[wolfie33]

hi, i have recently joined the forum & after reading the various posts have decided to take the leap.
i am a 33 year old single mother who is seriously looking at starting a new life in NZ, with my 6 year old. i am going to the NZ Expo in Leeds next month to make enquiries regarding job prospects & advice for filling the EOI in, at present i have 110 points.
i was wondering if you guys would be able to advise as to what the childcare & schools situation is like?
has anybody else done it on their own with a child??
any advice gratefully received :yes

[Andy-Dee]

Welcome and Hi, the schools we saw were very good on our recce last year, lots of outdoor activities and confidence building. Seemed a lot less pressured than the UK - but not there yet so more detailed relevent posts will probably follow.

Good luck

[JandM]

Hello.:)

[dusk]

hello and the best of luck :D

[willsken]

Hi Wolfie. The schools here that I have experience of are great. My youngest is still in primary school and he is loving every minute of it. They do a lot more here than they did in the UK, in regards to sport and outside activities. There is a wonderful after school club in our town and I'm sure you will get them where ever you decide to live. Good luck, keep us posted with your progress. :)

[Belmont Babes]

Hello Wolfie and a big welcome. Can't help with specifics as not there yet but want to wish you all the best and say "go for it" :nice1

[tea drinker]

As I'm still here and not there can't help with any answers but wanted to say hello and welcome.:yes

[catt]

just a quick hello and welcome to the rollercoaster ride......:-)

[Mickstim]

Just to say welcome Woolfie and good luck with your application!

[JayBee]

Hi! Good luck with your plans, you'll find plenty of help on here.

[dilanium]

hello and welcome!

[Smiler]

Can't help with the schools, sorry, but there's plenty of members that can. Have you thought about where you'd like to settle yet?

Welcome to the forum Wolfie :cheers Hang on tight, it's one heck of a ride!

[peebles16]

Welcome from us too and enjoy the ride :D

Karen

[shakyle2906]

Hi

We have been here nearly a year, settling in Hastings.

Our son was nearly 5 when we made the move, so he started at Kindy, which we really good. I paid $2 a day for him to go there 9 till 12 each day. He had a good time.

Then, when i went back to work full time, he started at ABC Learning Centres which i paid about $145 a week which included food, trips and he went there 8am to 4.30pm, again he had a ball.

He then started full time when he was 5, he was so so ready to do this as he had been in full time school since 3 in the UK. He took to it great and has made many friends. Most schools require a uniform and you have to pay school fees and provide the stationery.

His uniform consists of 3 polo tops, 2 fleeces, 2 trousers and 2 shorts, which cost us about $350 approx, school fees for the year $60 and stationery for the year $45. Trips are extra and he takes a packed lunch each day.

He goes to after school care 3-5 each day and it costs about $200 a month, where they pick him up from school, he has a snack and they do activities as wel as help them with reading homework. He has also gone to the holiday programme, its around $35 a day, where you provide lunch and they take them on different trips and do different activities.

I had worried terribly about this as he had never been in childcare before, always having my parents in law looking after him, but he has adjusted so so well.

You may be able to get a subsidy to help you with costs from WINZ, not sure of what you have to be earning, but sure they can help.

Hope this helps in some way, please feel free to ask anymore, if i can help i will!

Good luck with your decision, i am sure you both will love it over here as much as we all do!

Sharon
xx

[wolfie33]

many thanks for all the welcomes :)
sharon thanks for that about the school/after school care i'm sure i'll have more questions as i tread further down this road. my son has been in varying forms of childcare since a baby so am not so worried about him adjusting am more worried about the availability of childcare & the support i could get as coming over on my own!!

[shakyle2906]

many thanks for all the welcomes :)
sharon thanks for that about the school/after school care i'm sure i'll have more questions as i tread further down this road. my son has been in varying forms of childcare since a baby so am not so worried about him adjusting am more worried about the availability of childcare & the support i could get as coming over on my own!!

Thats not a problem.
Where you heading to - any ideas yet ?
There are loads of companies that provide childcare. Perhaps i could finf out for you ?
PM me if you want to keep private!

Sharon
x

[Flo jo]

Good luck with it all. Can't help much about schools yet but from people I have met they have all said that they don't learn as much over here but the kids have more fun. We thought about that before coming but then just resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to do a bit more. So I purchased some jolly phonics books as this is what he was doing in pre-school but they don't do it here.

As regards to the Expo, we went to the one in London before coming & there were very few stands there for jobs. It seemed to be full of sales people for pensions, banking, real estate etc. the only productive careers stands were for teaching, nursing or building. My hubbie is in IT & gave his details to a couple of agencies there but when they got in touch after they all seemed to want money for him to register (under the pretence of them conducting personality tests for prospective employers). Therefore we didn't contact them again. So don't expect the Expo to answer all your questions, but you do get a goodie bag with lots of stuff to read & we referred to a lot of this literature during our move.

Don't worry about meeting people over here as all the other parents I have met here have been really helpful. Well done for making the decision & I'm sure you'll both have a ball out here!!