Hello everyone, we are moving to Canberra in December and can't wait. Where else in the world can you find a city with all the major stores, embassies, two major universities, the national capital, great schools, ton of parks, low population density, good health care, and no traffic?!

I am really puzzled in trying to figure out when our daughter can start kindergarten. Her birthday is November 2007, so she will be 4 when we move to Canberra. From what I understand, the new year starts in February. She wouldn't be eligible to start in February 2012, since she'll only be 4, right? In that case, can she start kindergarten in February 2013 (when she'll be 5 years and 3 months)? Someone told me that she can't start until the following year, but that would be crazy, because she'd be 6 by then!

Thanks for any help you can provide, and I look forward to reading and learning from you all!

I too have a November baby (2009 so a couple of years behind) and he is booked to go to school in 2015 when he will be 5 and 3 months. So from your DD's age she will go in Feb 13. She can however go to preschool from 4.

My godaughter is a July baby and she started school at 5 years 8 months because she missed the April 30 cut-off but my friends little boy who was born in April the same year started at 4 years 10 months because he just scrapped in by a few days.

Hope that helps.

BTW, Canberra is a great city to live in and raise kids. Do you know where you will be living yet? You could always call the school/pre-school you would like DD to attend and get them to confirm these details.

When starting ACT Kindergarten, she needs to have turned 5 by April 30th the year she starts (as mentioned above). She would definitely able to attend pre school. I would start looking at the local preschools in the area you want to go, I know our school has started taking enrolments for next year already.

Smart decision to move to the ACT I did it almost 18 months ago, and am absolutely loving it!

For me it was a move from a bustling city (Sydney) so Canberra feels like a big country town to me, for DP who moved from the country, it's a big city! I think it's a country town with all the city convenience.

As PPs have said she can start preschool in 2012 (at 4yo) and kindergarten in 2013 (at 5yo) - which my Dec '07 DS will be doing. If you have any idea where you'd like to live, Id enquire about preschool now - I know in our area the school will accepting applications from May and there is likely to be a lot of competition for places (it has been suggested that we'll need to queue up in the early hours to have a chance - crazy!).

We are new to Canberra (since Jan) and we just love it here. Good luck with your move

DS is the same age (2 November 2007). Next year he will start preschool and he will start Kindergarten 2013.

Thanks everyone so much! I really appreciate it. We actually won't be doing preschool as I work full time and my husband is a full-time student. From what I understand, preschool is only 12 hours per week, so we'll need to have her in day care instead. I will work at ANU, and we are already on the wait lists of their three centres, but it doesn't look very hopeful - on one, we are number 250 on the wait list!

We aren't sure where we want to move - we want to rent for a year first before buying. We've taken one trip out to Canberra so far to get a feel for things, but we're going to come back in September to really check things out. Any suggestions?

hi

it depends on your budget. Living somewhere like O'connor would be absolutely perfect for you - its opposite ANU. But if your budget does not stretch to start with a 7 and more like a 4, then you will need to look in the outer suburbs - I'm assuming you want to rent where you can afford to buy...

Watson is lovely, and hacket and ainslie, they are still inner though, probably around 650 - 700k

or out in dunlop we have a lovely 3 bedroom with a medium backyard for 460k.

Just so you know,if you were lucky enough to get a daycare spot near the school your dd will attend, they can drop them off and pick them up from the preschool - they do that at nipperville in watson...

It really depends on your budget. There are not many areas in Canberra to avoid really. The closer you get to the city the more expensive it is. If you want a newer house you move to the outer suburbs. There is the North vs South debate as well.

I am in Kambah which is about 15-20 minutes drive from the city (traffic depending) and the average rental is around $450 a week for a 3 bedroom house and $430,000 plus to buy a 3 bedroom house.

Check out www.allhomes.com.au and browse around a bit. Should help you get an idea of where things are and what things cost.

Thanks everyone, great tips!