[mgbridges]

Hi everyone, my OH, me and our 5 yr old son hope to be moving out to Auckland later this year. We have been browsing real estate websites to get a feel for houses and areas and are leaning towards North City Shore and Waitakere City (initially to rent and then possibly to buy a property). Can anyone particularly recommend an area where we would fall into the zone for a good primary school? We'd prefer a catholic school but its not the number one priority.

Any suggestions welcome, OH is going out a reccee trip at end of April so it would be good to have some idea of where he should start.

Thanks, Anneliese

[Tia Maria]

As you've probably realised North Shore City is a pretty big area and on the whole many of the primary schools are very good. So it might be a good idea to check out property prices to see where you can afford and commuting requirements to help narrow down the search.

This is a very well thought of catholic school just outside the Devonport 'village' bit:

St Leo's, Devonport

www.tki.org.nz/e/schools/display_school_info.php?school_id=1500

www.ero.govt.nz/ero/publishing.nsf/Content/Home+Page (Type in Devonport to find latest report on St Leo's)

This link might be useful as it lists catholic schools in Auckland:

www.catholic.org.nz/nzceo/pages/schools/schools-auckland.html

To live within walking distance of St Leos you will be looking to pay about $750000 to $950000 for an OK 3 bed villa. Obvioulsy you can find places for less or a whole lot more. I'm not sure how zoning works with catholic schools so its possible you could live further away if the local area is too expensive.

As Devonport is on a pennisula its quite easy to commute to the CBD via ferry, but if you need to drive, you can be stuck in traffic on the one road out of town.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Tia

[mgbridges]

Sorry for not saying thanks earlier... this is all useful info.

Anneliese:nice1

[seattle]

Good luck with your search. We just spent 4 days in Auckland investigating a move there (my husband had a potential job offer). We spent a lot of time in the North Shore area (Devenport, Takapuna). The traffic was awful- didn't really matter what time of the day- whether it was a week day or Saturday, etc. (and we grew up in Los Angeles- where traffic is horrific- the Auckland area is like a mini L.A. in that respect). And yes, the home prices in the areas close to the big private schools (Epson, Mt.Eden, Remeura etc.) and in the North Shore area extremely high- again, they were comparable to our house on the coast near L.A. We walked away with the conclusion that this wasn't a place for us. Sorry to be so negative- but we just got home yesterday and we were disappointed.

[gil]

We live in neither of the areas you mentioned Annaliese, but in Bucklands Beach. We love it here. My firend's three go to Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary and she is delighted with it. http://www.starofthesea.school.nz/main.asp

There is a good senior school after (Sancta Maria) and you are not tied to living in the most expensive parts of town.
Good luck,

Gil

[Tia Maria]

Seattle, sorry you had such a disappointing trip, but at least you got the opportunity to check things out first! :yes

You are right, the house prices are awful in the areas you looked at because they are the ones near the private schools, or within 15 minute of the CBD whether it be by ferry or car. Like you said city living is the same the world over.

But if you really love the idea of NZ don't let it put you off. I chose to live in Devonport because coming from London I couldn't bare to live somewhere rural. To me Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch still seem like large towns rather than cities and that's enough of a compromise for me. Interestingly enough most of the Americans I have met in Devonport seem to come from San Francisco.

Perhaps you just need to check out the Auckland suburbs further out. Or it could be that you, like many, feel that Auckland doesn't represent the 'true NZ'. From what I understand it is easier to acheive a more rural lifestyle and commute to Christchurch & Wellington if that's what you're after.

NZ's cities all have a very different feel, just like New York and LA are worlds apart and probably neither represent America as a whole. In other words don't let central Auckland put you off NZ.

By the way I should add we still don't know if we're in NZ for the long term but we are enjoying the experience! :D

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

Cheers

Tia

[willowshouse]

Catholic schools aren't zoned so you can live anywhere you like, but they do have a maximum roll number so can close their intake if they want to .. wouldn't think that many of them do though.

If you would prefer a catholic education then I'd say you are at a big advantage as most people have to be very careful to choose/find a house within the right zone and when you have both primary and secondary age kids it can be a nightmare!

We live in Meadowbank near Remuera, my youngest goes to Mt Carmel School (co-ed) and my eldest to Baradene College (girls) .. both of these are Catholic, incidentally there is boys college - Sacred Heart which is in nearby Glendowie. Costs for a 3/4 bed house in Meadowbank - approx $600 - $800K .. to rent would be approx $500 - $600 a week. School fees are approx $300 a year for primary .. $3,200 a year for Baradene and approx £1,500 for Sacred Heart. There is a cheaper but just as good girls high school in Ponsonby which costs about $1,500 I think - St Mary's College.

Have a look at this:

http://www.catholic.org.nz/nzceo/pages/schools/schools-auckland.html

Good luck with the recce

[dharder]

most people have to be very careful to choose/find a house within the right zone and when you have both primary and secondary age kids it can be a nightmare!

Yes, I found that really difficult. Ours are only primary school now, but I wanted to plan a bit further ahead. There seemed to be a number of primary schools that seemed okay, I had my eyes on Titirangi, but not too many secondary schools.

We will now move to Glendowie/Glen Innes, in zone for both Glendowie College and Glendowie Primary school.

It is quite amazing though what being in one of those zones, or both even, does ot the house prices. We didn't have to check anymore after a while if any particular street was still in the Glendowie Primary school zone, we could actually tell from looking at house price.

Daniela

[toots]

Hi Anneliese,

There are a number of Catholic Schools on the Shore and in Waitakere, Primary and High Schools, co-ed and single sex. The church schools have quite a good reputation and some operate zones whilst others are quite strict about active church going.

Have you come across the ERO website which gives reviews of NZ schools?

This is from their site http://www.ero.govt.nz/ero/publishing.nsf/Content/EC062E014AA2DDE5CC25704A001B449E?Open

If you're thinking about a school which operates a zone policy I'd say it's not worth the premium in paying above the odds to buy a house in-zone, there are other ways to get your kids in - renting for a while or applying for an out of zone place (which a lot of schools offer)

[seattle]

Tia- you are right about Auckland. Our complexity is that we are set on private schools since I've had several conversations with American and UK families who moved to NZ and found that that the curriculum was a few years behind what they were doing in U.S/U.K. We experienced the same thing during a current expat assignment in Europe (our kids are just not challenged). We are looking for a different lifestyle than the hectic good ol' usa :uhoh so the thought of long commutes doesn't accomplish that either. We haven't given up though... Christchurch seems to be more our pace. Have you found a school you are happy with yet?

[JoHnH]

Just a note to DHarder, from a Glendowie resident.
You don't have to restrict yourself to Glendowie Primary, large parts of Glendowie are zoned for Churchill Park Primary or St Heliers Primary - both excellent schools.
Mind you, judging by the queues outside St Heliers at 3.00 p.m., kids are required to have a blonde Mum with a large SUV. Could be a problem.

[speckythecky]

Looks like I will need to avoid St Helliers, as I am male, dark haired and cannot bring myself to drive as SUV, could maybe manage a UTE

[dharder]

Just a note to DHarder, from a Glendowie resident.
You don't have to restrict yourself to Glendowie Primary, large parts of Glendowie are zoned for Churchill Park Primary or St Heliers Primary - both excellent schools.
Mind you, judging by the queues outside St Heliers at 3.00 p.m., kids are required to have a blonde Mum with a large SUV. Could be a problem.

We will be moving into a house just on the border of the zone, and had a small fright because Glendowie Primary was thinking of changing its zone. We were worried we would have had to move before we moved there!

Good to hear someone else lives there, I get the impression everyone lives on the North Shore, Bucklands Beach or Wellington :) Do you have children going to school in Glendowie?

And indeed, blond and SUV could be a problem... so brown-ishy and van wouldn't cut it, I guess?

Daniela

[JoHnH]

"Good to hear someone else lives there, I get the impression everyone lives on the North Shore, Bucklands Beach or Wellington "
I'm not a real person, just an interested Kiwi. But the attractions of Glendowie are a bit of a well-kept secret in Auckland. My kids are long groan up, so school zoning is not an issue for me, but I know some parents in the area I live, a little patch around Glen Taylor School, who have had to employ subterfuges to get their kids in elsewhere, or have had to go private.
Glendowie College seems to be rapidly acquiring "top school" status.
and real estate prices are going crazy.

[dharder]

But the attractions of Glendowie are a bit of a well-kept secret in Auckland.

Right, I won't tell anyone about the secrets then, to not make house prices worse. Though I suspect word of a good state secondary school might get out regardless...

I was just wondering though if you know how to find out what the borders of one area or another are? About half the people I ask seem to refer to the area we will move to as Glendowie, the other half calls it Glen Innes. Obviously both places have vastly different connotations, and I find it remarkable that one is supposedly one of the most deprived areas, the other one of the least deprived. So do these suburbs have official borders, or does it depend on the socio-political statement you want to make?

Sorry to go on a tangent here.

Daniela

[JoHnH]

Daniela
As briefly as I can:
Glendowie was developed after WW2 as a dormitary suburb of middle-class housing. Neighbouring Glen Innes was developed after WW2 as a State Housing area - Council Housing I think you call it in the UK. The distinction remains, with the added complication that the division is now, frankly, racial. But basically, think working class versus, nowadays, upper middle class.
The dividing line is West Tamaki Rd. Since both suburbs cover some of the most desirable land in Auckland, a middle-class or, frankly, white wave is gradually pushing down from West Tamaki Rd into the GI hieghts, but schooling does pose a problem.
Glendowie proper is very upper-middle-class today, influenced by old zoning rules which restrict many quarter-acre properties to single housing rather than apartments or infill development (townhouses.) Most such properties have been extensively modernised and extended, and there is a trend now to pull down perfectly serviceable 50-year-old homes and erect mansions.
Of course, along the Riddell Rd clifftops, and in Beverly Hills, with views out to the harbour and gulf, you are talking many millions. A basic three-bedroom in Glendowie (the few that are left) will be at least $600,000, anything extended a lot more. (By contrast, ex-state three-bedrooms in Glen Innes are in the $300,000 range.)
Glendowie is centred around Churchill Park, a bit of original farmland preserved as a reserve. A contractor grazes cattle there, and some homes around it have virtually a rural outlook. There is no industry or commerce, so no through traffic. The City Centre is 15 minutes away (outside rush hour) along Tamaki Drive. St Heliers is next door for the trendy cafe types.
You can walk around the base of the cliffs, or at the Tahuna Torea nature reserve, on a mid-week morning fairly confident that you won't encounter anyone else.
Noise pollution late at night is a problem, caused by the concerted snoring of thousands of complacent JAFAs sleeping off their fush'n'chups.
Riddell Rd Takeaways do a very consistent chup. Ashby Ave Takeaways do a very nice roast meal for about $8.
Burp.
Now don't shout and wave it about
Or the others will all want it too.

[JoHnH]

Daniela
As briefly as I can:
Glendowie was developed after WW2 as a dormitary suburb of middle-class housing. Neighbouring Glen Innes was developed after WW2 as a State Housing area - Council Housing I think you call it in the UK. The distinction remains, with the added complication that the division is now, frankly, racial. But basically, think working class versus, nowadays, upper middle class.
The dividing line is West Tamaki Rd. Since both suburbs cover some of the most desirable land in Auckland, a middle-class or, frankly, white wave is gradually pushing down from West Tamaki Rd into the GI hieghts, but schooling does pose a problem.
Glendowie proper is very upper-middle-class today, influenced by old zoning rules which restrict many quarter-acre properties to single housing rather than apartments or infill development (townhouses.) Most such properties have been extensively modernised and extended, and there is a trend now to pull down perfectly serviceable 50-year-old homes and erect mansions.
Of course, along the Riddell Rd clifftops, and in Beverly Hills, with views out to the harbour and gulf, you are talking many millions. A basic three-bedroom in Glendowie (the few that are left) will be at least $600,000, anything extended a lot more. (By contrast, ex-state three-bedrooms in Glen Innes are in the $300,000 range.)
Glendowie is centred around Churchill Park, a bit of original farmland preserved as a reserve. A contractor grazes cattle there, and some homes around it have virtually a rural outlook. There is no industry or commerce, so no through traffic. The City Centre is 15 minutes away (outside rush hour) along Tamaki Drive. St Heliers is next door for the trendy cafe types.
You can walk around the base of the cliffs, or at the Tahuna Torea nature reserve, on a mid-week morning fairly confident that you won't encounter anyone else.
Noise pollution late at night is a problem, caused by the concerted snoring of thousands of complacent JAFAs sleeping off their fush'n'chups.
Riddell Rd Takeaways do a very consistent chup. Ashby Ave Takeaways do a very nice roast meal for about $8.
Burp.
Now don't shout and wave it about
Or the others will all want one too.

[dharder]

Thanks for the brief history there (and the takeaway tips :) )!

I found the divide very striking, and yes, along racial lines in particular, when we were there on a holiday last year.

To come back to the Primary school thread, I was amazed to see such differences as well in the ERO reports, and the decile rating in schools that are physically rather close together when I looked at Glen Taylor, Glenbrae (sp?) and Glendowie Primary schools.

Ah well. Since we will actually live on W Tamaki Rd, the dividing line, I still don't know whether to say we live in Glen Innes or Glendowie :)

I guess I'll have to make that dependent on who I am talking to...

Daniela

[stu70]

Just a note to DHarder, from a Glendowie resident.
You don't have to restrict yourself to Glendowie Primary, large parts of Glendowie are zoned for Churchill Park Primary or St Heliers Primary - both excellent schools.
Mind you, judging by the queues outside St Heliers at 3.00 p.m., kids are required to have a blonde Mum with a large SUV. Could be a problem.

Well that will give me an opportunity to seek a blonde under the guise of helping out my kids :D . Forget it, I can barely handle what I have got.

[willowshouse]

Ah well. Since we will actually live on W Tamaki Rd, the dividing line, I still don't know whether to say we live in Glen Innes or Glendowie :)



Definitely Glendowie darling! IMHO G.I. is the area off W Tam Rd. We're always in/around that area with gym and swimming club/classes.

[mgbridges]

Just realised that quite a few people had actually responded to my original post - that'll teach me to refresh my screens a bit more often - D'oh!

Anyway just wanted to say a HUGE thanks for all the hints, tips and suggestions its all been very useful and interesting.

OH is having a video conf 1st interview tonight with Air NZ so I'm keeping everything crossed at the moment as it looks like the only way we'll get there relevant number of points for ITA is a job offer!

Thanks again, :nice1
Anneliese

[gil]

Just a bit of an add-on, my friend with children at Our Lady Star of the Sea teels me that Catholic schools ARE now zoned, so just beware. There's just no substitute for checking with the schools themselves, imho.

Gil