioned on there about the high standards of education in Tas. And also I remember when we met our contact at state gov. she said that Tas had the best schools in Aus.

Have you introduced yourselves to Hiroko at the Tas stand? She is a lovely lady and has helped us so much. She has now put us intouch with a settling in officer. If you like I can PM you her email address, tell her that I put you intouch. If you email her your hubbys CV they can pass it onto relevent companies etc.

Good luck with the acknowledgement and imminent visa's! Please PM me with your progress.

Kerry

carina

Hi Kezzabird

Yes, my hubby is a Diesel fitter like yours ! We haven't been to an Expo as yet, but it would be great if you could pm me with the lady's email your were talking about. I would like to get in touch with her, and send Karls CV.

I'll let you know how we get on. Thanks for your offer of help, if we run into any problems. As you say this forum is brill, so much info on here, and such helpful people.

I cant wait to get on with it all, there is so much to sort out, I am not very patient. Its a waiting game is'nt it !!

Hope to hear from you again soon
Carina

ex Tassiemum

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids aged 11 and 13. Our children were in Year 5 and 7 when we moved from Hobart to Sydney last October. Our kids were behind their NSW peers when it came to school and the expectations for homework far exceeded anthing our kids had experienced in the public system in Tassie. This was a shock as we also thought Tas. had a pretty good school system. So our kids played catchup. 6 months after moving to Sydney we moved to the Gold Coast Queensland. That was only 3 weeks ago.

Once again our kids are playing catch up!! Our son is in the final year of Primary School ande we have decided to get a tutor for our son to bring him up to speed ready for entry into High School in 2008. In short, the Tasmanian education system has a lot to answer for as far as we are concerned and has let our children down. Both our children were good students who coped well with school in Tassie, but they have certainly struggled in both NSW and now QLD with school. To me this says a lot!! The Essential Learnings method of teaching in Tassie may be the reason for this, I dont know. So when I read that someone had told you Tas had the best system in Aust. then I felt the need to let you know this is certainly not the case from our experience.

We are so disappointed in the Tasmanian School System and how it has let our kids down when trying to settle in a new school in a new state. There is talk about a National Curriculum for our kids and I am one who feels that would the best thing that could happen, especially for Tassie kids it seems!

I dont want to put a dampener on your move but felt I should share what we have learned over the last 7 months. Its a very hard thing to watch your kids self esteem suffer because they are having difficulties at school. We never ever thought we would have this problem, but we have, and it has been a big eye opener for us.

If you plan to move to Tassie and stay there then you would never have the need to worry whether your child is up to speed with other states or not.

Fingers crossed your move goes well, Tassie is indeed a beautiful place they just need to revisit their curriculum it seems.

kezzabird

Wow thanks for that, what a shocker! I am very surprised that they don't have a national curriculam in Aus. I will try and get hold of the national curriculam in the UK and keep an eye on this. I have to say I am very disapointed, as I was led to believe that they were excellent.

Maybe it would be in our best interests to work closely with the school and raise our concerns, maybe things can change for the better. I am glad you have told us this Tassie mum, now we can go armed and prepared. It hasn't put me off going to Tas though cos the main reason we want to go is that it is so quiet and low crime etc. We feel that it is far safer to bring up our child there. The fact that it is a beautiful place is a bonus.

Kerry

carina

I did have my suspicions about this, some people who came back to UK from Tas had told my brother in law that their children were very behind at school. We know some people in Devonport who's children go to a private catholic school, and it doesn't cost too much compared to private schools in the UK, so that may be the answer. At least we know what to expect. I suppose you cant have it all ways. Thanks for letting us know

Carina

OzzieNurse

Hi we are moving to Tas hopfully as soon as we can. We are looking at Lonny and Hobart but depends on jobs I guess in the end.
We are Rach 30, I am a nurse, Gaz 32 an engineer, and Rhys 3 and a smidge, a terrror. WE are probably going to be moving to Tassie after spending some time with our relatives in Perth, Queensland and Melbourne. Obviously the last visit will be Melbourne!
Aiming to go for a look and see first as we have never been, but from what we have heard and seen already Tasmania sounds more for us than the mainland. WE both hate excessive heat and we are not sun worshippers so the four seasons appeal, and as for it being cold I would rather be cold than too hot. The clean fresh air is what I am looking forward to most and the beautiful scenery.
I can't wait to get there to be honest if I could go straight there I would, but I think we may need some support in the early days of emigrating and moving to somewhere with family makes sense intitially.
Look forward to seeing some of you on the other side soon...
I cant wait to have our fisrt christmas in another country!
Cheers

kezzabird

Hi Rach

I've seen your posts on here before, didn't realise you were looking at tas too.
We will all have to stay in touch and share experiences. You will not be disapointed by the scenery or the fresh air it really is lovely. I too cannot stand the heat of the mainland another one of our reasons for choosing Tas, and they are not suffering with drought half as much as the mainland.

Please PM me when you know you are going maybe we could all meet up over there. I am just waiting for our house sale to go through then off to the inlaws up in Yorkshire to say our goodbyes then off to Tas. My god its scary aint it!!!!

Kerry

kezzabird

Hi Gary

Well we think around Hobart but at this stage unsure. As it all depends on job offers etc. I have been given an email address of a guy who works for an employment agency in Hobart, he is also an expat. Will be emailing him OH CV and see if he can come up with anything. Then we may have more of an idea where we will end up. A meet in December sounds great, we will def be out there by then. Our house is sold subject to contract and they are first time buyers so with no upper or lower chain I think it will be fairly quick.

Keep in touch and let us know of any news at your end.

Kerry

ex Tassiemum

There is talk of introducing a National Curriculum throughout Australia to avoid the kind of upset our kids have had to endure due to different states teaching different things and teaching these things at different year levels. But it is just talk at the moment and there are some states who are against such a move so it may be some time before we see this implemented, if it ever is!!! A real pity as plenty of families relocate within Aust. and a national curriculum would be such a bonus for these families.

I know of the private Catholic College in Devonport as my 3rd eldest daughter attended this school. (I have 3 adult daughters plus our 11 and 13 year olds, just so no one is confused!!! lol). Our 2 eldest attended a local public high school. We were far more impressed with the Catholic College. The level of teaching was higher, the discipline much better and they also prepared your child for University far far more than the College that taught year 11 and 12. And you are correct when stating the cost is pretty low for private Catholic education. And you dont have to be Catholic to send your child there either.

I am glad you are not turned off moving to Tassie as I would have felt terrible if you had just on my post regarding the schooling system. If you never move states then you need never worry about the level your kids are taught at. There are kids that finish year 12 and enter mainland universities so maybe Tassie schools teach more in Year 11 and 12 than they do in NSW and QLD. Most Aust. states have high schools which run through to year 12. That is not the case in Tas. unless your kids attend a private school. In Tas. kids finish high school in year 10 and then attend a college where they complete years 11 and 12.

OzzieNurse

Yes very scary but equally exciting! Yes would be nice to stay in touch on the other side...haven't decided where we are heading as yet but Tassie is top of our lists at the moment....

daisylilymum

Are you not going alone anymore?? Can't keep up

OzzieNurse

LOL neither can I to be honest! My life is complicated at the best of times! Yes I am going with my hubby and son! He changed his mind...just had some wobbles!