sky

Your little girl can start kindy morning sessions and your 6yr old will be able to go to school straight away.
I wish I'd gone to school over here, my kids can't wait to get there and have fun!

Sly

If you went to school here you probably wouldnt have your famous sledgehammer wit,
have some karma

Andrew Cross

My kids love school here, its so much more varied than in the Uk...I think they try to develope the person as a whole and not just academically, sport plays a big part in school life. What kids doesn't like running around in the sun with their friends??? A couple more photos for you...

Genesis

Been here 18 months now. 2 X 3 yr old girls and one X 5 boy. There is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for kids to do here!! As for education..everyone I meet..and most of them are Kiwis appear to have PHD's and the like...the one thing I would not worry about is education!!!! There is NOT ONE THING that I can think that the kids are missing out on by being here..apart from the odd visit by rellies..not a reason to stay in the UK UNLESS you are from an outrageously close family. It took me 5 years to nag Kate into coming here. She always cited the family thing as a reason for not going...but three kids later we saw the various writings on the wall (literally sometimes!!) and decided to jump ship. Never one regret..best thing we ever did..sure I miss stuff and folk but I look at our lives here and what we had in Northampton and the 2 lives are so incredibly different..we have so much here that we never could have ever had in the Uk. It has not been easy but all worth the while, our kids have fitted in no worries, NZ appears to be full of very lovely people. The place is not without its issues but they never appear to impact upon us directly where we live but in the UK the issues were with us EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on over..the country's AWESOME!!!! PM me if you like..you could ring me for a chat if you want. NZ is so inredibly child orientated..you will love it I am sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kind regards, Dom.

mumomonty

Have you thought about a secondary income from NZ Immigration ? in Marketing NZ? You're a total success.

Jack The Lad

Im defo gone a get her to read this

Im booking the tickets now

Genesis

Thank you for your kind words. I would love to have a job promoting NZ or my region ( I have extensive PR and marketing skills..no cerstificates..just great belief im my chosen product or area!!!). Or perchance mentoring new folk to the locale. I say the latter as Kate and I knew no one upon arrival and what I would have done for a knowledgable ear to bend to ease us into our new lives..was not to be, in some ways I guess it made us learn more, quicker.

Life in NZ is not without issues, life in NZ is not for everyone, life in NZ is not eutopia..but for some it gets close. I truly believe..warts and all that NZ has got to be one of the best places on earth to bring up a young family. Said it before, I'll say it agin, NZ truly rocks. Come on over.

SarahB

Some pics for you of our local beaches.

pixi-dust

mumomonty, we live just outside an almost totally maori village I reckon it would be around 80% probably ( Im certainly the only very white ( till summer when I get a tan) blonde bint wondering about!) - we have been accepted like you wouldnt believe - people popped in to welcome us to the neighbourhood, bringing fruit and veg and eggs. The local pub has wednesday night evenings where all the locals bring a plate and tuck in - it is the most welcoming place ever.
Yes, there are a lot of villages up here where the population would be more maori or pacific island - but personally i have never felt anything but welcome. It may be naive but I just think that if you are nice to people and treat everyone like you would like to be treated then you can't go far wrong really.

What is also very lovely is how clean and well kept the villages are - even if they are tiny and not particularly well off - there is a pride about the place, we have some spectacular beaches here and they are immaculate all year ( expept for holidays when people visit and some of them just leave their rubbish )

Pompey_Paul

Its not the UK.......

There arent too many Spiders

mumomonty

Thanks Pixi dust. I guess i've lost my way a bit lately. Usually take anyone as I find them. didn't mean to sound so racist but in thepress etc. ... i guess i got sucked in. Thanks again. Mumo. Karma to you.

pixi-dust

You didnt - honest - I thought it was just a normal question - one of my friends is Kiwi as is her uncle - when we told him we were moving to northland he was horror struck!! Told us all sorts!!! But it turns out he hasnt actually ever been this far north!!! haha! I'm not saying that financially people are well off - a lot arent - but folk seem happy regardless. We havent seen or been victim to any crime or anything bad at all. Touch wood! The biggest problem I had was being understood - my scottish accent is obviously a lot stronger than I thought!
So I definitely wansn't offended by your question at all!
Karma to you too for asking!

mazi

Did you see my comments on the neg thread about the racism - good point about the press in NZ, it could make racists out of the best people (not suggesting you are in any way racist though, you are my new best friend after all). Mind you, the British press can do a good job of that too.

thebears

Jack we have one 3 (barbie/Cindarella/Princess girl) and brought her back downunder specifically for the education.

Education is not something that ends when you leave school or for that matter University - what is essential are the development skills to enable future learning and this is something concentrated on down here. That is the love of learning and the confidence to persist in pushing ones own boundarys.

Having an initial education in NZ never did me any harm. Still attended a UK University for Masters and possibly starting PHD in 2008 here in Melbourne.

Kiwi

Jack The Lad

Thanks for that

Im sold on it and my missus is about 80%. Another 2 days I will have her cracked or killed