Pulaski

I would see the GCSE's as an insurance policy. You have no idea whether you, or indeed your daughter, will stay in NZ. If she stays in NZ long term the worst thing that would happen is that she has some useless qualifications, but if she returns to the UK her GCSE's will be enormously useful. In short, abandoning her GCSE's so close to the finish line seems to be a reckless waste of a qualification that might be extremely useful.

imcaufieldholt

Yes, Lane Neave.

imcaufieldholt

Yes, this is where we are at the moment with our thinking. If there is something we can work with the employer with some time in the UK during the school year and the holidays with all of us in NZ, that would be good. Kind of like boarding but with my wife in the UK with her. Probably cost as much as boarding Lol!
Or if there is a creative alternative. I notice that the is a Boys School that does IGCSEs in PN but the Girls School nor any of the other schools don't. Shame really. Wellington seems to be the nearest place that has schools that do. So far unless we lived there and maybe I could spend a couple of days in The PN office and the remainder in the Wellington office.
All to be discussed.
Maybe it'll work out, maybe not.

BEVS

Good. Quality.

MrsFychan

not at all, hence the question mark,which generally means it's a question.

Pulaski

Is that NZ$ 000's/yr or NZ$/hr?

If it's the former it doesn't sound like much, and certainly not worth moving to a fairly expensive country on the far side of the world for. If it is truly a specialist IT job, at NZ$105k/yr, it sounds more like they couldn't find anyone to take the job at that salary than there wasn't anyone min NZ available at all.

BEVS

It will be $105K. NZD
TBH that is a good salary by NZ standards. There will be a ceiling. Odds are NZ actually doesn't have someone with whatever the comprehensive skill set requirement is. This is a very small pond.

Pulaski

Right, I thought as much. So if NZ is as expensive as y'all are always telling people it is, I certainly don't think that it is worth the OP disrupting his family to take them to NZ.

And what's all this about ponies and other promises .... on £56k/yr?

bourbon-biscuit

Hello, it's not 56K GBP per annum - that's the exchange rate, whereas on here people tend to agree a multiplier of about 2.5-3 for COL.
Even worse, the median household income in England is circa 25k GBP; the median household income in NZ is circa $100k. So the OP needs to think about whether they currently earn the 'median' in the UK and whether it's a relief or a stress to realise that they would be on about the median in NZ, bearing in mind the COL is higher in NZ and it's a long, long way from family.

BEVS

You might not but he might.

Sometimes it is more about leaving somewhere crowded for somewhere with few people. A slower pace of life. Kids that freely walk to school. Simple pleasures. Feeling more 'safe'. All that sort of stuff.
Some see NZ as more outdoorsy with better weather. I don't particularly but there are those that do.

It's not always about the money although I'm sure he has done his sums.

There was someone who moved to NZ to have a 'voice' . They moved for the position they took up. Not for the salary. In the UK they would have been looking at possibly dead man's shoes & competing against a whole host of others. Here they were offered a position in their field as an opportunity and took it. It gave them a wider world stage.

simonsi

Lol, if you say so.

Pulaski

When I was studying for my degree I learned that money is a "hygiene factor", meaning "more of it won't make you happier" (contrary to popular, but mistaken belief), however, you certainly need "enough" of it, and while having more of it won't make you happier, having less of it can certainly make you miserable!
I wouldn't be so certain of that, which is why I asked the question.

We get many people in the US forum who want to move to the US, but who's understanding of the cost of living seems to be confined to the price of petrol, the low cost of eating out, and that you can buy a mansion in suburbia for £200,000. While those are interesting benchmark numbers they don't explain much about the overall cost of living in the US.

BEVS

That will all be about disposable income, one's expectations and what you may wish to do with that money.

For instance many Kiwis are perfectly happy with an annual camping trip right here in NZ. Whereas those from overseas, like myself, have other expectations for our holiday times.

Totally up to the individual.

Feeling the pinch is of course no fun at all .

Anyway, soz to the OP for going off topic somewhat.

bourbon-biscuit

Another thing the OP might (should) consider given his daughter has just received treatment for an eating disorder is the type of treatment available where he is thinking of settling. Cost and access. In some places both are a huge issue.

valleygurl

"Switching students between public exam systems in the syllabus years (so 9/10 for GCSE), is just a recipe for qualification disaster"
I'm sorry but i have to completly disagree with this!! our daughter came here a day bedore her GCSE'S and is now in yr 12 after starting the NZQA's 6mths into yr 10 and has gained extinctions and excellence in most od her subjects (and no shes not a brain box) just an average xhild who was told after sitting the entrance exams to high school that she would have 2and a half years to make up the credits.. we just didnt see the point of making her sit 2 lots of exams with 6mths of each other!