‘Emigration with a young family’ – it’s impossible to imagine that sentence to be any more stress-inducing. ‘Emigration with a young family – and a troop of wild monkeys,’ perhaps?
Nevertheless, if you’ve decided that living abroad is the best option for you and your children, it’s time to plan for the necessary adjustments. Here’s a quick list of things you’ll need to consider before departure.
– An important factor when choosing the right school in Australia is seeing through the promotional material – buzzwords and glossy brochures are one thing but what can this school really offer your child specifically.
– Competition for places in Australian schools is high, so it’s perhaps a good idea to find out about the schooling first before you start shipping overseas and picking your ideal home. There’s no point finding the three-bedroom home of your dreams, only to find that a helicopter is the sole method of transport to the nearest school
– It may be worth your while speaking to a relocation management company in Australia that deals specifically with helping expats find their footing, as they may very well help set up meetings with the right people regarding your favoured schools – headmasters, administrators, those sorts of people. If you are relocating for an employer, remember to ask about financial packages as some companies do offer to contribute to educational fees
– Perhaps the most important thing above all else is trying to engage with your children about the move to Oz because without question, they’ll be running through the full gamut of emotions too. Talk to them about Australia, watch TV shows, read books about the country, find aspects of the culture they might relate to. Really sell the place.
– Once you’ve arrived, it’s important to help your children forge new friendships by getting to know your neighbours and other people in your community, for there will inevitably be other little ones in tow. This should be relatively easy because everyone in Australia is very nice (as is our understanding).
– Some children like throwing themselves into projects, so if you have creative offspring, you might want to try helping them make a scrapbook of places, people and things they remember from their birth country. In addition, once in Australia, they could start a new scrapbook about the people and things they’re enjoying in Australia. This can help with big transitions.
If all else fails, just tell them you’re going somewhere where playing outside is not dictated by rainclouds on a daily basis. That should do it. And to make sure you take the stress out of the move itself, order a Seven Seas Worldwide MoveCube, the mini shipping container that we bring directly to your home! Check out the website for more details.
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