What month is best to move?

[tina1606]

Hi there, me and hubby have been thinking which month is best to make the move. School year in UK starts in September but in AUS it starts in February.

If we move during the UK summer holidays, the AUS school year will be over half way through and if we move in January, our boys will go long time without summer holidays   What is best? or what did you do?

Edited June 10, 2022 by tina1606

[Quoll]

Don't worry about moving during the school year, kids move and start school all the time so you don't need to start at the beginning of the school year nor even at the beginning of a school term.  You can start them when you've managed to secure a rental and it's  not like UK - each school has a priority enrolment area and is obliged to find a place for a child in that area. You're probably marginally less likely to be offered an out of area placement if  you decide on a school which is not your local priority enrolment area school at that time of year though. 

Move when you need to move because a job starts or maybe time it so you don't coincide with a big demand for rentals or when the job market is going full swing and not on holidays.  

Australia goes on holiday in January so getting a job just after Christmas can be tricky. People generally know that they are moving for the beginning of the year so for the month or two before Christmas the rental market goes gang busters and it can be even harder than usual to get a rental then of course the rental market tends  to slump just after Christmas. 

Is more a case of which months to avoid! If you come after the kids finish school for the year in UK then you'll beat the end of year rental rush, possibly find a job before Christmas and you can get them into school so they have at least a couple of months before Christmas to make some friends to see them over the summer holidays. 

[Jon the Hat]

We chose to move in September.  Logic was I had a bonus paid that month, it is half way through the UK tax year so I get a rebate in the UK, and also in Australia I start work partway through the year and get a rebate as well.  This is due to tax free allowances and tax bands applying for the full year even if you only earn for part of the year.  Benefit depends on your income level, but it all helps.

Weather in Perth was nice Spring, not too hot and improving - got us all used to the heat gradually, not arriving in Jan to full 40 degree heat.  We also got to enjoy UK summer and skipped a winter   

As Quoll said the kids got a couple of months of school pre Christmas break which means they and we had made some friends before the 6 weeks holiday.

Work wise it took me 4 months to secure a role, but I was looking at a senior level where they are not that many around.  Patience paid off.

[Ken]

4 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

We chose to move in September.  Logic was I had a bonus paid that month, it is half way through the UK tax year so I get a rebate in the UK, and also in Australia I start work partway through the year and get a rebate as well.  This is due to tax free allowances and tax bands applying for the full year even if you only earn for part of the year.  Benefit depends on your income level, but it all helps.

Weather in Perth was nice Spring, not too hot and improving - got us all used to the heat gradually, not arriving in Jan to full 40 degree heat.  We also got to enjoy UK summer and skipped a winter   

As Quoll said the kids got a couple of months of school pre Christmas break which means they and we had made some friends before the 6 weeks holiday.

Work wise it took me 4 months to secure a role, but I was looking at a senior level where they are not that many around.  Patience paid off.

In Australia the tax free allowance is pro-rated (so you don't get the full year allowance for a part year) but for all the other tax bands you get the full amount so you'll pay a lower average tax rate than for a full year.

[emmajane0429]

We are going September. The way we look at it is we can either keep the kids of school until February as they have already completed their year and will start fresh or we can enroll them in maybe October so they can get to know the school and the kids before the summer hols and start of next year. The later will prob be best for us but we will wait and see when we get there. Good luck 

[Quoll]

12 hours ago, emmajane0429 said:

We are going September. The way we look at it is we can either keep the kids of school until February as they have already completed their year and will start fresh or we can enroll them in maybe October so they can get to know the school and the kids before the summer hols and start of next year. The later will prob be best for us but we will wait and see when we get there. Good luck 

They won't have "completed their year" they won't have done any Australian education at all - remember it's a foreign country with several different education systems and depending on their birthday may find themselves in a year level with their age cohort that they think they have already "done". However, the wisest route is to get them into school once you've found your rental then they can start to connect with the local community. Nobody would give a toss if it takes you a couple of months to get settled though and they're out of school for that long although they may take a dimmer view if you are able to enrol them but don't. School is compulsory until age 17. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Quoll

[ali]

We came at the beginning of January.  My daughter had moved to Highschool in the UK for 3 months.  We had secured jobs and managed to get a fully furnished rental so knew the area we'd be living in for the first few months.  I'd asked the school if there were any children who wanted a 'pen friend' before we moved and my daughter was put in touch with a couple of girls who she emailed/chatted to prior to coming over which made breaking the ice so much easier.

[Jon the Hat]

22 hours ago, Ken said:

In Australia the tax free allowance is pro-rated (so you don't get the full year allowance for a part year) but for all the other tax bands you get the full amount so you'll pay a lower average tax rate than for a full year.

Thanks Ken, I think though pro rated from when you arrive and become tax resident rather than the months you are working?

[Jon the Hat]

Also worth noting if you are looking at a popular high school you may have to sign a 12 months property lease to be able to enrol.  We certainly did.  They have a problem with people "moving" into catchment for a few months.

[Ken]

22 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks Ken, I think though pro rated from when you arrive and become tax resident rather than the months you are working?

That's right.