[nicquie]

Hi with seven weeks to go until we fly, we thought we had better decide on a destination. We have kinda decided christchurch, but we are thinking new brighton sounds nice. Can anyone give any information on this area including which high schools they have please.

thankyou in advance
Nicquie

[Moorf]

New Brighton itself is tatty altho going through a long awaited overhaul. I don't think the schools round there have a particularly good reputation. North New Brighton and South Shore (which is sort of South Brighton) are nice and house prices are still reasonable. However, this is offset by living on or near a huge, sandy beach which is usually deserted, excellent public transport into the city centre (took hubby 30 mins on bus to Riccarton each way to work).

It's worth a look, it's not for everyone, but it has been growing in popularity with young professionals and properties are being renovated left, right and centre.

You'll notice the state of the grand old houses along the sea-front. Such a shame. They are 99% rented out as most have been bought by developers who are waiting for the go-ahead to bowl them and erect large condo's.

[debnjohn]

There is a distinct lack of 'good' high schools on the East side of the city, I would guess your choices would be Aranui, Linwood or Mairehau, none of which have a particularly good reputation AFAIK. But then there is a lot of snobbery when it comes to schooling (more so here than back in the UK - my humble opinion). Shirley Boy's High is commutable (if you have boys).

We live at Waimairi Beach (about 3km north of Brighton) and send our son to Hagley College.

John.

[JCM]

I agree with everything Moorf said about New Brighton being a bit tatty and with what debnjohn said about schooling. The east side of chch isn't good for schools, particularly if you're looking for an academic education. Heading west, Burnside High is a highly rated co-ed school and Christchurch Girls is a highly rated girls' school. Chch Boys is good if your kids are into rugby and macho stuff. It's probably not the best of options for more delicate lads though.

The best private schools (academically) are probably Rangi Ruru (girls) and Christ's College (boys) although I'm sure some would disagree. :exit

[nicquie]

Thanks to all for your replys it doesn't sound like its for us.

What about Rangiora, the girls both want horses and it seems a rural enough area to buy a 10 acre spread on, but still within about a 30 minute journey of christchurch.

Any info greatly appreciated.

nicquie

[Moorf]

Nicquie - I posted something similar about commutable areas with lifestyle blocks... here http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7199
Rangiora - rural town with suburban and rural blocks, more property for $$.

Kaiapoi - great facilities for a small town, still good prices, suburban estates and rural blocks further out of town.

Darfield / Oxford - v. small rural townships, commutable (Darfield more so than Oxford imho) - more lifestyle blocks

Little River - further south of Chch but commutable and v. rural.

Just a few I could think of.... lots more inbetween.

Moorf

[adamsat]

We started out in Rangiora, it's an easy commute to Chch by car and even has a bus route into the City bus exchange that runs from early morning to late evening if you want to use public transport. It has a large high school (around 2000 pupils) that seems to have a reasonable reputation. Our three went to primary while we were in Rangiora so we don't have any first hand experience, although we know someone who taught there. There are a lot of lifestyle blocks around Rangiora, or in nearby locations like Loburn which are within 10kms of the town. There is a very large English population in and around Rangiora. This certainly helped our children settle into to school there as there were a lot of other English children in their classes.

If your commuting threshold is around 30 minutes you probably wouldn't want to go any further out than Rangiora though. If you want to extend that time to an hour though, a whole range of really fantastic locations open up to you.

[Melza7]

hi
As everyone else has said New Brighton is not one of the nicest parts, but another few years (they are always saying this) it will get better.