Quoll

Sponsorship doesn’t quite work like that. Sponsors have to prove that they’ve exhausted all possibilities of finding a local to fill their position so they’re generally not going out looking for foreigners to fill random spots just because their cv appeals. Put the cv out on whatever sites you would generally use. Then, check all the job adverts you see that you fancy and make contact and ask if sponsorship is a possibility. Contact all the big employers in your field directly (phone is usually best then they can’t ignore you) and ask if sponsorship is a possibility. There isn’t a “clearing house” process for people seeking sponsorship to meet those who may be offering it. TBH, don’t get hung up on where you might be living until you’ve got a feel for whether your DH’s skill set is going to be in demand. You may just have to go where the jobs are - probably avoid Darwin, it’s a bit of a culture shock - but see what else is trending.

Be aware that on a temporary visa and paying fees for state schools, the department is under no obligation to offer you a place in your catchment area if that school is full. Of course, they wouldnt make you trek across town but they are clear that they cannot guarantee a particular school.

Will do, might message you for some “don’t touch with barge pole” to avoid!

I think that very much depends on how essential and niche your skills are. If you are a high flyer in a corporate endeavour then, yes, you might get all the perks but if you are just another worker ant then you might get flights over and back (on the old visa, employers for temporary visa holders were responsible for ensuring that their flight home was paid - although it might have gone via Ulan Bator if that was the cheapest option). Again, all depending on the employer, you might be able to salary sacrifice some things - ie pay for some things out of your salary before tax is taken and things like health insurance and schooling might fall into that category if you're lucky. Still, doesnt hurt to ask if you are in a position of negotiating with a potential employer - definitely try for school fees if you are heading for NSW.

Canberra gets the odd week of "too damned hot to do anything" and it's the lack of sleep more than anything that makes it ghastly - getting up at 2am for a cold shower and then lying there on the damp towel just so you can get to sleep (as long as the Queensland originated Koel hasnt taken up residence in the local tall gum tree) gets old very quickly. I am hoping that a good set of earplugs and decent a/c will solve all that for future summers. Generally, though, Canberra doesnt have the relentless months of very high temperatures just the bursts of mid-high 30s for a week or so then back to 20s. I cope with living in Canberra, of course I do, and in the scheme of things it is one of the better places to live - I admit, though, I do hate being trapped and that, for the moment, is the worst thing for me. As long as I feel I CAN escape then I am ok (note to self, never do anything that will land me in jail!!!!). I think this time it will be better because DH is on the same page as me - we dont have a "home" to go to in UK any more as dad's house just completed and dad is in care, but we do have a son and a grandson there so as long as the government lets us leave, we will be doing regular visits in future, all being well but we will have to change the way we do it as we wont have a base and a car ready for us. LOL I thought I was the only one doing laps in the mall to ensure that I close my pink ring on my iwatch! They probably need a fast lane in the local mall otherwise laps turn into a bit of an obstacle race.

Very true! Still looking to find something that makes it bearable though as it looks as if we are back here for ever now (unless we win the lottery of course in which case there might be some negotiation going on). You must agree I have given it a good go though, been all over, done loads of stuff but meh! At least next summer I will be able to relax in air conditioned comfort after more than 4 decades of not having it! That might make it marginally more bearable of course, I live in hopes.

Yup we get 4 seasons in Canberra. Next summer we will be air-conditioned!!! Yes schools can be oppressively hot in the summer, especially when crammed full of sweaty little people. I think there is a closure temperature in departmental regulations but I dont recall schools every closing because the temperature got above the magical number.

I'm one of those who find the heat unbearable - I find it nigh on impossible to exercise in it and if I want to get my walk in I need to leave home before 6am. My very fair skinned granddaughters dont go out in the sun - well, not in the heat of the midday sun along with all the other mad dogs and Englishmen (sorry). They dont play in the garden and only at our suggestion do they head off to a playground - when they visited us in UK they were over the moon with picnics on the grass in the garden, rolling on the grass, making daisy chains, etc. They do go out in the winter, rugged up to the nines though. Our malls are full in the summer heat and as I have got older, air conditioning is definitely on my list of "I will not live without it" for the next summer coming. The DH used to fight every suggestion that we get a/c but now he's lived in UK for a few years he has relented and says that we will have it before next summer. On the coast it is a bit better but, as has been said, it's the sun that's the issue. My own kids were outside in it more and my eldest now needs regular skin checks because he is naturally a moley kind of person. Make one mistake as a parent with your spf 30 on the kids and you live in fear for the rest of their lives! If you enjoy feeling the sweat roll out of every pore, you'll be fine!

I doubt there is a huge need for PE teachers - we had a glut of sports science graduates unleashed on the market a few years ago but as you’ve other skills you could probably set up business somewhere if you can’t land a teaching job. I guess it all comes down to whether you can get a visa with your qualifications and post grad experience. AFAIK Qld doesn’t have a college system, schools are Yrs 7-12 so if you did get a job it would be from age 12-17 which might be a problem. HS often like teachers with a second subject area they are qualified in - advanced maths and science is usually sought after.

I’d agree with Tulip1. Chances are 7year olds are going to cope wherever they are. U.K. schools are reportedly (from returnees) very good at helping kids catch up because Aus does tend to be a bit behind with its later starting ages and less focus on rigorous learning in early years. Be aware though that in some states (and NSW is one of them) school education for temporary visa holders is not free (over $5k pa per child) so factor that into the financial equation.

If you cant get a visa there is no point in looking for a job!

We've been back since March. Left in a hurry with a house to sell which completed just yesterday after a few blips on the way (Dad's house). We made the decision to fly out on the Thursday afternoon, cleared out the house totally and left it on Sat afternoon to spend the night at son's place then flew out Sunday. Like you, I had a load of happy memories with friends and family - tiny family now mostly gone and friends scattered to the winds (I had been away 40 years or more) but I made some more amazing new friends and caught up with the old ones from time to time and it was just like there was zero time since our last get together. I hated Australia before I left and whilst I dont hate it now with the same passion, I just dont belong here. I guess arriving in mid Covid didnt help but there's nothing here for me and I didnt have much alternative - we were living in dad's house and he is now in care and the house needed to be sold to pay for his care fees - we were 24/7 carers for him for the best part of 3 years and he's actually much happier in the home. I find the weather more oppressive actually - the flies were bad when we first arrived and I get SAD from constant relentless blue sky and sunshine (interestingly, my eldest granddaughter remarked that she felt like that the other day - quite unprovoked). I am walking a lot but it's always exactly the same. I will make a go of it of course, I have to. I am not going to let myself go like I did before - self destructive behaviour due to exogenous depression can kill you!!!

Is that because they’re really close or that she’s going to be left holding the baby? Probably the latter as Ramot alluded to above! (In which case I can sort of see her point!) I’m sure it’s not the case for you but I can imagine a situation where a family member might try to “protect” a relative if they believe that there might be an undue exertion of control happening. It’s not unusual for there to be a power disparity in a relationship with the impetus for the move coming from mainly the other person and maybe the family can see what is happening to their relative and they fear that the isolation will then be complete (I’ve seen all sorts in my time!) As I said, I’m sure that’s not happening for you but there are myriad reasons why someone might get their knickers in a knot about someone leaving the family. I have a friend who had the most torrid time with her family. Her parents were both only children and deliberately (like me) vowed they would never have an only child because the stress on them with elderly parents was awful. Fast forward to their girls becoming adults and my friend (who became my friend because I was married to an Aussie) met an amazing man - tall, dark, handsome, bright, tea total, lovely, wealthy ..... all those things that make parents generally super happy when their daughters find one. But - he was Australian! If you want to see emotional blackmail, they did it on steroids! Refused to talk to him/meet him even though my friend travelled the length of the country with him regularly to try and calm the situation. They wouldn’t have a bar of him. So my friend got a fiancé visa and left with him when he went home. One day they decided that it was the relationship for them, walked into the registry office and got married with no family there at all. That was over 40 years ago! Her parents came round of course, they came on visits and she visited home pretty much every year. One of the grandsons lived in U.K. for a while. So it all worked out for her despite the most awful emotional blackmail (you’ll be dead to us, cut out of the will etc etc). I do empathise with their reasons being an only child but their reaction was extreme!

Are you headed back WR? We did just what you did - 2011 to March this year for us. We left within 3 days, totally clearing out and cleaning up a house. I can’t say that it’s great for me though, Australia still has nothing for me. I hope it’s better for you if you get back. My DH is very happy to be back though, it’s his place, not mine. I’m just glad I had almost 9 years of belonging which I hadn’t expected. Caring for elderly parents is nobody’s picnic though (the curse of the only child!)

One hates to say it but what did you expect? They’re grieving the loss of the life they thought they’d have in old age, the loss of their grandkids, etc. It’s probably a far more normal response than the “yeah go for it” and it’s probably due more to their expectation of family life than anything else. The degree of upset will vary of course, right through from “we are cutting you out of the will, don’t bother to come back” right through to “I will miss the kids at Christmas”. Some of it will be said with a real emotional blackmail intent whilst much will just be wistfulness. How you deal with it is up to you. If you’ve got siblings who live local to your parents then you’ve probably won the lotto because they will pick up the slack should things go pear shaped at home. If you’re an only child, you put on your big girl pants and deal with sh!t if and when it happens. You’ll never survive as an emigrant in a foreign country on the other side of the world if you aren’t more than average selfish and self sufficient (not meant in a pejorative way, just a survival strategy) so you don’t have to own their emotions. Basically, cut them a bit of slack, they’re grieving the loss of a life. Chances are they’ll get over it eventually. The hole you leave in their lives will heal over and they’ll either make the best of it or they won’t. How much you and your family will continue to connect with them is rather up to you. As the leaver, I felt it was my responsibility to make the trips back to connect with the folks but my parents were both very independent and self sufficient people that they made a choice to spend 6 months of each year in Australia. I never got the emotional guilt trip from them but I did get it from my daughter in law for leaving my grandkids in Australia when we needed to go home to support my ailing parents (mum hated that but she had dementia!). Being a grandparent over FaceTime sucks and tbh I would rather not do it and continually pick at the wound of what I no longer have in my real life but my grandson loves calling and talking to me so I do it for him. I actually think that we had it better 40 years ago when out of sight, out of mind worked well. Good luck - it’s your life to live.

I know you didn’t ask me but ours was 12 December to 1 April. Made a bit slower than they would normally have been because of C19 and also because they only come up to Canberra once a week and the previous week’s load was full. From Cambridge UK

Oh dear, you really are hung up on accelerating, aren’t you. If you want to arrive with all your ducks in a row, get your parents to engage an educational psychologist and have a full psycho educational assessment including IQ, across the board skill levels, social and emotional development and adaptive behaviour. If you get it done in Australia, they’ll probably be more aware of what the department will require specifically and it’d just be a matter of making an appointment and spending a couple of thousand dollars. But Victoria is a very egalitarian state and believes that individual needs can be met within the classroom so it’s anybody’s guess whether they will let you accelerate or not. Don’t think you’ll be the only bright child in your class. You keep talking about repeating but you won’t be repeating, you’ve not done the Australian curriculum at that year level.

Why would you look at being sponsored? If you’re eligible, get a PR visa. Sponsorship is potentially only temporary and after 2 or 4 years you’d be on your way back home. Don’t expect to rock up with a job, plan for 6 months unemployment when you arrive and work from there.

Ah, yes, trapped by kids, education, finances etc. Not the government’s fault in this case then. You may never find the “right” time. By the time your kids have all finished Uni some of them might be shacked up and producing babies, then your finances might be better in Aus for the longer term. Yup, sucks being in a place you don’t want to be.

Nah, dont be so down. Get your Australian passport so you can leave, apply for an exemption to travel on the grounds that you are moving to another country permanently then flex your wings and fly. It'll all be good, you're not incarcerated here.

If you want to go, go. Waiting in limbo for the “right time” may never happen. So, you lose money? That’s what happens when you move to the other side of the world. You’ll Be haemorrhaging money like there is no tomorrow but if you want to move just do it.

There usually has to be in depth psycho educational assessments for out of age placement and Victoria is one of the most intransigent states in that regard. Assessments cover not just academic skill level but the broader psycho social capacities and assessed giftedness. Private schools have marginally more leeway because .... money!

Didn’t you say that when you moved from Australia you skipped yr 3 so you’ve actually only done 9. You’ll be with the cohort you started your educational journey with. Please don’t get hung up on the ability gap - there are going to be lots of very bright kids in your year, and, at the risk of sounding boring, you haven’t done the Victorian curriculum for that year. The focus of education is quite different - less talk and chalk and more independent exploration. You may find it hard to come to grips with a foreign education system and a whole new High School jungle and you will be much better with your age peers. If you have the ability, you’re going to make it anyway, but Victoria is one of the most draconian states for rules and guidelines and their cut off date is their cut off date and you don’t want to be 17 going to Uni. The social gap gets quite large around that time. Just another gentle heads up - I mentioned before, tall poppies often find themselves cut down to size quite quickly so be careful about pushing that “different ability” barrow, you’re going to have/want to make friends too and nothing puts the other kids off quite so much as the “I’m better than you are” thing. Perhaps you could talk to your parents about looking at one of the top level private schools.

I’m POA for my dad and executor of his will. The POA thing is tedious given the speed of post at the moment and I will deal with the executor thing when it happens but I’m hoping there won’t be any problems. I was in UK when I had to deal with mums will but there was a very good, relatively ok priced online service which helped me with probate.

No it wont. If a school has an extension program if you fit into it you can join it.