Australia - British Expat Forum

We are moving to Darwin in September/October subject to getting the visa sorted and were wondering if anyone knew of any good nurseries/preschools.
My son was 4 in February and would be starting school in September if we were still in the UK at that time
But I understand that in Oz they don`t start until they are 6 so I guess another year of preschool will be ahead of him

just received our visas (they said 8-12 weeks, 3 working days later!!!)
so its looking like mid august with notice at work so if there is anyone in darwin with some preschool advice it would be good

Hi Dave,

I'm in exactly the same boat as you, although double-the-trouble as we've got twins who turned 4 in April of this year.

I'm in Darwin now, with the family following in a few weeks.

My understanding is that, as you say, our kids would be starting school in Sept in the UK, but over here they'll be starting when the kids go back to school at the end of January next year.

We've already managed to reserve places for our older kids in primary & secondary schools, and there is a pre-school attached to the primary school we've selected.

Depending on where you're going to live, perhaps there would be a similar pre-school attached to your local primary school and your son could start there on arrival and then move up to the primary school in January?

Hope that helps.

Paul

hi paul
how did you go about it
was it a case of find a school nearby and apply?
what are the cost like?
i`ve done a little checking but the prices seem to vary so much on the education website a little on the groud info will be a lot more accurate

we are not sure where we will end up we will rent for the first year to get ourselves settled and find out more about areas and such
we will have to find a school my wife can either walk to or take a bus as she does not drive yet
dave

Hi Dave,

We did a lot of internet research, plus I had some info on schools from some people at the company i'm now working for.

Regarding fees, I got in touch with the NT Education Board (can't remember their official title!), and they told me that for holders of 457 visas you don't need to pay "international" fees, just the local fees that the locals pay, which is a few hundred dollars a term. We did splash out a little bit and got our eldest daughter into a private school as she's at secondary level but even then the fees are a small fraction of typical UK private school fees.

If your wife needs to walk/bus the kids to school, I'd advise waiting till you know where you'll be living before selecting a school.

When are you planning to arrive - and are you bringing the family with you at the start or are they following later?

Any other info you need, just ask.

Cheers
Paul