Taradale Schools

[Nicola]

Does anyone out there have any knowledge of what Taradale High, Intermediate and primary schools are like.

I have checked out there websites and the TKI pages. But would appreciate any comments from anyone with kids already there or who know of children in these schools.

Nicola


Two months to go and counting

[Phil&Shell]

Hi Nicola,

We moved here to Taradale in Jan and have a 15 year old son at Taradale High and an 11 year old daughter at Taradale Primary.

We have found Taradale Primary to be a friendly, happy and fun school and Amy has made many new friends. She has spent a week at camp, a whole week sailing and regulary takes part in netball, soccer and rugby. The academic standard is about the same as her school in the UK although she doesn't get as much homework. They teachers are positive and easy to talk to and the emphasis seems to be very much on activity and teamwork.

We have been told that Taradale Intermediate is an exceptionally good school too and the best in Napier, but we've no first hand experience yet.

Taradale High has very good decile rating and academically is probably the best ( mixed sex) school in Napier, the best sports school is Napier Boys. Locals will tell you that they had a bullying problem a few years ago that made the press, but it was isolated and there is a new head now. Our son is happy there and getting good grades in his work, he settled in easily and has a happy group of friends. Again the standard seems about the same as the UK, maybe a little easier he says.

Generally, the schools are happy, well run and the kids genuinely seem to enjoy going there.

Hope that your plans are progressing and there aren't too many worries. We don't read this forum as much now that we are here, but feel free to email if you have any other questions about Taradale or Napier.

Good luck

Phil and Michelle

[Nicola]

Thanks Phil and Michelle for your comments. It is good to here from parents who already have kids at the schools we are looking at. We have three boys 5, 12 and 15. One at each of the schools.

We hope to be moving in mid September. But we are in house sale limbo at the moment, just waiting for a moving date to be fixed. Peter has accepted a job in Hastings.

Does Taradale have a city feel to it or does it still feel like a town.

So many questions.

Nic

[Phil&Shell]

Wow Taradale must be flavour of the month at the moment as we have just heard from another couple who are moving here in Sept. from Kent.

As you probably know, Taradale was a seperate town until the 60's but is now suburb of Napier about 15 mins drive from the city centre. It has doctors/dentists/vets/churches etc and basically a single shopping street with Banks/PO/shops/takeaways and all the usual stuff. In UK terms it's more like a large village than a town and property prices are slightly higher than other suburbs of Napier. You get day to day items in Taradale but for a bit more choice or out-of-the-ordinary things you need to go to Napier or Hastings.

Hope this helps

[Nicola]

Thanks for the fast reply and the information about the area. That ijust what I wanted to know. It is good to hear info from other forumites that are already there. You can do as much reaearch as you want but nothing beats the views of people living there.

Another couple of questions, is there any bad side to living in Taradale apart from the house prices? Also did you find it easy to settle their yourself, are the people friendly?

Nicola

[Phil&Shell]

Nicola,

I wouldn't say there are any bad things about Taradale in particular but there are some things about New Zealand life that we really weren't prepared for. Salaries are poor, it's mentioned on the forum over and over again, but most average people from the UK will feel less well off financially once their pounds are gone and they are living on kiwi income. We've recently had to pay a heftly bill for othodontic treatment for our daughter which would have been free in the UK.

Despite the above we still think it was a good move and the New Zealand way of life suits us, others it may not. We've adapted to a different way of doing things down here and overwhelmingly kiwis are friendly, down to earth and fun but behave like Sir Clive and you'll discover another side pretty damn quickly.


Easy to settle in? If your family is anything like ours there ain't much time for dwelling on the past. 8.00 a.m. Monday morning is pretty much the same no matter where you are! We miss our families and friends and sometimes one of us is down but that happened in the UK too. For now, the thought of not having a sunday morning coffee looking over Hawkes Bay in the winter sunshine seems much worse.

Hope those opinions sound positive to you, they were meant to be.

Phil

[GeorgeM]

behave like Sir Clive and you'll discover another side pretty damn quickly.

Don't think that Sir C's behaviour had anything to do with it. They had decided how they were going to treat him before he had touched down.

He could have been an amalgam of Albert Schweitzer, Mother Theresa, Princess Diana and Colin Meads and they'd have still manage to find something about him that they didn't like.

The hate campaign against him showed really that Kiwis are, like the Brits, a bit easily led. The difference is that down here a general lack of quality journalists means that the media is allowed to get away with leading and manipulating public opinion in a quite outrageous way.

[Nicola]

Phil thanks for that post.

Yes thats just what are family are like. We are not expecting paradise, just a different life. You are spot on with the comment about somtimes you are up and sometimes you are down, just like in the UK. We are just a normal family with 3 noisy boys who would like to fit into the Kiwi way of life.

Arggh on the orthodontist comment. I just discovered yesterday my middle son needs to see an orthodontist. We have to wait 2 months to see another dentist in the same practice to get xrays done, then 3 months to actually see the orthodontist. By which time I think his teeth will have doubled up. Unfortunatly as we are moving in September, he will have to have the work done in NZ. Worse thing is my hubby is a dentist, but the kids are registered at the local dental clinic and he can not do anything about it. Better start saving now.

Sorry for being totally ignorant but who is Sir Clive and what did he do.

[Phil&Shell]

Oh no, can of worms time!

the media is allowed to get away with leading and manipulating public opinion in a quite outrageous way.

So the Sun and Mirror report factually and impartially eh? I wasn't talking about the media George, they are disgraceful in both countries. In my opinion, as a keen Lions fan here in NZ, Sir C's comments at the end of the tour were arrogant and superior in the face of an overwhelming defeat and most kiwis I know regarded them at best as laughable if not insulting.

Sorry we've strayed 'off topic' Nicola but Clive Woodward was the coach of the British and Irish Lions who recently toured New Zealand.