andijs1203

Hello everyone.
Firstly, my husband and I are in the process of moving over to NZ. Luckily, he has been offered a job in Christchurch. However, I have one or two concerns. We have two children, ages 5 and 6, I would like to know what the schools are like and which areas are the (have to be careful how I word this) most desirable within the Chch area?
Ive done some research into the South Island and I have to say, you guys are the luckiest buggers alive - Its beautiful!!

Saying goodbye to the UK is quite difficult for me, so I would really appreciate some help regarding schools and areas.

Thank you so much

BEVS

Kia Ora and welcome to the little BE NZ forum.
I have moved your post into a thread all of it's own. Can;t help much with Christchurch as am near Nelson and also have no kids but I am sure all those down that way will be along soon.
Meanwhile has some welcome karma.

EmandKen

We're in Christchurch, have been here 5 weeks and absolutely love the place.

We don't have kids so can't help with schools I'm afraid, but there are a few primaries near us here in Burwood and the kids all look so happy scootering, cycling or running to school in the mornings with their sun hats on!

We love this area as we're 5 mins from the beach and Bottle Lake Forest Park, so we're out and about cycling and walking a lot and the River Avon is right on our doorstep, at the end of the road in fact. There are always folk on there rowing. Plus we are a 15 min drive away from the centre with buses every 15 mins. Bliss really!

Emma

P2L

Have a look at these 2 sites
www.ero.govt.nz

www.schoolzones.co.nz

Schools in NZ are scored by Decile ratings, 1 being low 10 being high.

Decile ratings are based on the socio economic rating of the catchment area of its pupils NOT the performance.

We are in the process of shifting to ChCh and are hoping that our Miss10 will be able to go to Lincoln Primary and Miss14 to the High School next door

HTH

andijs1203

Good Morning/Evening

Hi Bev, no, no-one has welcomed me in as yet! Im still trying to find my way around this site but failing miserably
Thanks to you all for your help, its a little confusing defining the decile ratings as we dont have that here in the UK! But the school were looking at getting our children into rates a 9 - so I guess thats pretty darn good!!

Really looking forward to coming out....Im shipping over lots of PG Tips too hee hee.

Any idea as to clothes shops? Are there shops like Next? M&S?

Once again - thank you


Andi

BEVS

If you have karma , posts and replies then I'd say you are cozying right on in there.

I buy my PG tips in New World . I also still take a couple with me when we go out to a friends or to lunch and bung one in my cup to really, really stew. Can't beat a PG tip t bag IMVHO unless it is Typhoo and can't be doing with pee for tea.

So, go on then. What does your hubby do and where in Christchurch are you coming too? Which school? Right nosey lot we are.

andijs1203

OOO, typhooo! Cant be doing with that!

Ok, my hubby is an Engineer, having worked here as an MD for Nissan, various Bus & Coach manufacturers. He set up his own bus design company 4 years ago and dealt with a company called Designline in Chch (ashburton)...So some of the buses you see out there, were designed by my hubby!
After selling his business, he had a call out of the blue from the guys at Designline - wanting him to come and work for them...the rest they say is history!
So we find ourselves running around like headless chicks at the moment!

What are the property prices over there like at the moment?

Andi

andijs1203

oops, forget to mention, we are moving to Rolleston area?!

teebrown

Hi not sure about the schools in your area, we have a friend in Rolleston and her son goes to a school there and is extremely happy. We are moving 5 mins away from you to Burnham and I have email the schools who have answered and are very friendly.

But welcome anyway.

zummerzet_lou

Morning and welcome.

Sorry - I can't help you with the schools as we are in Kaiapoi (which is about 15mins North of Christchurch). Our son turns 5 in Feb, and shall be starting the local primary school on his birthday!

Have to say, even though it's a lower decile rating, (think it's currently 6) I'm pretty impressed with what I have seen and think it will suit him perfectly.

Shout when you get here, as there are loads of newcomers to the area so plenty of meet-up and coffees to be had!

Lou

andijs1203

Thanks Lou.
Meeting up with people would be great, looking forward to it

Andi

Georgie33

Hi Andi,

The area south of Rolleston out towards Lincoln has recently been reported as one of the top four places in New Zealand to live. This was based on schools, lifestyle, affordability, crime etc. So a nice place to be heading for. Rolleston has grown very quickly over the past few years. A bit too fast as there is not much in the way of shopping or civic amenities and the schools are a bit full. This said Christchurch is only short drive to the North. Just 10min to Hornby on the outskirts where there is good shopping and maybe 30 min to downtown

With the credit crisis hitting us here in NZ there is plenty of new or near new property on the market out Rolleston way. Generally the further out of town the larger the sections

You could easily look further out to Lincoln older more leafy and established with University and great schools. Or even a lifestyle property near West Melton or TaiTapu.

Trademe property is a good place to start looking

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-pr...n/Listings.htm

And a great new way to see tour the neighbourhood is to take a virtual walk down the street using Google street view go to Google maps http://maps.google.com/ and type Wilbur Close Rolleston, New Zealand then zoom right in to get the street view. This is kind of typical of the new area in Rolleston.

andijs1203

Sorry, another question.

We are now investigating removal companies, and are in the process of getting quotations from the following:

Excess International Movers
AW International Moving
Crown Relocations
InterDean
F&N Worldwide Moving

Has anyone heard of these? Used these? Good or bad?

Or do you have recommendations of other companies?
Much appreciated

Andi

nzfarmers

Hi andijs1203, We have been here just under four years now without visiting first and are lucky enough to live in a fantastic area with such friendly people and excellent schools for the children. As suggested by the other replies the south west of Christchurch is very popular with new immigrants with the excellent schools and availability of good quality housing and facilities in the area.
Hope this is a small help to you.

alanmacc

Hi and welcome.

We have been here just over a year now and now live in Rolleston, right now imo there are a few bargains to be had in Rolly, quite a few decent size houses with land for under $400k.

Rolly is building a new primary and need to have a secondary school built within I think its now 3 years .... to cope with the population boom here, our daughter is only 3 so no need to worry about schools yet, any questions re rolly gime me a shout and I will see if I can help

When you come over gimme a shout and well get together for a BBQ