Rosie

Hi everyone out there

We are just reseaching New Zeland - read all those scary stories with great interest. Is it really that bad? Also what we really want to know is what the schools are like compared to UK or OZ? How do we go about finding out?

isv

Rosie,

No - it isn't as bad as you might imagine! The vast majority of migrants are very happy and have no need to come here and whinge.

There's an enormous amount of information available on the web. The NZ government publish large amounts of info on schools and just about everything else. Lots of similar sites to this one too.

I've spent a lot of time researching schools (we leave the UK in July 05) and would comment that overall the situation is far better then in the UK - the stats available will help you ensure you get in the catchment areas for the best schools.

Alan.

annaerb

I came to NZ when I was 3 and over the years have lived in different countries and No, NZ isn't a bad place, infact its great.
Don't believe everything you read, life is what you make it!

I live in Auckland and Here are some websites for you to look at.
www.maraetaibeach.school.nz (Primary Schools)
www.beachlands.school.nz

www.pakuranga.school.nz/ (High School)
www.howickcollege.school.nz/ ( High School)
www.acg.ac.nz ( Private School)

www.auckland.ac.nz (Universities)
www.massey.ac.nz

Carol

Rosie

[QUOTE=isv]Rosie,

Glad to hear some positive comments at last!

binman

Plus Macleans College in the same area http://www.macleans.school.nz/events/2005/18c_02_05.htm

marbles

[QUOTE=Rosie]The schools are on the whole pretty good, very relaxing places and the kids have a good life but as a teacher i must say the actual education system at present is a disaster. the new qualification they brought in called the NCEA is to be blunt not worth the paper it is written on and hopefully it won't last very long. The teachers are trying to make it work but the uk qualifications put it to shame. I've loved working out here and in wanganui there are some excellent schools just like all around the country, the key is definately to do your research and to move into the correct catchment area so that you get into the best one even if it means renting for a while just to get them in. Look at the decile rating, the higher the better but anything 5 or above will be ok.

binman

Be careful if renting in one of the sought after school zones as I understand should you then move out of zone the school may ask you to withdraw your child depending on the circumstances. These shools have been known to use private detectives to determine whether parents are cheating or not. Cheers binman