nursery for 2-year old in North Shore, Sydney?

[sprinkaan]

Hi all

We went from Durbanville, Cape Town to London for 6 years and now moving to Sydney. We have a 2-year old whom I would like to get into nursery (as it's called in England - what is it called in Australia?) as soon as possible. We will be in Sydney from middle November.

Can anybody please tell me if it is possible to get a child into nursery at that time of the year or whether I need to reserve a place beforehand? (this will be difficult since we'll be in temporary accomodation at first while we are looking at areas to live)

How much do nurseries charge (on average) in the North Shore areas?

If anyone can shed some light on this or direct me to a web site where I can find more information it will be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Elana]

Hallo Sprinkaan

We live on the North Shore, have a 2 yr old and she goes to a daycare facility, which is also a pre-school for the 3 - 4 yr olds. It was difficult to get her a place in the facility; she started with one day and is there 2 days per week now. It costs $72 per day, of which we get $5 discount per day from the government. The discount depends on visa, annual salary, etc.

When a child turns 3, they can do pre-school 2 days per week, from 9 - 3. Four year olds go for 3 days per week. Pre-school costs around $45 per day.

Generally, it is very difficult to find a place in daycare or a pre-school, and it is very expensive. It is one of the big gripes of parents in NSW. There is supposedly a big skills shortage, but they don't make it easy or affordable for mums to go back to work.

The big plus in our area, is that the ladies at the daycare are ex-South Africans, and my child settled in very quickly. She could not speak any English when we arrived in Jan, but the ladies understand and speak Afrikaans and she felt comfortable around them.

best of luck

Elana

(ps We are from Welgemoed)

[sprinkaan]

Thanks very much Elana, very helpful advice. Lack of daycare facilities...looks like a business opportunity for all the SAFFA entrepeneurs...?

Elana, I've sent you an email as well.

sprinkaan

[Steedies]

Shew! This is a big concern for us. We have a 2 month old baby boy and an 18 month old son which means we still have a while until they are able to go to nursery school/kindy. We are coming over in June/July 2008 and everything about Australia is fantastic except the childcare costs/arrangements. My 18 month old has just started at a playgroup here in JHB where he goes from 8am to 1pm. He only goes because he loves the stimulation of other children (albeit it "parallel play" at this stage). I was hoping that he could continue with the interaction when we go over to Oz! I certainly want to work but it seems that a huge chunk of my salary will be paid towards daycare!

[sa2auz]

Hi there

We stay on the North Shore and I must say we were lucky in that we arrived Nov and got my son who was turning 3 in the March into Preschool to start in Jan. Preschool generally is 9 - 3 and Thur and Friday is 3 - 4 year olds and Mon, Tues, Wed is 4 - 5 year olds. This costs us $45 a day. There is also home day care (day mothers that will take children and have a few a day about 5 and the children can be small for this.

There is also occassional care which you can do from 9 - 12 or 12 - 3. There are also playgroups which are about $135 a year and you go once a week for an hour or so. You will need to have a look around when you get here and see which option suits you and what hours you will be working. If you know your hours you could put your name down now already at a few places. Some names that come to mind are Turramurra Tots, Creative Kids, Shelley Tots, Alikat.

Have a look at Sydneyschild.com.au you might find some useful information.

Let me know if you are looking at longday care (all day) and if you are looking at everyday and I can ask around for you.

I must say that arriving so late in the year might be tricky but you could give it a bash as people do move states or leave during the year and you might just be lucky.

I have quite a few friends that have done the move to the UK had kids and then moved to Aus and they have all settled really well I am sure you won't have a problem.

Good Luck

[Elana]

Occasional care can only be used for a max of 6 hours per week. They might be flexible depending on availability, but if you are working, you can't bargain on getting more than 6 hours per week every week.

[sprinkaan]

Thanks very much everybody.

Although what you are telling me is a bit worrying it is probably better to know what to expect. I was hoping for 3 full days a week! My son really enjoys nursery at the moment and I find that I can't quite match up to the interesting stuff they do there...Well I guess he will just have to be bored with me for a little while longer then!

So from middle of Nov onwards, if you see a tired-looking mom walking in the park with a very active blond little boy, that will probably be me....

[sa2auz]

Oh Sprinkaan that sounds so familiar. It is tough staying home with a little one or two or three but somehow we all survive. I worked full time and both my kids went to daycare 7 - 5:30 in SA. In Aus I don't work and I have my little one with me every day except Thurs and Fri. In the beginnning I was really bored and missed talking to "big people" but now I have a great group of friends and we see each other once or twice a week, we walk, we have play days, meet at the parks/beaches etc.

December January Sydney is really quite specially January as schools break up late in December but once the year starts and you enrol in a playgroup and meet up with a few people with children you will find that before long your days will be full and you won't have a minute to sit down.

Hope to meet you soon.

S