Moving from the United States
 

Hi my husband got a job in QLD and so we are going to move there sometime in January. I would love any advice anyone has! I have heard that I will have to pay $8000 dollars for my daughter to go to school there is this true? Where is a good place to live near Beaudesert and are furnished places hard to find?

Australia has 3 main tiers of schools:
(1) State run public schools which are nominally free and, I think, parents only paying for uniforms & books etc.
(2) Catholic parish schools, which charge some fees.
(3) Private schools ("Public Schools" similar to the British Public Schools). Within this structure, there are independent, non denominational and religion based schools. Fees are usually more substantial.

Parish, independent and private school fees usually rise with the student's age. I don't know what happens with the state system.

$8000 appears to be quite an arbitary figure to me, to my knowledge there is no such set figure. Perhaps the source of this information may be able to advise what school, district etc.

The choice is up to you and you would, of course, need to make your own enquiries as to the most appropriate school in the area for your child. The State schools are required to take children from the local area, and within the State system, there are also selective schools where there is an academic criteria to enter, and which may take children from out of the area.
Perhaps the HR department of your husband's future employer may be able to assist with information on schools in the area.

If you google "Schools Beaudesert Qld", there are a selection which may give you a starting point.

There are some furnished apartments and houses; however long term rentals are usually unfurnished. www.domain.com.au will give a starting point.

State selective high schools, at least in New South Wales, are academically much superior to most private schools and on a par with the best. Entry is by competitive exam at the end of primary (K-6) school. Our kids mostly attended regular state schools and received a very good education. The quality can of course vary with the local area's socio-economic profile and parental involvement. As Bokhara2 indicates, costs are modest.

perhaps the amount you are referring to is the approximate amount non residents or those without the corect visa have to pay as an overseas full fee paying student even in any primary school. So you need to check what sort of entry visa . This will have to be presented to the school on enrolment as overseas students are not covered by government funding unless they come in on the appropriate visa. Your husband's employer should also be able to help with this.
I know this because of my role as a principal in Australian schools.

Many nice areas near Beaudesert. Suggest you check out some real estate agent sites, Logan City and tourist sites like www.scenicrim.qld.gov.au/

Your husband's employer should help you get the children settled into school and provide information on the costs. If they are mean then contact the state education department but here is a place to start http://www.eqi.com.au/faqs/index.html

You may want to look into this forum:

http://yanksdownunder.net/index/

It's a site for ex-pats who either have moved, or are considering moving to Australia from the US. It was an invaluable resource when we were making the move from the US to Sydney for my husband's work.

Hi Sgkycbrower -

I'm an American expat living in Perth. I don't have kids, so I can't help with school questions, but if you have any other general questions that you'd like an American take on, feel free to contact me at billmelk at hotmail dot com.

Good luck with your move.

Unfortunately state schools charge high fees to temporary residents, at least they do in NSW, where you could be better off with a small independent school. I spent a few years in QLD and still have family there, so I can tell you that the education system is quite different there compared to NSW. I'm not sure whether QLD has selective schools and I doubt whether they would be superior to the private schools there. At least up to ten years ago, QLD schools set their own final exams, so students from "good" schools stood a better chance of getting to university. Hence parents seemed keener on private schools than here in NSW, where common exams mean that a hard-working student can achieve well at practically any school. [Of course a good education and a superior school is not just about final exams, and we don't even know whether your daughter will have to sit final exams while in Australia!]

I just reread your letter and realised that she may not even be high school age, in which case I hope QLD doesn't charge the fees that NSW does. The majority of younger children would attend state primary schools. Our eldest happily started his schooling there [in QLD]. Good luck!

Wow thank you so much for all the great information. My daughter is only 4 so she will just be going to preschool there. Although I don't even know if that is necessary there like it is here in the states? I think we will be there long enough that she will go to kindergarden too.

The terminology for the years before year one are the other way around here in Qld. Taken from http://education.qld.gov.au/strategi...aboutprep.html

About Prep

In 2007 Prep replaced preschool in Queensland.

Prep is an early education program, only offered in primary schools.

It is a full-time program and children attend from Monday to Friday during normal school hours, generally from 9am to 3pm.

Children must be 5 by 30 June in the year they start Prep.

It is available in all Queensland state schools and most non-state schools offering a primary program.

Prep is integrated fully into the rest of the school. Classrooms and other facilities are located in school grounds.

Prep provides the foundation for your child's success at school by developing:

* a positive approach to learning
* independence and confidence
* thinking and problem-solving skills
* language skills
* early literacy and numeracy
* physical abilities, including gross and fine motor skills

To enrol your child in Prep contact your local school.

the schools must be very good because as anyone who has met him will confirm being neil's children would be a difficult row to hoe :)

greetings to all friend down under from sunny victoria bc

AndrewDavid

Hey, Andrew, I was wondering if you'd dropped off the edge of Vancouver Island!

I'm not sure if I have your latest email address - drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll tell you how tough it is being Neil's kids' old man....

(And regards from Robyn too)

And a hello from me Andrew! I just popped on this Forum a few minutes ago to see what was going on and I must say it is a nice surprise to read your post.

We are sure having a sunny week in Northern California. It is again in the triple digits. Miserably hot.

My best to you two and when you have a moment I would love to hear from you. My email address is still the same but if you no longer have it Neil does.

<Waving like crazy....Hellooooo!

Pretty much "ditto" on everything LoveItaly said, including the weather report! You KNOW when they say "heatwave" and forecast temps in the 90's for SAN FRANCISCO, it's bad!

Best,
Melodie

Hi Melodie, for the first day of autumn we are not exactly having autumn weather are we? And there is the fire worry of course. More fires in S CA. My relatives in Ventura County are breathing horrible air it sounds like.

Take care along with wishes we can get some good sunny but crisp autumn weather at some point in the coming days.

Wow, old home week here on this post! Hi, AndrewDavid, Neil, Bokhara, Saltaurius and LoveItaly, and hi to the lucky poster who is getting to move to FNQ. I wish Randy's part of Boeing had a section in FNQ, or anywhere in Australia for that matter. Preferably the parts with snorkeling. We have been having awesome weather, havent' we AD? We did major re-landscaping and the little grasslings are jumping out of the ground. AD, we had serious plans to get to Argentina next year until the re-landscaping happened and we had to scale back our travel plans. Still longing to get back to Oz.
Sally in Seattle, sorry to hijack the post but couldn't help jumping in to say hi.

Well - I'd hate to be the only one to miss out - know bugger-all about eddication - but wanted to say g'day to AD, who, funnily enough, was in my mind earlier this week.

Aren't you due a trip this way?

Greetings all the rest! C'mon, Sally - stop messing around!