Fan1975

Hi everyone

We are on the last month countdown, (2nd time round, 1st time I panicked and pulled out !!)

So far my stomach is still where it should be and anxiety is at bay....

So a few questions please:-

Is the water in NZ hard or soft ?

Is it easy to pack bikes etc as long as they are cleaned properly and is there anything they should be treated with to we pass any inspection ?

Can i stock up on sundries for the container until we find like alternatives ?

Whats everyones opinion on primary schools in NZ please ?

Thanks everyone.

MrsFychan

Is the water in NZ hard or soft ? Depends where you are

Is it easy to pack bikes etc as long as they are cleaned properly and is there anything they should be treated with to we pass any inspection ? Virkon or just bleach, but remember it can get dirty, cobweeby on the way over so never a cert you will pass inspection

Can i stock up on sundries for the container until we find like alternatives ? Yep but worth getting to know what they have here as soon as possible and you will be some time without if you container doesn't start off before you do

Whats everyones opinion on primary schools in NZ please ? Our first one was bloody awful, so we moved out of the area at a loss on property to an area with a better school

Justcol

not all schools have catchment areas. in the town outside of the big cities all kids in the area will be eligible for entry

Its not the end of the world if maf think some things are not clean enough, they will simply charge you for giving everything a spray over

Fan1975

Hi, what was so bad about the first school please ? is the one you have now a lot better ?

Fan1975

Re the water, we will be in Timaru on the south island

escapedtonz

Mineral content of source water in NZ

Yes you can stock up on sundries for the container - we certainly did.

After a good scrub of the bikes, not forgetting to turn them upside down to scrub all the areas you don't generally see like under the crank and under the seat etc, spray them with Jays fluid. Take the pedals off and put them somewhere safe and turn the handlebars 90 degrees. Means they store in the container taking up minimal space.

MrsFychan

really don't want to go into as much as already been said. lets just say my daughter started self harming, the Head lied, the BOT are a bunch of butt lickers to the Head. The education Minister got involved as well as the local education authority. My daughter refused to attend. The Head was removed 18mths later.
The one we have now is a lot better. My daughter was allowed to move up a year and went straight to college, which is more run on the UK style of teaching and is now doing very well.
But this was in the Wellington region. Unfortunately we were warned about the Head and school before we started but it was the only school open to the kids in the area. We did have problems but believed our opinions were being listened to and understood, obviously they were not and all reports to the school by us were mysteriously not in the kids files, but as some were sent my email we had some evidence.

So basically speak to the parents of any school you wish to put the kids in and if its bad then try an alternative and if it means you can't live in that particular area my advice would be to move to a place that has good rep by the parents in the playground.

j19fmm

Hmmm, what's everyone's opinion on Primary Schools in the UK please?
It's a massive ask! And a very personal matter as Mrs F can attest too.
The one I work in is awesome

Fan1975

Fair point, I should have been more specific, keep hearing that the school system is much better and children can be children rather than robots pushed to achieve higher and higher all the time. I am hoping that some of this is realistic...

christmasoompa

The same could be said of most schools in the UK though. My children have been at 3 different primary schools, and none of them have been like that. Mind you, that is only for primary - I might feel very differently when my eldest starts secondary this year! But secondary I'm expecting her to be pushed, and will welcome it then.

fourseasons

One thing to bear in mind is that NZ is very very good at selling itself. It needs to be as it needs immigrants (desperately).

It really is very difficult when asking opinions on items like education because I think it's very personal. Before arriving I too had read that the education system is 'first class' however the reality for us was quite different. It might be better for you to outline what sort of educational experience you would like your children to have? If, for example, you like - laid back, not much writing, vague standards, large classes, no TAs (even when there are SEN children), parents evening led by the child etc then you will find that in some schools here (this was our experience of the school our children first attended). There are however schools that are better, we are much happier now but it took time to find this and it's by no means perfect now.

The other point I would make is that they have a system here (in many but not all schools) where children go to Intermediate School (years 7 and 8) and then on to High School. Even Kiwis commented to me that these years are the 'holding pen' and even though we moved one of ours to a better school I still found this.

Hopefully you will get feedback from people who know and have some experience of both systems. EVERY system has good and bad, it depends on what is important to you.

LoCarb

Really? I thought we had too many at the moment.

John Key want's more migrants as it massages GDP figures and hides mediocre/no growth.

MrsFychan

it needs certain immigrants and it really needs to update the list quicker so once the gaps are filled they are removed making it less likely for people to gain visas but no jobs

fourseasons

Apologies, I should have said that they want the right type of immigrant (although judging by the amount of racism here there isn't a 'right type'). The ones that are skilled to fill all the skill gaps left by the Kiwis that go abroad to work :-)

Justcol

Jeez fourseasons, does being negative and miserable come naturally to you, or is it something you've had to work at.
I don't think you've ever made a comment that doesn't include a gripe or moan about how bad something is in NZ.

I remember you saying in a post a while ago, you were going back to the UK....any chance you speed up the process