wongstonn

I'd be grateful if anyone that knows of any links to resources about kids clubs/out-of-school club provision in the Melbourne region could share them with me.

Thanks

Sandra

Hi There I am not from Melbourne but Sydney, so I don't have specific details but thought I would let you know some of things I have done.

Try this link http://www.melbourneschild.com.au/me...ld/default.asp

There is a Sydney one also and an Adelaide and Brisbane no Perth as yet! You can access the other areas through this link. The site is getting more popular and no I am not connected to it. There is a good mag that comes out as well.

Also other things I do not know the age of your children and what sort of activities they are interested in but some of the schools in our area run after school clubs (try emailing the schools they might go to?) - and some have a few places before school. My daughter 10 is going to her school one and loves it, it then also has places for certain weeks of the school holidays. Although my son was cared for after school in England when we came here my husband did not work for five months then at the tender age of 12.5 he refused to allow us to find a child minder and was not permitted to go to the primary school after care club. We do not live far from school and he now comes home alone - only 1.5 hours till my husband gets in. I worried about it very much, mobile phone etc keeps us in contact and he is very grown up for his age - difficult without the network we were used to in the UK. But not all doom and gloom he takes the washing in and gets the baked spuds in early! School holidays we try and find activites days and the local council run quite a few of these, libraries and community centres have lots of details. Depending on the type of activity and who it is run by, I think you can claim back tax on some of the child care - need to follow up on this individually.

Good luck in your search - hope someone might have more specific details for you. Might be an idea to post rough ages of the kids and specifically where you might be in Melbourne.

Cheers

wongstonn

Thanks Sandra, especially for the completeness of your posting.

My daughter is very young - she's coming up to two years of age and is a currently in a nursery in glamorous Croydon. My wife and I have only really just begun considering how we are going to deal with schooling. We were thinking of living in the eastern side of Melbourne now that we have our visas in place.

Having invested so much emotional capital in obtaining the PR visa knowing full well that there is no local family support network for us Down Under (a point to which you alluded), it has become an utterly key issue to determine what to do about schooling our daughter. This is the stuff not of the 'grass-is-greener' view of a migrants dream but of the hard realities of what to do with a child when school's out and the mum and dad have to work, and how much money one needs to get 'outside school' provision. The matter is worrying me immensley. ON this bulletiv board others have put down the quality of Aussie schooling when compared to the UK norm, and on this matter I am uncertain as to how balanced the comments really are.

In the UK, getting nursery places etc.. can be a bit of a ratrace, is this typically so in Australia?

Yours

A very uncertain Wongstonn

Jolyn

Hi Wongstonn,

I'm Aussie, living in London with British husband, now about to move to Melbourne with our son.

The education in Oz is better than in Britain if you're not being too stuffy on the private school front. Ask a British teacher you really like what they think (but not one with the old 'we're the leaders of the Empire' mentality!). British schools love all the Aussie teachers on working holidays for their enthusiasm and lack of jobsworth attitude.

Examples: Class size in Melbourne is currently 22 for primary I think, the kids have playgrounds and grass to run around and let off steam at breaks and parental involvement is generally welcomed.

Australian high achievers - scientists and so on - are seen everywhere in the world and are known for their independent forward thinking so I think it's a bit of a cheek to criticise the education and ignore the results.

Like in the UK, there are good and bad schools with the tendency towards nicer schools in better suburbs so check them out before picking your suburb. Eastern suburbs is a good start though.

Not sure about after school provision. Probably in high demand like here and maybe a little less of it as cheaper cost of living means more parents at home.

A friend of mine from Melbourne says nursery/playgroup waiting lists are long like in London. She suggests contacting some ahead of time and putting your child's name down beforehand if you know where you'll be living. Else plan on one partner at home for a few months or hiring a nanny/au pair.

See you there,

Jolyn