vigiequeen

No I am not a Jamaican but surely that is my point - I am giving an honest, expat view. And yes I did live in Kingston, for three years and my husband lived there for more than 5 years. We both worked closely with the police force - him in particular - so whether you will ever hear of them or not, I can confirm that there certainly were kidnaps in Kingston. I also worked with schools and was often horrified by the level of English/grammar of the teachers - you are right, however: if what you want is an old-fashioned, learning by rote style of education, which can produce good results, then the schools are probably better than the uk. And the discipline is probably better because they still use corporal punishment. However, the schools ARE very different in the Caribbean to the UK and people need to be aware of this.

As for places to go with children - Port Royal, Hope Gardens and those beaches that are close to Kingston wouldn't keep my children amused for more than half a day. I'm sorry but all I am doing is painting a picture of Kingston through expat eyes - it is very different if your children are born and brought up there, they wouldn't know any different. But if they are used to the endless amusements of the UK - playparks, farmparks, museums, soft play, libraries, theme parks etc - then you will find it difficult to find ways to amuse them. I'm not saying it's "worse", I'm just saying it's different and it's very hard when you first arrive.

All I am doing is trying to give people an informed choice.

sugababe

Calm down ladies, no need to get heated!!

Anyway as I said before the educational system here in Jamaica is higher than the uk and usa. As someone who recruits Jamaican teachers to work in these countries i know. A director from one of the most popular education recruiting agency said that the worse teacher in Jamaica is comparable to the average teacher in these countries.

We do have kidnaps here. Up to recently, there were 2 business men who were kidnapped.

It's true, there isn't much places to take your children for amusement. most families set up their home so that its a natural entertainment place for their children, extended family children and friends.

btw vigiequeen, were your husband one of the 2 police consultants sent from the UK?

MrsX

All very interesting.
Anyway, we'll be there in a few months to start work and will comment then on how things are to live there as an ex pat family who really don't expect the new country to be 'just like home'.
My kids will be occupied 24/7 with lizard catching, is the plan. Hope gardens looks awesome and we plan to take the kayaks out as soon as we can get a car. Mountain biking through the blue mountains and kite-boarding at yallas... May even try some new things. It all sounds pretty cool to me.

sugababe

lizard catching? oh my...There are a lot to do here if you are adventurous, you will like it. There are a lot of expats here who will never return to the UK because they love it here.