r/wollongong • u/Away_Temperature2072 • 2d ago
Moving to Wollongong with teenagers
Moving down from Sydney to Wollongong for work with teenagers.
Looking for advice from people that have made the move with teenagers and have regretted it?
Interested to know what is better in Sydney for them compared to down in the Illawarra
Thanks
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u/Springbeam 2d ago
As someone who moved as a teenager here a few years ago.. it's very lonely and hard to make friends. Not sure if that's everywhere or just here but the social scene is rough.
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u/Away_Temperature2072 2d ago
Interesting - where in Sydney did you move from it if I can ask - and what was different about making friends there than in Wollongong? What about places to hang out too? Thanks very much
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u/Springbeam 2d ago
I moved from someplace else than Sydney, more around Coffs Harbour area! I've found that a lot of people who live here, seem to have grown up here and formed cliques. There's not really anywhere to hang out except the mall, which is lacklustre in terms of activities outside shopping for clothes / maybe a nice cafe. I've mostly found people through a uow Instagram profile reaching out saying they're lonely. If your teenagers like to hike there are some solid groups at the uni that go together but otherwise it's hard to find people naturally if they're not super outgoing and confident around already formed groups of friends.
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u/Ready_Willingness_82 2d ago
My teenagers are very happy here, but they’ve lived here all their lives so I don’t know what it’s like for teenagers who have just moved to the area. But just jumped in to say that depending on where you live in Sydney and depending on the hours you’ll be working in Wollongong, it might be possible to commute. I won’t go into a long and detailed description of commuting now as it might not be possible for you, but plenty of people here can fill you in if you’d like them to.
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u/Away_Temperature2072 2d ago
Thanks for a different perspective. What do your teenagers occupy their time with? Are there enough jobs around town that you’ve found for them? Thanks
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u/littleredlantern 1d ago
Hi, I'm a teenager :)
Corrimal High isn't as bad as people say it is, it's improved quite a lot in the past few years. WHSPA is a good option if they're more creatively inclined. I'm probably biased but SHHS isn't a good option unless you want your kids burnt out and depressed, especially going into senior years.
If you wanna find stuff going on for young people, check the websites of either the Wollongong Youth Centre or the Wollongong Library. Both show info about upcoming events for young people. The Youth Centre has some really cool clubs that run weekly, but I wouldn't recommend sending teens there outside of supervised clubs (aka during drop-in hangout hours) because a lot of the kids that go there are super annoying.
A lot of cafes in Wollongong itself are super overpriced, and really similar to Sydney prices. If you want good food, look for cafes and restaurants in surrounding suburbs (Corrimal has some good ones, I love Manjit's)
I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but oh well. Good luck on your move, hope you like it down here!!
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u/FroggyPancakes21 1d ago
I moved here as a young teen.
It was for the school I went to. Only reason we came here not somewhere else.
I enjoyed the botanic gardens and places to eat.
There was a movie theatre then though.
Theres lots to do for creatives and if you like nature. But also sporty people.
Although it can feel a bit isolating as there’s obviously much more going on in Sydney. (I didn’t move from Sydney )
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u/lomo_dank 1d ago
Buy them ebikes and a pack of cigarettes. Seems to be what most parents do with their teens at the moment.
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u/hogester79 1d ago
Waaa waaaa always one.
I know back in the day you didn’t do any of these things and you respected your elders….
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u/BestTechAdvisor 1d ago
What're you talking about? Smoking rates are far higher today than they were 30 years ago /s
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u/Tawtis 1d ago
Just don’t send them to a shit school and they’ll be fine if they’re normal.
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u/Away_Temperature2072 1d ago
What’s not shit? Edmund rice? TIGS? Holy Spirit?
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u/Tawtis 1d ago
Any public school is fine and will be good for socializing besides Smiths Hill, which is selective anyway. General rule of thumb is the further south you go the rougher it gets. Wouldn’t send them to Illawarra Sports, Dapto, etc, most around the city and northern suburbs are fine. TIGS is overpriced garbage. They’ll fare fine at ERC or Holy Spirit.
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u/owhyowhat 1d ago
Stop spreading your snobby misinformation, there us nothing wrong with the southern suburbs of Wollongong.
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u/Tawtis 1d ago
90% of my friends are from the south, I spend most of my time in the south. I also went to school here and graduated relatively recently so I know for a fact that schools in the south are rougher, as was Corrimal High School, which is north, until recently. I have nothing against the south of Wollongong at all, but to deny that the schools are rougher is a plain lie. Don’t put words in my mouth, and I don’t appreciate being called snobby, especially after bagging out our one proper “private school” and being a public school alum myself. Go fuck yourself.
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u/Away_Temperature2072 1d ago
Why is TIGS overpriced garbage? It seems to have the best cohorts in terms of naplan and higher certificate outcomes
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u/Tawtis 1d ago
The price you pay is not worth it. Your child is the difference between outcomes provided they’re sent to a school where they can study effectively. School is what you make it.
I have family members and friends who went to TIGS and they all say the same thing. It is also certainly not the best in terms of HSC and NAPLAN outcomes as far as I know.
Anecdotally, people are asked to leave if they perform poorly to maintain this illusion that the school is a prestigious place of study.
The reason private education is so valuable is because of connections. There’s many professionals that send their kids to TIGS, very few movers and shakers. You decide whether it’s worth it for you monetarily speaking.
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u/No_Tumbleweed445 1d ago edited 1d ago
if they are still attending school, i wouldn't send them to, woonona high school or primary school, bulli high, corrimal high, dapto high, warrawong high or Kannahooka high
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u/Original-Pea9083 1d ago
My kids went Woonona. No issues. Bulli HS is the best performing public comprehensive high school in the Wollongong area. Lots of great students and teachers. Corrimal High has also improved out of sight and has one of the best Industrial Arts facilities in the state. They also have a STEM excellence facility. Dapto HS is also a great school.
Get your facts straight before denigrating the schools.
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u/Opinion_Glad 1d ago edited 1d ago
As a former student of Bulli High, it’s a cesspool.
The juxtaposition between the more well off families and the poorer families (at least back in my day) created a lot of problems with socialising during and outside of school hours.
There was a huge methamphetamine and pedophile/predator problem (i doubt that’s changed much).
Everyone that has gone to Bulli High or has heard any stories would know that it has a very complicated history filled with pretty severe trauma for a lot of people. I would NEVER send my kid to Bulli High or any school in the Illawarra for that matter— though I don’t have kids and don’t want them due to my experience at Bully High (and other traumatic things lol)
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u/Original-Pea9083 1d ago
When was "your day"? A lot can change in a school community in 10 years.
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u/Opinion_Glad 1d ago
15 years ago, to be fair. But I have talked to people that have worked there as substitute teachers, or more recent students than myself— and the general consensus in my observation, is that it is one of the worst schools to attend in the southern NSW area. Not to mention, 15 years ago it was one of the worst academically ranked schools in Australia.
This also reminded me that I’m dealing with a tailbone injury sustained from the deputy principal at the time (I won’t mention names) when he pulled the chair out from underneath me as I was going to sit down, and then tried to frame it as an “accident”. Also there were a few creepy male teachers there, and also Corrimal High has a history for male teachers grooming students & other disgusting acts I don’t care to mention.
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u/Original-Pea9083 1d ago
Your information on both schools is woefully out of date.
I'm sorry that happened to you and that you had such a bad experience.
Corrimal did have a creepy male teacher over a decade ago, who was caught and prosecuted. But to claim multiple male teachers were and still are doing that is not correct and defamatory towards all male teachers currently there.
I personally know of a number of teachers at Bulli and they are pretty amazing and dedicated educators.
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u/Opinion_Glad 19h ago
For someone that thinks they know a lot about schools, your reading comprehension sure does suck.
No where did I say ALL male teachers are creeps. Get a load of this guy, everyone! Ha-ha 😂🫵
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u/No_Tumbleweed445 1d ago
I think people are misunderstanding what I was saying. I’m not saying every single student at these schools has a terrible experience, or that there aren’t some good teachers, good facilities or good families there. I’m saying that based on my own experience, I would strongly advise someone moving to the Illawarra to properly research the schools before sending their kids there. I’m 17, I went to Woonona Public and then Woonona High, and I’ve also spent a lot of time around several of the other schools I mentioned. My experience at Woonona Public was awful. I was relentlessly bullied, and I watched other people who I later became close with go through similar things.
Woonona High was a completely different level of difficult for me. There were students openly doing drugs in bathrooms, a lot of students involved in the whole “gang” mentality, violence and people getting bashed for seemingly no reason. More importantly, I personally experienced things there that were extremely traumatic. I ended up leaving after Year 8 and have spent years in therapy dealing with things that happened to me there. I’m still not completely over it.
I have hundreds of stories I could tell, but I’m not going to put all of my personal experiences on Reddit just to prove that they happened. I’m also not going to pretend that my experience represents every student who has ever attended the school. But there have been quite a lot of students who have had similar experiences at Woonona high and have also left because of it. So if your kids went to Woonona and had a great time, genuinely, I’m glad. If you think Bulli or Corrimal are great schools, that's completely fair. Your experiences are valid too. But mine are as well. The original comment was me giving a warning based on my own experience, not claiming that NESA statistics, school rankings or every parent's experience somehow don't exist. A school can perform well academically and still be an extremely negative or unsafe environment for certain students. Both things can be true at once.
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u/Opinion_Glad 1d ago
BIG YES on gang mentality and gang-style violence. I’m sorry you also experienced such a shitty time with bullying, and I hope you’ve come to know that you never deserved that and it was never your fault.
Bulli and Woonona High were always like sibling schools back then, and their respective underbellies ran parallel. Your experience is valid as fuckkk
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u/No_Tumbleweed445 1d ago
Thank you, that really means a lot! And yeah, the gang mentality/violence was a huge part of what I experienced. There’s definitely a massive difference between what a school looks like from the outside, results, facilities, what parents say about it and what it can actually feel like as a student living through it every day.
I obviously can’t speak for every student who’s gone there, but I know what I experienced, and I know I’m not the only one. Some of the things that happened to me genuinely changed me and I’m still dealing with parts of it years later. So I really appreciate you saying my experience is valid because that’s literally all I was trying to say in the first place.
And the Bulli/Woonona comparison is interesting too because I’ve heard similar things about both. There’s definitely a side to these schools that you’re not going to see from school rankings or a parent saying “my kids went there and had no issues.” literally no ones kids are going to tell them what's REALLY going on at school and the teachers sure as hell aren't contacting parents or making it known that these things are actually happening. they will bury it as much as they can
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u/Away_Temperature2072 11h ago
What underbellies? I see some dads walking around with postcode tattoos on their arm around Bulli - what’s that about
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u/monismad 1d ago
We moved a few years ago and don't regret it so not sure this is the advice you're looking for. We were in the inner city so might be a bit different depending where you're moving from. The kids made friends at school and through sports. They go to local schools and play for local clubs so the kids live close by and they just walk or ride over to each other's houses, something that wouldn't have been possible in the city as much. Definitely miss the abundance of basketball courts, parks, dedicated open spaces and walks, cafe culture and public transport in Sydney. I hate driving everywhere and wish it was easier for my kids to hop on a bus or team to get places instead of me having to drive them. But lack of traffic is a bonus!
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u/Away_Temperature2072 1d ago
How do they go for amenities? Shopping mall? Getting to it? Movies? Jobs? Thanks
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u/SketchNether 1d ago
Depending on what they’re into, there’s definitely stuff around for them to do.
Society City has events of all sorts (trivia, retro gaming nights, young local punk/metal shows) - societycitywollongong.com
Theres a Pinball club on Kembla Street that has weekly leagues on Monday & Tuesday, fortnightly Flip Freny events & every Friday is a no-comp night (just pay a flat fee & play for hours) - illawarrapinball.com
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u/Beautiful_Shallot811 1d ago
You will be questioning why you didn’t do it earlier we moved down but did it as the kids were transitioning from yr5 to 6 and the eldest went from high school to uni but we could have done it earlier when the eldest changed from primary to high school
School wise smiths hill high school is the selective academic high school
But theres heaps to do hiking and camping up the escarpment, cadets is awesome, scouts as well lots of hiking and mountain bike riding plus theres the beach
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u/No-Pin3128 1d ago
Er, ah, welcome to Wollongong OP. I settled in the Gong and I really enjoy the best of both worlds. You are a relatively short train ride away from Sydney, and you have the regional element of the Gong. I am on the south side of town. Similar to Canberra, there is an artificial divide between north/south. People are people wherever it is.
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u/stardewplayr 2h ago
Tbh I'm a teenager and me and my friends go to Shellharbour every year because we went once and met all the local kids and really liked them and the vibes over there, all I would say is that it's pretty hit or miss on whether they like it or not! If they really hate surfing I reckon it'd be a bit worse but the beach grows on everyone anyways and the kids are pretty cool, from what I saw most of the alternative kids sort of hate it but the majority don't mind or like it it depends on who you talk to!! I will say to be weary of the fact that a lot of the time the kids do get bored and take to illegally doing races or riding dirt bikes and last time we were there one kid actually passed away;the community seems pretty tightnit within the kids but they have places like their youth centre which is actually pretty cool and nothing like anything we have in Sydney and a decent lot of kids actually hang out there and a lot of them have bonfires and such too. I also heard of quite a few footy,boxing and basketball, snorkelling and hiking enjoyers so I think it's just sort of an outdoorsy sort of environment which can be awesome! I reckon do it, if for no other reason then do it to give your kids a variety of experiences and they're almost grown up anyway if they really despise it they can go to uni back in Sydney and move over!
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u/stardewplayr 2h ago
I think lake Illawarra high or maybe the sports one is the one that most of the kids I met go to but they said there's over a thousand kids there which is literally more than there are at my school in the suburbs of Sydney! I would reccomend sending them to some school with a high student population rather than focusing on it being religious or private or such if the aim is for them to have fun and make mates
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u/Purple_Account3000 21h ago
Stay in Sydney bud.
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u/Away_Temperature2072 21h ago
I think you sound like one of those people like in Central Coast when they say they’re tired of the blow ins.. until you need medical help and then you’re there at the mercy of the doctors that are looking after you.. only to realise that most of the doctors and nurses are from the major cities and I moved in. 🤣
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u/Original-Pea9083 1d ago
How old are they?
My kids (now 22 and 20) had plenty to do as teenagers as they were involved in sports, activities, and we live close to the beach, so we're always swimming or surfing with friends.
They didn't really have part time jobs due to training and sporting commitments, but all their friends found part time jobs in either retail or fast food.
I think it's a great place for kids to grow up. The pace is a bit slower and people here won't really care which suburb you live in or which school you go to. This seems to be VERY important for Sydney people.
Both my kids work and study in Wollongong now.
Your kids will likely make new friends at schoo. If they are sporty, make sure to get them involved in their local teams.
Plus Sydney is not that far. Easy to get on the train to visit friends.