[Motleybeast]

Hi,

Has anyone got any recommendations or otherwise for a primary school and pre-school or nursery for a (4 year old) in Tauranga?

Thanks,
Tracy

[walshy]

Hi, i was wondering the same, if and when we arrive, we will most likeley both work full time initially and will have a one year old needing nusery, over here it costs us £650 a month, do you know what the system is over there?

Also have a 3 year old, when would she start full time school, and do they charge or something like that i heard?

[janrzm]

Hi

Can't help with nursery for pre school children but they can start full-time school on/after their 5th birthday.
So no set date for the year group & slightly later than the UK.
Not actually over there as yet but we did look at a few schools in Tauranga whilst we visited in April and we were happy with what we saw.
One thing you have to be aware of is that most of them are zoned, so you need to live in the required area to get into the school.

[walshy]

Hi

Can't help with nursery for pre school children but they can start full-time school on/after their 5th birthday.
So no set date for the year group & slightly later than the UK.
Not actually over there as yet but we did look at a few schools in Tauranga whilst we visited in April and we were happy with what we saw.
One thing you have to be aware of is that most of them are zoned, so you need to live in the required area to get into the school.Cheers, is it true you have to pay for schools over there? or contribute?

[janrzm]

Hi

Yes that correct - it's called a 'donation' - not extortionate though. All the schools vary - but one of the ones we looked at worked out at £70 for the year

[walshy]

oh right, fair enough, no probs

[mgbridges]

Yes that correct - it's called a 'donation' - not extortionate though. All the schools vary - but one of the ones we looked at worked out at £70 for the year

Might be different away from Auckland but I have heard of higher fees. My son goes to a religious school so his fees are higher $250 per term = $1,000 per year. Plus there are stationery costs and uniform costs and special event/trip costs etc.

This thread might be of interest: http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14573&highlight=school+fees

HTH
Anneliese

[Motleybeast]

So, any recommendations?

We're looking at rentals now, so would like to start looking at areas to live in.

Thanks.

[mgf]

Depends on what area of town you are looking at. Matua is a nice area which is closer to the CBD..Bethelem is nice area as well. Pillians Point has nice primary school as well. If you looking to live nearer the beach then Papamoa area is really nice area as well. Mount can be congested but has some nice areas. We have been in Tauranga for about 4 months. My kids are older and go to Otumoetai college

[walshy]

Any catholic schools in Tauranga?

[janrzm]

Have you seen these sites

www.tki.org.nz/e/schools [ lists schools by area ]

www.nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz

[mgf]

Yes there are Catholic Schools in Tauranga. St. Mary's is the Primary and Aquinas is the College

[BaggiesFans]

If you are looking for nurseries around Tauranga be sure to get yourself on a few waiting lists before you arrive. There is a real shortage of nursery spaces, especially for under 2s - some places we went to see in July told us there might be any spaces until Jan next year! After trying 6 nurseries we found one with a space so we grabbed even though I hadn't found a job yet as we didn't want to risk me getting a job but not being able to get any childcare.

On the plus side the costs are much less here - we are paying $180 per week full time which includes nappies & food. Most places are a similiar price but quite a few require you to provide the food and nappies. .

There is also something called PORSE which is similiar to childmainders in the UK but again they didn't have any spaces when we looked.

[Motleybeast]

Great, thanks for that. We're not 100% where we're going to end up yet, but Tauranga is still top of our list.
Thanks.

[Pooks]

It looks as if we will be sending our boy to Bellevue Primary when/if we get there. I haven't looked into it too much but judging by their website the annual 'donation' seems to be quite respectable compared to other schools mentioned.