luvwelly

Can't fault that really in that it is one of the nicest places I've ever lived..is it about time you changed your name to 'LovelyWellingtonCoffee' ?

dannigirl

RobClubley

Friday night's rugby - they delivered the ball in the Westpac helicopter

crap coffee

No. "IrresistibleWellyCoffee" is better, perhaps. Make any sense to you?

Wellingtonians love their coffee

You Can't Help Being *Coffeeholic* in Welly! That's for SURE.

simonmarkellis

Bump!!

Last Lions home game on Saturday and kids can get in free via ticketmaster, so i think i may well be at the Rugby saturday...

bro69

What a great thread I love Wellington, I've been here 4 years so much nicer than Maidstone, not hard though I have been to some public toilets that beat the spots off Maidstone.

Lets watch the Lions waltz into the finals in style and then choke!

Don't forget to get your tickets to the All Whites, it is selliing fast, not a great standard of football but should be a great atmosphere.

simonmarkellis

If anyone is into the stock car scene, the season kicks of soon on the 7th Nov. Have been a few times and have to admit it's bloody good fun and reasonable cheap as well. Google Wellington Speedway for more info...

Batty

It's fantastic! If/When we move down there we'll be looking at Te Marua area Specifically because of its proximity to the track

simonmarkellis

Go Lions!!!!

dannigirl

Hey all,

Have been continuing our research into Wellington (okay, mainly looking at real estate websites but gotta start somewhere!!!).

For some reason Lower Hutt esp Petone keeps coming up. I think it's the old wooden houses (I know I'm mad....don't tell hubby how draughty they are), flat sections and mostly biggish sections, wide streets and some sort of local scene (Jackson Street). Public transport seems okay as does the commute into Wellington city. The beach is not that nice compared to others and I have read that Petone is quite industrialised....any views??

I think we may have to rule out Porirua based on commute times especially driving times.

I know we really can't make a decision until we check the place out for ourselves but all those with any knowledge of Lower Hutt any info or advice would be much appreciated.

Also just as an add on, how much weight to people place on Decile points for schools? I have no experience of school ratings in NZ or UK but want to keep schooling in mind. Do people use combination of Decile, ERO and feeling from school visit/reputation or do people mostly go by ERO reports??

Kiwiprincess et al...help me out with some info.

Thanks
Dannigirl

Kiwiprincess

Higher decile schools = better drugs.

Ok there's more than that. Decile is based on a number of different factors taken from a very small selection of the local community. These factors aren't just income but also factors such as education (I think), home ownership, and even number of bedrooms per property.

It's also why schools in the city aren't necessarily higher. You tend not to have as many spare bedrooms in places where accommodation is a higher cost! Although that's balanced out by the fact that wellingtons population has a higher average income and education level.

Anyway, decile is essentially used as a balancing tool for *funding*. It is not in itself any reflection on the type of school. The idea is that people in areas of lower deciles are more likely to have the other distractions that the higher decile schools may not have. They are more likely to have higher occupancy rates, perhaps moving more regularly, parents who can't help them at the sufficient level or perhaps need to work longer hours to maintain the family income.

Idea being that there's less of those distractions in areas with a higher decile.

Personally, however, while I don't necessarily agree with the idea (often represented on this site) that say a 10 is better than 'only' an 8 (very high still) or a 7, I do think it's reasonable to consider whether your childs teachers would be focusing a lot of their time on children with a lot of distractions or other issues. More likely to happen I guess in a lower decile school.

A friend of mine used to teach at Hutt Central. Not sure if that's in the Petone zone (possibly not) but she enjoyed it.

Wooly_Cow

An old report but nevertheless gives you the full picture regarding school decile ratings....and one statement is...

The Ministry of Education data for secondary school performance shows more linear
relationships between school decile and student achievement in national qualifications,
retention rates, and participation in national qualifications. The gaps are quite stark, and
students from decile 10 schools stand out even from their decile 9 school peers in terms of
their high rate of tertiary entry from school, and leaving school with at least one sixth form
subject.

http://www.nzcer.org.nz/pdfs/11596.pdf

Kiwiprincess

oooh that is interesting. Thanks for linking that report - i will read it.

I'm actually geeky enough to read it.

Wooly_Cow

In Wellington there are a LOT of old wooden houses....even the new houses are wood.....and just cause it's newer doesn't mean it'll be warmer or less draughty. My experience is before the recent building code changes (and I mean in the last couple of years) some of the house builds and particularly windows are awfull still....give me an old properly made sash window anyday.

...and the commute from Porirua is only a few mintues more than the Hutt. On the train is probably about the same...

simonmarkellis

Express train from Porirua takes 17mins and the stopping service takes 23mins...