Starting School 101
When your child's fifth birthday is looming, you'll be the one
who needs to school up and educate yourself on the New Zealand
education system. Most children start school shortly after they
turn five, and all children must be enrolled by their sixth
birthday.
Here's the rundown on starting school:
- Every child is guaranteed the right to go to their local
school. You can check what school zone you are in by visiting http://nzschools.tki.org.nz. This is a
neat website that also shows bus routes, and can show you all the
other schools in your area.
- Every school is regularly reviewed by the Education Review
Office. You can read your school's latest report by visiting www.ero.govt.nz.
- When you're contemplating which school to send your little one
to here are some things to consider:
- Has the school been recommended by friends or
family?
- What is transport like? Can you walk there, or will you have to
take the car? Is there a bus route?
- Is there an after school care programme available?
- What donation does the school ask for? (public state schools
don't have compulsory fees, but many ask for a donation and this is
a really important source of funding for schools).
- Is there a uniform and what does it cost?
- Also inquire about extra curricular activities available eg.
music and sports, as well as language and culture
opportunities.
- Many schools will hold open days for prospective families and
these are a nice way to visit a school and talk to teachers and
other students. A good question to ask an existing student is "If
you were Principal for a day what would you change?"
- Also think about the long-term - what intermediate and
high-school options are available in your neighbourhood?
For more information visit the parent's section on the MInistry
of Education's website.
When you've decided on a school you'll need to make contact with
them to have your child enrolled. Many pre-schools or kindergartens
will have the information for the schools they feed into, otherwise
contact the school directly. It's important to do this long before
your child's fifth birthday - ideally by the end of September of
the year before they first start school - to help the school plan
for its future rolls.
There are lots of different types of schools eg. contributing,
private, public, composite, kohanga reo etc. There are also
home-school and correspondence options. You can school up on the
full list by visiting http://www.minedu.govt.nz/Parents/AllAges/EducationInNZ/SchoolsInNewZealand/SchoolTypes.aspx
Schools are also ranked according to their deciles. These range
between 1-10 and are important because it's how the Ministry of
Education allocates funding.
The other thing that's different since many of us were at school
is that we don't have primers, standards and forms anymore. It's
all years. So your child will either start in Year Zero or Year One
depending on the date of their birthday. Check with your school but
generally the cut-off is around the end of April.
Before school starts, your child will attend some weekly
sessions in their new entrant class in the few weeks ahead of their
official start. It's OK for parents to stay for the first couple of
sessions, but after that it's a good idea to leave the child to
encourage their independence.
The Ministry of Health also offers all children a "B4 school
health check" to make sure they are fit and well to start school.
Visit http://www.health.govt.nz/yourhealth-topics/children/well-child/about-b4-school-check
for more.