New to Secret Harbour

[peachy]

Hi
I have recently moved from the UK to Secret Harbour. I have a husband and two children. One is at high school and the other is due to start Kindy as soon as a place becomes available. Are there any other housewives out there who would beneifit from some adult company? Please drop me a line!

Best wishes

[ali]

Hi Peachy, we arrived in january. I've got a daughter who starts high school in Jan and a son whose in year 2.Our sister site (Poms in Oz) having a meet in Kings Park on December 2nd all welcome

Ali

[The.Colebecks]

Hi & Welcome :D

Kind regards
Karen & Co xx

[pomella]

HELLO we are moving out there in the next few months, i would like to keep in touch, it would be nice to have a friend or two when i get there!! i have 3 small children, a girl 6yrs, a boy 4yrs and another girl 1 1/2 yrs. so, any advice for me about moving over there? rosie

[The.Colebecks]

HELLO we are moving out there in the next few months, i would like to keep in touch, it would be nice to have a friend or two when i get there!! i have 3 small children, a girl 6yrs, a boy 4yrs and another girl 1 1/2 yrs. so, any advice for me about moving over there? rosie

Hi Pomella :D

Welcome to the site.

Hi Peachy,

Can I ask which High School your daughter attends - and what your views are on it so far - as we're trying to gather as much info about schools as possible before we get there - our eldest son will be going into year12 or maybe into year11, depends on which will suit him best.

Kind regards
Karen xx

[peachy]

Hi Karen
Schools!!!
If I explain my situation in the UK before commenting on Secret Harbour I think you'll have a better understanding of the schools here.
Comet Bay College only takes years 8, 9 and 10.
My son attended 'The Burford School'. One of the top three in West Oxfordshire. It's an ex-grammer school and still abides by many of the old fashioned codes of behaviour. Such as, all sudents must stand if an adult enters the room. The work load was intense with homework every night. Daniel was in top sets for all subjects. his grades ranged from B's to A*.

Daniel now attends Warnbro high. The school has a very freindly relaxed approached. He made freinds quickly and has a brilliant social life.
BUT
There is very little discipline in class. There is no home work. Daniel is covering work now that he did around 1 1/2 years ago in the UK. He is in top sets for all subjects and top of the class in all the sets. I am REALLY hoping that the work ethic he developed in the UK see's him through to University.

Comet Bay Primary
This is a charming school. Very clean, good facilities, nuturing teachers and well behaved pupils. My daughter is in Kindy. She would be in her first year at Primary school in the UK and learning to read and write. The first two years in Oz are spent learning social skills and good behaviour. She attended Pre-school in the UK and, I think as a result of this, is begging me to teach her the academic subjects she is not covering at school. I am choosing to withold judgement on Primary Education. Young children need security above all else, but I shall certainly be sending her privatly once she reaches high school.
I hope that this gives you an idea of what you may be up against!

Best wishes
Gina

[sean&lisa]

Hi, we are currently about to start the process for us to move to Oz. We are coming out to Secret Harbour in May this year to get a feel for the area, and visit reletives.
Could we please be cheeky and ask you about your move experiances, cost of container etc........
Also can you tell us what Secret Harbour is really like to live in from a outside view, and therefore un biased view.
We are looking forward to what could be the start of a bright new future, and would like other peoples views of how they got on.

Ps. We have 3 kids, they will be 18, 15 and 12 when we move.

Many thanks.

Sean & Lisa

[The.Colebecks]

Hi Karen
Schools!!!
If I explain my situation in the UK before commenting on Secret Harbour I think you'll have a better understanding of the schools here.
Comet Bay College only takes years 8, 9 and 10.
My son attended 'The Burford School'. One of the top three in West Oxfordshire. It's an ex-grammer school and still abides by many of the old fashioned codes of behaviour. Such as, all sudents must stand if an adult enters the room. The work load was intense with homework every night. Daniel was in top sets for all subjects. his grades ranged from B's to A*.

Daniel now attends Warnbro high. The school has a very freindly relaxed approached. He made freinds quickly and has a brilliant social life.
BUT
There is very little discipline in class. There is no home work. Daniel is covering work now that he did around 1 1/2 years ago in the UK. He is in top sets for all subjects and top of the class in all the sets. I am REALLY hoping that the work ethic he developed in the UK see's him through to University.

Comet Bay Primary
This is a charming school. Very clean, good facilities, nuturing teachers and well behaved pupils. My daughter is in Kindy. She would be in her first year at Primary school in the UK and learning to read and write. The first two years in Oz are spent learning social skills and good behaviour. She attended Pre-school in the UK and, I think as a result of this, is begging me to teach her the academic subjects she is not covering at school. I am choosing to withold judgement on Primary Education. Young children need security above all else, but I shall certainly be sending her privatly once she reaches high school.
I hope that this gives you an idea of what you may be up against!

Best wishes
Gina

Thanks for the info :)

K xx

[gobbyjock]

Secret Harbour is very nice and new and shiney, it has a golf course, a small shopping centre and I think a surf club. There isn`t much else there tbh but that will change over the next few years as it becomes more established and it is not too far from Mandurah to the South and Rockingham to the North. A lot of new migrants seem to move there so you would be amongst people in a similar situation to yourself - it just depends on what you are looking for.

[peachy]

Hi
I could write so very much about the move to Perth. It's been one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever had. Saying goodbye to people is hard but you know what to expect. The hardest time was after being here about two months, lasting until about four months. Even though, as a family we were all really pleased with our decision to move, unexpected emotions arose. It was sort of like a greiving period. We were not home sick. I think it was just down to nothing being familiar. Anyway, however paiful that period was, it's passed now. The children are settled, Husband has a job that he is settled into, I've joined a Karate club much the same as the one back home and we all have freinds.

The container cost around 4,000.00 inc insurance. We used Robinsons and were very happy with the service. We received our belongings eight weeks after departing. We were quoted twelve.

Secret Harbour!

I'ts a truly woderful suberb. The lay out is perfect, with the shops at the centre. The shops have a Supermarket, Post Office, News agent, Butcher, Baker, Hairdresser and a few others. More shops are due to be built, the centre is only a year old. The swimming centre, church and comunity centre are also based at the centre.
The Golf course is great, and so is the foreshore, where you'll find more shops. The sea is choppy, it's a surfing beach. It's particularly good on really hot days as it is windy. There is a dog beach further up the coast.

There are three schools, two of which I have mentioned in an earlier post. The High school now caters for years 11 and 12.

There are lots of parks and you are able to give your children alot more freedom than in the UK. Secret habour has hardley any traffic (not a through route) so the only real concern is stranger danger.

When you visit in May, have a look around all of the suberbs. We visited last April before moving out in August. we initially looked at the cheaper suberbs, as you do, but found that, in the south, Secret Harbour, Golden Bay and the other small suberbs between Port Kennedy and Mandurah were by far the nicest, and or course, the most expensive!

Let me know if you need any more info, also, when you visit in May let me know how it goes.
Best wishes
Gina:Rofl: