Which school?

[Jilldo80]

Hi all, looking for some advice if anyone has any knowledge or info on these schools - we're looking at homes in a few areas, the schools in these zones are, burnside primary, fendalton open air, ilam or westburn. My son will be going into year 2 or 3 and finding it so hard deciding when I have no information. I guess they all look good with nice play areas etc but would be great if anyone can help :-)

[Karen Phillips]

Hi. I have heard Burnside is good, but this is second hand info. Have you been to the schools and made an appointments to be shown round? We did this in several schools and it helped us get a feel for what felt right. We took our daughter with us and she noticed different things from us. Often, "gut feeling" is the most important deciding factor. I guess it's about balancing your child's social welfare and happiness with academic success. Given the tight zoning and competiton for places in the best schools, you are obviously going about this the right way! Good luck!
Cheers
Karen

[Jilldo80]

Hi yeah we went to burnside and it seems like a lovely school. I phoned 2 of the others and didn't get the same response when I asked if we could visit. I was worried about picking the first and only one we've seen so far. I'll try again and see if we can get there. Thanks :-)

[Georgebulldog]

I can only give 2nd hand info to on Burnside, but some friends of ours moved there & their daughter is in year 3, they've told us it is a good school too, daughter settled in well & the school has been great for her

[Jilldo80]

Yeah it seemed nice. We went to fendalton and ilam today - both seemed great too! Big decisions for us now. I guess we can't go too wrong just a matter of picking one!

[Jilldo80]

Anyone know anything about roydvale primary school? Looks nice but not heard of this one before

[TeamBacon]

We didn't visit Roydvale, but I can speak about Ilam. Our daughter is now in year 1 there,and we love it; I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

[Jilldo80]

Hi, how are things for you? When did you arrive? We arrived on march 13th and are still in a motel! We've visited ilam and really liked it, it's just a matter of finding a house. The house we liked ( near roydvale ) is now gone so I'm not really looking there anymore. Hopefully we'll find a house this week as my son can't wait to get into school now! Glad your daughter is enjoying ilam :-)

[mylesdw]

Just bear in mind that the schools in Chch are in a state of flux with many mergers and closures being discussed. Worth investigating before buying a house in a particular zone...

[TeamBacon]

Jilldo80, we arrived 3 March. My husband works at the University, so we enrolled our daughter at Ilam even though we're out of zone.

I really *really* wanted to live within walking distance of the school, but we also wanted a well-insulated house, so we wound up in Hornby.

We're from the States, so *all* the schools are a lot different than ours. Our daughter sometimes comes home to report that her teacher took the class to the Porthills for the day, which I think is just great. I think most NZ schools focus on the whole child, but we felt right at home at Ilam straight away.

Things for us are going very well. I have one child in year 1 at Ilam, one in kindy in our neighborhood, and one little nursling, just 8 weeks old. I haven't met many people here yet, but I've only just started driving. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the whole on-the-left thing, particularly as I'm always driving about with small people chattering at me.

I love New Zealand. Just love it. Love the pace, love the people, love the land.

How are you doing, a few weeks in?

Are you renting or buying a house? I can't remember. Best of luck to you and your search!