Hi,

In our experiance there are no really good schools in Nowra. There are also no good private schools in the area. The best of the bunch would be the private schools in Sydney, but the price of these are circa $35,000 per annum. They are a two hour drive and your children will have to board. For all you military people - you have to pay your own fees ...

The Shoalhaven is a beutiful place to live, so long as you like the quiet life with little, or no sophistication. The cafes close at 8.00pm - I can't get myself to call them restaurants!

On a more serious note after the UK you will be blown away by the natural beauty of the place, but I can guarantee that after a year you will be bored senseless and will be longing to watch some decent TV, not the rubbish served up here.

The above sounds like we are just knocking Australia, we are not, we love the place and cannot imagine living anywhere else. However, the above has a huge impact on your family life and I believe in telling it as it is.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I disagree.

Yep - floats my boat!

Been here 15 months now (having holidayed here for more than eight years) ... and ermm ... your guarantee is sounding a bit hollow. Couldn't give a monkeys about the TV - but whatever makes you happy...

Which bit? The schools, the unsophisticated environs, the early-closing cafes or the TV?

there may not be an academically elite school in nowra but there are schools which strive to help their students to acheive high standards, and do well in HSC etc. moving to nowra whether via the military route or by choice is no different to being posted to a garrison town in the UK. you accept what the local ed system can offer or buy into private schooling elsewhere. choice always has a price. nowra schools seem acceptable to professional people in the area who value the stability of family life and sense of communitty .there are "better" private day and boarding schools within an hour of here and some families choose this over nowra ones but they have generally lived here many years and have a more stable social network.there is not much point in moving to a new country / place and then sending your kids away to school.we came from a beautiful country and moved to another beautiful place- just much bigger! we've eaten in some lovely cafe /restuarants out of town and have had to adjust to the earlier closing hours and to getting up earlier in the morning to avoid the heat. there are adjustments to be made in moving to new countries --go with the flow -you might start enjoyng life more.

QUOTE=Magicknob;5343496]Hi,

In our experiance there are no really good schools in Nowra. There are also no good private schools in the area. The best of the bunch would be the private schools in Sydney, but the price of these are circa $35,000 per annum. They are a two hour drive and your children will have to board. For all you military people - you have to pay your own fees ...

The Shoalhaven is a beutiful place to live, so long as you like the quiet life with little, or no sophistication. The cafes close at 8.00pm - I can't get myself to call them restaurants!

On a more serious note after the UK you will be blown away by the natural beauty of the place, but I can guarantee that after a year you will be bored senseless and will be longing to watch some decent TV, not the rubbish served up here.

The above sounds like we are just knocking Australia, we are not, we love the place and cannot imagine living anywhere else. However, the above has a huge impact on your family life and I believe in telling it as it is.[/QUOTE]

Everyone has their own opinion, so let’s base this on fact. Have you examined the HSC results for the Nowra area over the past few years?

These clearly indicate that there are no good schools in the area.

Further the Shoalhaven currently has the highest rate of unemployment in Australia, currently standing at 11.4%, with the national average being 4.5%. If the schools were producing first rate results, then surely more companies would move to Nowra to take advantage of the excellent pool of labour?

in many respects this area is similar to the sw of UK, the infrastructure is geared to tourism, retirement and agriculture.it has never been seen as a hub of industry and is unlikely to be as globalisation of markets pushes beyond national boundaries. it is hard to change the institutionally unemployed in any society.nowra unfortunately has a greater % than other areas but that doesn't mean that the whole community should be written off.

No one is writing the area off. But Nowra is not a bed of roses and nor should it be “Sold” as one.

You are right; you could probably compare Nowra to Minehead in the SW of the UK, that is, two hours away from any culture.
In short, a very nice area to visit, but only for a week or two …

You are also correct about the agriculture, there are plenty of “Cabbages” down here!

Forgot to mention, at least Minehead has Butlins!!

Nope, I didn't think that sort of information was widely available - do you have a link - I'd love to read it.

So ... a school is only any 'good' if it's at the top of some league table? I can tell you're British ...

You're quite right - it also has staggeringly high youth unemployment levels, running up into the 40% area - but what the hell has that got to do with the schools? You seem to be labouring under the delusion that the Shoalhaven is some massive engine of industry, a business mecca, not a collection of sleepy seaside towns populated by sea-changers and the retired.

Totally agree, missus. And I think your example of comparing it to SW UK is spot on - exactly the same issues - highly seasonal employment, huge reliance on tourism and tourist related industries.

Right ..... <strokes beard Jimmy Hill style>

Who sold it as a bed of roses?

Where did you think you were going to be living? Rome?

Only the imported kind though ...

The press publishes league tables comparing schools. The ranking for last year are available from both the Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Your point about youth unemployment running at 40% is good and people should be made aware of it before arriving in Nowra to live with their families. Because if their children want to progress with a career, then their children will have to leave town (Or more likely country)

I love your reference to Rome and I can see the similarities of around 300 BC; People walking around in bare feet and or Toga looking garments.

As you are obviously not aware, no food stuffs can be imported into Australia, so no imported cabbages here. But I can see they made an exception with a certain animal – the ASS

you sound disappointed in the life changes you've made which brought you to this area. didn't you do any research before coming here? we lived in an area of the UK which our children would have had to leave to pursue further ed and careers. it will be the same for them here but hopefully they will look forward to coming home to friends theyve made and to taking time out from the demands of city life if thats where they end up.

As mentioned earlier, I love life down here and would not consider going back to the UK. But the fact remains that there are no good schools down here. And that is what this thread is about..

Hence the reason you were banging on about the lack of culture, early closing of cafes and the fact that all the locals are 'cabbages'...

We too struggled to find a decent restaurant, but I highly recommend the Seagrass Brasserie in Huskisson. Excellent!