國家地區媽媽會 今日: 0 | 主題: 20265

積分: 643

38^#

發表於 15-4-10 00:00 |只看該作者

Terence,

Million thanks for your info ! You are super nice!

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

37^#

發表於 15-4-7 05:16 |只看該作者

Oops, yenma, just relaised you'd asked for ranking of grammar schools.

Below please find the Telegraph's Top 100 secondary schools (state + private) by GCSE result 2014,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educa ... E-results-2014.html

Also, the BBC's Top 81 secondary schools (state + private) by GCSE result 2013,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25849548

Hope the above help.

Best wishes
Terence Lai, UK

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

36^#

發表於 15-4-7 05:09 |只看該作者

Ranking

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-4-6 21:11 編輯

yenma 發表於 15-3-20 03:13
Siugub,

My husband is british as well, but not me and my two kids (7 and 3 yrs old).

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

35^#

發表於 15-4-5 17:08 |只看該作者

Jobs/Income in Seaton

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-4-5 10:48 編輯

yenma 發表於 15-3-30 16:32
Terence,
好多謝你咁詳盡嘅解答！
我都上網睇過Seaton嘅資料，都好鍾意呢個town,環境天氣都好好！

We mainly work from home and/or local only, yenma - don't want to waste too much time in travelling as we want to have a good balance of life/work. (e.g. http://www.tutorhunt.com/users/1661846399307/

For jobs in Seaton, you can try this site (which has 4 jobs currently)

ttp://www.jobs24.co.uk/search-results.aspx?query=djAuMXxQUzoxMHxDUjphcmVhOnNlYXRvbnx2MC4x¶ms=cXVlcnlmaWx0ZXI6

But if you two are prepared to travel for up to 20 minutes, you can type in sidmouth, honiton, axminster or ottery st mary - there will be more jobs available.

And if you two are prepared to travel for around 45 minutes, you can type in exeter, you will have plenty of options! (or exmouth to a less extent)

Below please find some part time jobs in/near Seaton,

http://hours4work.com/jobs.php?part-time

Alternatively, you can try the local government jobs,

http://www.devonjobs.gov.uk/SearchResults.aspx?key=&ocg=&add=

(select 'East Devon' or 'Exeter' in 'Location')

Regarding income in Seaton, have a look of the following link,

http://www.devon.gov.uk/estimates_of_household_income_2008.pdf

(P. 8 Seaton Mean Income = £29,300 Median Income = £25,100)

Using £25,100, the after tax income would be around £20,000 a year = around £1,600 per month.

Regarding income from overseas, have a look of the following link,

https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income

Good Luck.

Best wishes
Terence Lai, UK

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

積分: 643

34^#

發表於 15-3-31 01:05 |只看該作者

Terence,

I can't find any info from the tax link you provided. Does it mean UK does not impose any tax on citizenship's investment outside UK (income generated from real estate, stocks, savings in other countries)?

私人傳訊

積分: 643

33^#

發表於 15-3-31 00:32 |只看該作者

Terence,
好多謝你咁詳盡嘅解答！
我都上網睇過Seaton嘅資料，都好鍾意呢個town,環境天氣都好好！
你同太太都到附近大城市返工嗎？Seaton應該工作機會不多吧？！
果度啲人平均稅後入息係咩range？
近年英國經濟麻麻，新移民會否好難搵工？我怕兩公婆都揾唔到1200磅

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

32^#

發表於 15-3-29 19:10 |只看該作者

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-3-29 15:21 編輯

yenma 發表於 15-3-25 04:59
Terence,

thanks for you quick reply. I thought you must be busy in being a landlord.

Yes,yenma, I've been exceptionally busy.....but also exceptionally happy.....because I've learnt so much during the process.

I've learnt how to check prospective tenants' credit history like an agent by using ,

http://www.homelet.co.uk/

how to find the best price to have the most qualified/recommended gasman/electrician to do the gas safety check/electrical installation condition report etc. by using,

http://www.ratedpeople.com/

Canada or UK? Noone knows the answer better than yourself because noone knows better your full circumstances like you.

You can visit the following link for UK income tax,
https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax/income-tax

Using my family as a guide (also 2 adult and 2 children at the state school), your monthly expenditure could be very similar to us although we do have a mortgage.

WITHOUT mortgage, you should be looking at around £1,200 a month for a very comfortable lifestyle here in Seaton. This £1,200 includes the following for us :-

Food + Water + Gas + Electricity + Home Telephone + Internet + Council Tax + TV license + Building Insurance + Car Insurance

Petrol (mainly local trips: to and from school, supermarkets etc.)

Mobile (Mine is pay as you go only - about £5 a month)

Boys sport centre membership (£24 a month, http://www.ledleisure.co.uk/home, for unlimited swimming, badminton etc)

Weekly Chinese takeaway (Every Sunday after family swimming, http://hongs-chinese.co.uk/)

1 eat-out lunch a week (just my wife and I during weekdays when boys at school, e.g. Temptation, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Res ... _Devon_England.html or http://www.buffet-city-restaurant.co.uk/exeter.html)

Please do have a look of the following sites to see other costs of living,

http://www.tesco.com/ (have a superstore in Seaton)

http://www.co-operativefood.co.uk/#_ga=1.66375342.1828475383.1427626803 (2 stores in Seaton)

http://www.iceland.co.uk/ (Honiton, 17-minute drive)

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/index.htm (Honiton - we tend to do our weekly big shopping here)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Home.htm (Honiton)

http://www.marksandspencer.com/ (Exeter, 42-minute drive)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ (we buy a lot things from Amazon)

Hope the above help.

Best wishes
Terence Lai UK

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

積分: 643

31^#

發表於 15-3-25 12:59 |只看該作者

Terence,

thanks for you quick reply. I thought you must be busy in being a landlord.

I am struggling if we should go to Cananda or UK.

Can you advise me the taxation policy of UK, any website that I can search for relevant info ? I am wondering if the income tax is as heavy as Canada and any tax imposed on citizenship's property investment worldwide (income generated from real estate, stocks, savings in other countries)

Besides, if I prefer not to live in big cities, but rather, in towns like Seaton, are the living costs still very high ? For a family of 4 (couples with 2 kids of 6 and 10 in state schools), no repayment of housing mortgage needed, how much is the rough living cost per month?

Lastly, do you know any website for me to do the research of ranking of grammar state school ?

Thanks so much for you patients

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

30^#

發表於 15-3-21 20:46 |只看該作者

Seaton

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-3-21 13:11 編輯

yenma 發表於 15-3-20 03:05
Terence,

really enjoy reading your sharing. you and your wife are really good parents.

Hi yenma,

I'm glad that you've found my sharing interesting, relaxing and keep you thinking.

I've also found your sharing interesting - this bit, 'I heard from a relative from UK said his house got burglary. So I just thought living in a small town with lower population would be dangerous.'

Perhaps you've drawn such a conclusion (or generalisation?) simply because your UK relative lives in a small town with a lower population AND his house has recently been burgled? But I'm afraid I think differently.

To me, a bigger city with a higher population is more likely = more crimes including more burglary.

Please don't take my words for it, check the crimes in London, Manchester, Birmingham etc. from the police site, http://www.police.uk/, and see the crime statistics yourself.

The crime figures of Seaton is as follows :
http://www.police.uk/devon-and-cornwall/422.08/

http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/34601/20/1/seaton-crime-in-seaton-falls-to-record-low

Remember, not only one has to look at the NO. of the crimes, but also, more importantly, examine the NATURE of the crimes. (i.e. robbery, burglary etc. is more serious than shop theft)

With a population of about 7,000, Seaton may not fit into the normal definition of a 'small town.' http://www.devon.gov.uk/seatonupdate.pdf

It may be worth mentioning I had forgotten to take the front door key out after opening/closing the door a number of times. Luckily, noone had ever walked into our home! And I know the neighbours well : opposite is a lady cleaning for our boys' school, then a teacher at our boys' school....

I, however, would never live in a remote/rural area in any town/city, where no neighbour is in sight - many criminals are opportunists and an isolated household could be tempting criminals to have a go.

Hope the above help.

Best wishes
Terence

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

積分: 643

29^#

發表於 15-3-20 11:13 |只看該作者

Siugub,

My husband is british as well, but not me and my two kids (7 and 3 yrs old).
But he hasn't lived in UK before, can he still apply settlement visa for us like you ?

Have you started your application yet ? through agent or on your own? Can you have any sharing on your findings ?

Are you in HK now or have you lived in UK before ? in our case, does my husband need to live in UK for a certain period of time before he can apply settlement visa for us ? that mean he needs to apart from the family.

where do you do the research of ranking of grammar state school ? any website recommended ?

Sorry to raise out so many questions. I am just new to seriously consider this issue. I have taken a long time to consider Canada, but suddenly think UK may be another good choice for us.

thanks a lot.

私人傳訊

積分: 643

28^#

發表於 15-3-20 11:05 |只看該作者

本帖最後由 yenma 於 15-3-20 11:15 編輯

Terence,

really enjoy reading your sharing. you and your wife are really good parents.

Is the safety security of your place good or not. I heard from a relative from UK said his house got burglary. So I just thought living in a small town with lower population would be dangerous.

私人傳訊

cffw

禁止訪問

積分: 49718

27^#

發表於 15-3-16 02:18 |只看該作者

引用：Hi+TerenceThanks+for+your+sharing+and+it

提示: 作者被禁止或刪除內容自動屏蔽

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

26^#

發表於 15-1-19 07:16 |只看該作者

Hi siugub,

我在教育王國用中文回應一香港家長想在英國買樓的問題, 你或許有興趣?

http://www.edu-kingdom.com/forum ... &extra=page%3D1

Best wishes
Terence
Twitter @longyinfather

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

25^#

發表於 15-1-11 20:45 |只看該作者

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-1-11 17:20 編輯

siugub 發表於 15-1-10 14:17
Hi Terence

Thanks for your sharing and it sounds great.

Yes, siugub, you're right in saying that HK is a place always making people to 'Compete, Compete, Compete'.

I was once a victim of HK's never-ending, always-exhausting Competition - I started 'leveling out' in F.4 after reaching my peak in F.3, so my parents rushed to send me to UK for study to avoid me taking 香港中學會考!

My wife and I moved to UK in 97, then to NZ in 01 and then to OZ in 06 - for the first 10 years of my elder boy and 7 years of my younger boy, they spent much time in playgrounds, parks, beaches, theme parks etc. , because we didn't wish to see our children going through what we'd been through - suffocated by the exceptionally pressurised study environment.

But to ensure they'd developed the much needed Concentration, Imagination, Creativity, Patience, Observation etc., my wife and I had developed certain games/playing routines with them to ensure my boys could read, write, calculate etc, at a reasonably standard.

Our beliefs at the time were :
'Learning through Playing'
'Children learn Best when they're Relax'
'Do little at a time, Progress More over time'

But then again, 2 things happened while our elder boy attending at a private school in Queensland, Australia, http://ccps.qld.edu.au/ that had changed our thinking.

At the end of Yr 4, my elder boy won a prize at a school ceremony held at a big local venue for being the top boy. Although many parents would be very proud in front of a large audience, I started to have doubts about the school - why my elder boy was the 1st in his class? Given that my elder boy wasn't particular good at the time, so the only reason must be because all his classmates were particularly bad!

Then, at the beginning of Yr 5, my elder boy came home one day to tell us his class teacher asked him a question, my elder boy gave the correct answer right away but the class teacher needed a calculator to check his answer - the question was , '9 x 8' .

I started to have more doubts about the school, about whether Australia was the best place for my boys in terms of education. My wife and I started to ask ourselves some fundamental questions like,

'Do we let our boys stay at the current school, pretend nothing has happened and let our boys continue to stay at a school where most students are of average standard?'

'Should we move our boys to a school where most students are at a higher academic standard, which would bring out our boys' full potentials, taking them to another level?'

'Would a top 10% school in UK better than a top 10% school in Australia?'

We also started to think a bit of Competition was good, and the Competition should be focused on ONESELF (e.g. if I can spell 2 words today, I should aim to spell 3 words 2 weeks later; if I can run 100 metre in 18 seconds today, I should aim to run the same distance in 16 seconds 4 weeks later) It's all about Self-Improvement, Self-Motivation etc. in Advancing Oneself at OWN pace.

After all, Competition, like Money, in itself is Neutral (= Neither Good nor Bad), all depends on how a person using it.

After all, Competition happens every minute, every day. Every morning, everyone gets up and 'competes' for the toilet! And everyone 'competes' to get into the jammed lift to get to bus/MTR station. Then everyone 'competes' to get into the also jammed bus/MTR get to office. Then, everyone 'competes' to get at the front of the queue in 大家樂 to buy their lunch......

Not to mention, every product 'competes' with all other products from every part of the world, every worker 'competes' with all other workers from every part of the world (e.g. how much cheaper to employ a Mainland Chinese Graduate?), every....

So rather than trying to keep our children away from the Competition (i.e. the Reality = Competition is here all the time), we as parents should help our children to develop the Right Mindset to embrace Competition, the Right Skill Set to shine in Competition or our children will be extremely Upset when they eventually discover that the REAL World is very different from the world their parents presenting to them!

So after discussing with my wife, I asked my elder boy 1 simple question,

'Do you want to be the Best of the Worst or the Worst of the Best?'

He replied he preferred the latter.

So we took him (and my younger son) out from the private school and started homeschooling them, getting them ready to take the 11+ examination for 3 UK grammar schools that we'd chose at the time (all 3 were in Top 50, Co-edu, Non-religious, outside London)

Indeed, with the Right Living Environment (e.g. Devon's beautiful, relaxing and less complicated surroundings), the Right Studying Environment (e.g. Their Grammar School's very stimulating teaching methods), the Right Growing-up Environment (e.g. Their also very talented schoolmates), our boys have been progressing amusingly!

After returning UK and after helping my boys developing Confidence and Competence, I encouraged my boys to started facing the Competition (as stated in the UK's Child Genius tv series, http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/child-genius-2) - a badminton tournament.

I knew that they'd no chance of winning as they just started playing badminton - the whole ideas was all about them having 'Controlled Failure'. The younger a child faces a Failure, the better a child can handle it, and the faster a child can recover. I'd like my boys to learn from their Failures and understand,

'The More I Fail, the Better I Become and Closer the Success.'

I was really pleased to see them keeping their heads high, trying their best all the time etc., even though they were really badly beaten by the much advanced players! (even lost at 21-6 in 1 game) yet they didn't feel sad and instead came home to re-focus, working on the areas they needed to improve upon. And then they wanted to play in another tournament, got beaten again, but they never gave up and now are getting better - they just enjoy the Competition environment, the Competition Feel and to socialise with the Competitors!

And of course, they've learnt about the following Essential Life Skills :-

- Planning
(e.g. they asked me to play with them twice just a week before the tournament to polish up their badminton skill);

- Assessing
(e.g. evaluate other contestants once they arrive the venue);

- Quick-thinking
(e.g. identify opponent's weakness within the first 2-3 mins of playing against them); and

- Emotions-handling
(e.g. stay calm, no joy, no anger)

- Reviewing etc.
(e.g. what he could have done better)

Life is not just Academic Excellence, but also about Physical Health, Mental Strength, Emotional Stable etc.

I'm sure, siugub, you'll find the most suitable environment for your children, helping them to grow up as a Happier, Healthier, Helpful All Rounder.

Since you could be renting in your 1st year in UK, you'll be competing with many renters as property price in UK become Unaffordable - a Renting Nation,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/11109153/The-average-working-life-isnt-long-enough-to-pay-for-a-house.html

You could be thinking about buying at some stages, the following areas could be the ones for you as a parent or a landlord.

1 hour difference in property price,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2681515/London-house-prices-high-How-hours-commute-save-380-000-buying-new-home.html

Most affordable towns near London,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/11254164/Revealed-Londons-most-affordable-commuter-towns.html?frame=3117984

Excellent schools push up nearby house price,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/10789846/Popular-state-schools-creating-mini-house-bubble.html

How Chinese buyers cause UK property shortage,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2597354/Chinese-fuel-UK-housing-shortage-Far-East-speculators-price-Britons-market-country.html

As much as I enjoy sharing with you and others, I'm afraid this is my LAST input as we're tempted by the HSBC UK 'Buy to Let' package, and are busy in taking steps to become a landlord,

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/mortgages/products?pcode=A000000000000000000001004720

(The mortgage rate is as low as the mortgage we took for our own home!)

Once again, Good Luck to you for finding the best way forward for yourself and your family!

(Below please find the view from my boys' bedroom - how could we afford this in HK/London/South East? And an article from '星島親子王'，which may stimulate your thinking)

Best wishes
Terence
http://sp.stheadline.com/smartparents/?date=2014-09-04&page=20

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

siugub

複式洋房

積分: 479

24^#

發表於 15-1-10 22:17 |只看該作者

Hi Terence

Thanks for your sharing and it sounds great.

Yes, we plan to move to UK is for our kids, a better environment and hope they can enjoy life but not only compete compete compete.

私人傳訊

Fate

積分: 5019

23^#

發表於 15-1-10 19:32 |只看該作者

本帖最後由 Fate 於 15-1-10 11:39 編輯

Fate 發表於 15-1-9 23:02
You're most welcome, siugub.

Just to give you a bit more information, siugub,

We appreciate Seaton so much that I've been giving back to the local community,

http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/31060/21/1/seaton-it-all-adds-up-to-free-maths-tuition

My wife (a registered nurse) has been doing her 'Return to Nursing' programme by working at the Seaton Community Hospital,

http://www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/services/community/seaton/

http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/seaton_hospital

Our younger boy (just turned 12 in Dec and got a merit in grade 8 piano when he's 11) has recently agreed to teach local children piano once a week.

Other useful information :

There are 2 GP surgery in Seaton,

http://www.seatonandcolytonmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/

http://www.townsendhousesurgery.co.uk/

The breakdown of the Seaton's (and other East Devon towns') population,

https://new.devon.gov.uk/factsandfigures/data-table/?postId=ethnicity&geography=295&parentId=East%20Devon

There is a Tesco Superstore in Seaton,

http://www.tesco.com/store-locator/uk/?bID=6457)

Train journey from Axminster (10 min drive from Seaton) to London (Waterloo) is about 2 hrs 45 mins,

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/

You can see it's not just about school, it's the Whole Lifestyle Package. Our boys wake up every morning and enjoy the open green country view from their bedroom window - we could never afford this in HK or London/South East!

Have a great weekend, every weekend.

Best wishes
Terence
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Twitter : @longyinfather

Nothing is Harder than Convincing Ourselves Nothing is Hard

私人傳訊

Fate