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Depends on your budget....whether you would be purchasing a home or renting. Also, Melbourne is mega multicultural and wonderful...so different suburbs have a concentration of specific ethnicities so you must be comfortable and easy to get along with.
Catholic schools? Do you mean teaching religion too? Not many schools do teach religion here....that requirement wad rubbed out years ago. Most schools follow the same curriculum set by the department of Education!!!

Thanks for your reply.We would rent initially but would be important to get it right as need to start kids in school and wouldn't want to up route.

As for schools,there appears to be catholic schools in most suburbs.

I did presume that they followed catholic teaching also.

We would like to live with a decent size plot with good access to CBT.

Maggie

Hi Maggie, here you have a small present to consume your time reading.

One silly question, when you mention Nurse consultant means you are a registered nurse and you work as a consultant?

As nurse you will have plenty of choice where to live and work, as for IT (with such a large field) I am sure than 80%+ of the IT professionals live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, I remember many years ago (late 1980's or early 90's) where I used to work we where planning a new research and factory in the IT and communications fields, we needed to be close to the Melbourne airport located in the western suburbs of Melbourne, but them we got stuck with the problem to find the right people with expertise to work there and we have to change or scrap the plans and move far away to the eastern suburbs. All the banks (as far as I know) most IT companies (HP etc) are in the eastern part of Melb as well.

Now to school, a GOOD Catholic school like in the UK (I assume?) cost a fair bit of money,

There many resources in the net, but here it is a very good summary for what you need at the moment, yes I can leave you a lot more details, but I think will be to complicated to digest.



If you download any Melbourne map and mark any of the areas mentioned in the links above, you will end up with a very clear area of the map of the city of Melbourne, as well the same sort of map will overlap with other kind of statistics and I do not like to get in sensitive (right word?) areas, if you make that sort of map you will find than I live right in the middle of the map.

Regarding catholic schools you will find the good, the bad and the ugly, for women I know from friends the following good ones (but not cheap) (yes all in eastern parts of Melbourne)


The comment from other member mentions "Most schools follow the same curriculum set by the department of Education!!!" well it is only half right, It is only right for the more basic skills, if you look for any school check the subjects of year 11 and 12 called VCE
Here it is the whole list


And if we look only in Mathematics you will find 5 levels from a simple 1+ 1 to the more complex integrals etc
. Foundation Mathematics  (Very low level)
. Further Mathematics
. General Mathematics
. Mathematical Methods
. Specialist Mathematics (to the very hard maths)

in any of the subject you can download from the link above the "Study Design" and you can find schools than teach Specialist Mathematics or Chemistry and others than are good in Food and Technology (cooks) Product Design and Technology (carpenter I assume, I have no idea?) Education it is one of the hard to tackle points, and many individuals do not understand at all how the system works (including many born here).

In reality most schools are managed by a board (School Council or other names), it is a mix of parents, teachers, former students and in Catholic schools the Dioceses of Victoria has a group involved but I do not remember the name now, they are the ones they will select the subjects to learn and even the books to use or even the movies to watch in English / Literatuyre etc and the Victorian or Federal Government does not have a say or word.

But if you like to read something about the basic pieces of the puzzle here it is a link
[link moderated]

You will NOT find two schools the same, and if a parent plan the education properly will have to select the best school for the child and I know families than made the sacrifice to send children to two schools according to the needs of the child.
Like if a student it is good at music will be a waste to send the child to any good school and better off to send the child to a good school than it is good in music.
One example is

Where are the nice suburbs... Hummmm hard one I loved Camberwell, Kew, Hawthorn (at the end most of the City of Boroondara), it have all the ticks in the right place for us, problems mainly one price!, second best parts of Glen Waverly, Syndal, Mount Waverly.

Remember for the first week or two, I think you will have to rent a car to start looking for a place to rent. Phone with GPS will be ideal, but a street directory will be ok as well, here it is the only choice


But you should be able to get a BETTER price, in eBay are $50 you may find one from 2014 at a very discounted price ($25-$30), 2016 it is already out in the shops

If you have a GOOD driving record like NO accidents claims with your insurance, bring a coppy and ask for a discount at the time to buy a car and selecting an insurance, don't forget to call several times the same company and ask for a better price.

With a car as well for many this a need?
Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the more basic service will be OK


And if but chance in the future you missing something from back home, please go here.

May be other shops, but I going here a few times a year.

Here you can read a bit more about education
[link moderated]


Well it will take a few months to digest all the info, regarding the map above you will find the high price of a property (or rent as well) it is a good sign for a good school, good transport, close to hospitals, good shops, etc.

I will give one example, I would like to live in some of the streets than back to the Highgate Golf Club but no way I would like to live in Bradford, well similar (but not the same) examples could be found here as well.

Please subscribe with

<span id="checklink23376" class="reintegratelink" value1="2983004" value="23376">[link under review]</span>
to recive daily updates about rental details of the areas selected

AS WELL IF YOU ARE SURE ABOUT THE AREA GET IN CONTACT WITH THE REAL STATE COMPANIES OF THE AREA AND INTRODUCE THE FAMILY AND LET THEM KNOW ABOUT YOUR INTEREST, BUDGET ETC.

What to bring from the UK?
A CPR Call Blocker V202 (IF YOU HAVE ALREAY ONE) ha ha.

Now for the IT expert
Internet access? Well have to be ADSL2+ ( fibre will take a few more years to be completed in every home), remember to rent a property close to a phone exchange, it will help to have a good ADSL2+ speed (I download more than a terabyte a month), here <span id="checklink23377" class="reintegratelink" value1="2983004" value="23377">[link under review]</span> you can find the phone exchanges and internet speeds
Sure you have the other options for internet but the price will be higher, if interested my Internet, phone plan is the more expensive
$88 PER MONTH
Unlimited ADSL2+ Downloads, Wi-Fi Modem Included, Home Phone Line Rental, Local Calls Unlimited, National Calls Unlimited, 13/ 1300 Calls Unlimited, AU Mobile Unlimited, International Unlimited to 80 Countries (Includes all UK to fix lines or mobiles)
But is not necessary at the start

If your husband it is the sort of person prepared to use a screwdriver and place the hand inside a computer my recommendation is <span id="checklink23378" class="reintegratelink" value1="2983004" value="23378">[link under review]</span>   and

Parts  <span id="checklink23379" class="reintegratelink" value1="2983004" value="23379">[link under review]</span>
Notebooks  <span id="checklink23380" class="reintegratelink" value1="2983004" value="23380">[link under review]</span>

Well a few day of work, I hope can be used.

Camilo

Hi Maggie,

We are a family with two children (ages 7 and 9) and we moved to Melbourne five months ago. After a lot of research we ended up renting a property in Mount Waverley and are very happy with that decision.

We looked at the area's that we could afford and easy train acces to Melbourne, as my husband works in the centre. Then we looked at the rating of schools and searched for houses in that area. Our children go to the local public school, but I have a friend who has children that go to the Holy Family Primary school In Mount Waverly, so I could provide you with more insight if you want.

We actually wrote a post about our experience of 'where to live with children in Melbourne' on our blog, feel free to visit it. You can find the blog post on our europe2australia website under the tips tab.

Good luck with your search, and if you have questions do not hesitate to contact us.
Willemijn

Hi Willemijin,
Thanks so much for the info.

I would like to find  out about that Catholic school you mention.Key questions.
What is the cost of having two kids aged 9 and 6 ?
How do you apply to schools?.Can we apply from this country?
At what age do kids go to high school there.
Do you like the education over there.

Do you have lots of amenities near you?

Many thanks,

Maggi's

Hi Maggie,

I looked up the fee for the Holy family on their website, it is $ 2.424 per year (for 2 or more children), you can actually find that and the enrolment procedure on the website of the school. It is easy to contact the school if you have questions regarding the enrolment. We found that the schools were very helpfull in any way that they can.

For a government school you pay a lot less, around $ 150 per child per year. At our school there are also extra costs that can add up, like $ 30 per school excursion, which happens every term. And also fees for chess club, cooking class, dance class etc, etc. But that is not getting near the fee of a catholic school.

Primary school goes from one prep  year, through grade 1-6. Depending on when they start school they are around 12 years when they go to high school.

Yes, so far we are very positive about our school here. It is a lot different from what the children were used to in the Netherlands,. I do figure that there are more similarities with the English school system. Both our children love to go to school here. They have a lot more playing outside time! When we just arrived they did not even speak English. Now five months later it is amazing what they have learned and how at home they feel. The children here are used to new people coming to the school as this does happen quite frequently.

There are a lot of shops, supermarkets and shopping malls around. Everything is within 3-7 km, so you do need a car. Austalia's largest shopping Mall, Chadstone, is also just around the corner.

Hopefully this has helped you a bit further again. Although I am sure you still have a milion questions, as we did! That is all part of the process.

Best regards,
Willemijn