Andrews2oz

G'day to you all,
Well as del boy would have said "i've only gone and bloody done it" .......i have booked our 1 way flights out of the uk.
Me and the rest of the family (assuming that i can prise the wife's fingers off the plane doorframe) leave London Heathrow - Perth bound - on January 10th.

Now its time to panic....arghhhhh. doesn't seem to be enough time left to get everything done.

Advice time now please:
Schools: We are arriving on a skilled sub class 175 visa; do we have to pay for our daughters schooling? they're aged 14 (15 at the end of January) and 11 (12 in July).
We are looking to stay with friends in Secret Harbour; what are the options for schools? Is there any we need to steer clear of?
Do we need to apply for schools before we arrive or will we have time to look round and apply before they return to school in February

Any help for making it easier for our eldest daughter: she has been with us to Perth twice before and loved it; but unfortunately she now looks at life with blinkers on and does not want to go... she's "going back home when she's 16" which is why we are going to Oz before she's 15; so that we'll have a year to see if she grows to like it.

Be great to hear from similar age girls that are enjoying life in Perth (Even better if they are enjoying it in Secret Harbour)

Any other advice would really be appreciated. Be great to hear some reassurances that we've done the right thing as well.

Many Thanks

Mark, Tracey, a reluctant Katie and an eager Rebecca

Kingseat

Hi

Just wanted to say good luck with the move. My son isn't at school age so I am not sure about schooling...it does seem like a minefield, especially if you have to pay!

Secret Harbour does seem popular with some but others say a bit remote and souless. All you can do is wait until you are here and get a feel for the place and check out some other suburbs too. Obviously, where you live will depend on work too.

All the best.

Dorothy

If you are here on PR visas then no, you don't pay for state schooling. Well, that's not entirely true; you pay small fees, but nothing compared to what you would pay for private or if you were on some temp visas. You do not need to apply for a school before you arrive. Many schools require proof of residential address in the form of a lease before they will enrol your children, so you may have to wait until you get a rental before you can get them into school anyway.

As for making it easier for your daughter, only time will help with that. Or not. Some kids settle right away and others are miserable from the day they get off the plane. All you can do is support her. Remember what it was like when you were 14, nearly 15. The thought of leaving her friends and family behind is probably pretty hard for her.

We have a 15 year old daughter who's happier than a pig in poo here, but we're way up in Butler, so a little far to travel. There may be a meet up in King's Park in January, so that might be a good time for you all to come meet some other expats. If and when I get around to organising it I'll post it here and in the meet up section.

Andrews2oz

Thanks for your reply,
Any ideas when the meet up is in January? We arrive on the 12th and could do with meeting up with some new friends.

On the subject of areas:
We loved Butler when we visited the show homes back in Feb 2006 and have suggested it to our friends; unfortunately it's a case of they went where they knew and where they knew others and we're following suit
We stayed in Padbury which we liked; loved Hillary's... who wouldn't.

I've tried asking around as to "where's better Secret Harbour or North Perth" but didn't get much response. Our friends have hinted that they may look into north Perth in the future but that might be to late... once the girls are settled in schools i don't really want to drag them out of one school and into another.

Hope to see you in Kings Park,
Mark

quoll

LOL well your daughter wont be going home at 16, will she, because she will have screwed up any chances of doing GCSEs and probably A levels by then so guess she had better like it! The "fees" you pay will be "voluntary" contributions which tend to be becoming more compulsory as time goes on. Add to that paying out for uniforms, books, stationery, some specific courses (with consumables), excursions, visiting performances, etc etc Some parents say that they have to put their hand in their pocket for something for school pretty much every week.

If you are aiming for a government school, then getting a permanent address will be your priority because schools often dont like to enrol children who do not live in their catchment area. You may be able to enrol in a private school ahead of time but probably not government.

Dorothy

If it were me, and it's not, I would look to settle where I liked not where my friends settled. It's not that far to drive from the north to visit. Beware in Butler area, though that your choice of schools is limited at the moment. There is a new state high school set to open in Butler in 2011 or 2012 but in the meantime your choice of state school is limited to Clarkson (which seems to get a very bad rap on here by people whose children don't attend). My kids go there and are fine. Well, my son is going to be partly home schooled starting next year for reasons that have nothing to do with Clarkson.

The meetup will probably be in late January - maybe Australia Day weekend. I'll post something a little closer to the date.

JenniGee

Try not to worry too much about school fees...on a 175 visa state schools will be free & the charges for "extras" such as uniforms, trips & so forth, will be no worse than what you are currently paying for our "free" education here in the UK

We will be taking our 15 year old too...unfortunately for us it's the least worst option. But what we have said to her is that she continues her education after 17 & do the International Baccalaureate rather than the "Ozzie A Levels". This means that if she chooses to come back to the UK when she is old enough, then she will have a qualification that's recognised by English Universities. The IB is increasingly being offered in the Oz state system, so have a look on the IB website for the latest schools in your area.

Unfortunately I can't advise you about Perth schools as we're heading for Melbourne, but wish you all the very best & if you think I can point you in the right direction with anything, please ask

Fly Away

I agree with Jen, the IB is the way to go. We have our daughter on the IB program in junior school so that she can make the transition to IB in secondary school smoothly. Many schools in the UK are now offering the IB so if the worst came to the worst, your daughter would not be going back with unrecognised qualifications. However she would have to stick it out until she was 18.... Also bear in mind that once you have lived out of the UK for more than 3 years you have to pay international fees at UK unis! Totally unfair but that's the system!

Andrews2oz

Any ideas whether we'll be able to look round the schools before they go back in February?

Also where's the best place to look for school league tables etc.

We looked at one school web site but was advised that it didn't have a very good reputation?

Hard this emigrating business init? bad enough that we have to find somewhere to live, find a job, make new friends etc we've also got to get our girls into good schools... hope this is all going to be worth it.... the wife having kittens already