Enrolment in public preschools
Direction and guidance on enrolling children in a NSW public preschool.
Note: This policy is for implementation from Term 1 2025
Audience
All staff at NSW public school preschools, and parents and carers
| Last updated | Description of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|
| 18/10/2024 | Updated under the 2023 Policy and procedure review program, including conversion into the new template and improving readability. | Executive Director, Curriculum and Reform, Teaching, Learning and Student Wellbeing. |
About the policy
These procedures relate to the Enrolment of students policy.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Designated preschool | One of 11 public preschools in NSW that cater specifically for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children. |
| Distance education | Public preschool programs offered for geographically isolated children unable to access any other children’s service. |
| Placement panel | A panel established by the principal when the number of applications exceeds the number of available places. |
| Students or children | Preschool age children (3 to 5 years) in the year before they start school. |
| Parents or carers | A child’s parent, or the guardian of a child or a person who has parental responsibility for a child under a decision or order of a court (National Law). |
Early Learners business unit:
- maintain and monitor enrolment policy and procedures for all public preschools
- provide proactive and responsive advice and guidance to schools, principals and preschool educators
- ensure enrolment procedures are implemented by schools when enrolling children in the preschool
- monitor policy implementation and the provision of support.
Principals:
- lead the implementation of this procedure in consultation with Early Learning where relevant
- promote enrolment procedures with all school staff
- provide information to staff and families about the preschool enrolment procedure
- complete the principal’s checklist and Principal’s certification in each enrolment application.
Preschool leaders, teachers and educators and learning and support teams:
- support parents/carers in the enrolment process.
School administration staff:
- provide information and support to parents and/or carers to ensure they provide all required documentation for enrolment
- collect and store required documentation in accordance with sections 160 and 161 of Education and Care Services National Regulations (2011 SI 653)
- communicate with the preschool supervisor about the status of enrolments
- maintain submitted expressions of interest to enrol in the preschool
- process preschool enrolment applications and enter details into ERN
- maintain and update enrolment records as needed.
Parents and carers:
- complete and submit the expression of interest to enrol
- complete and submit the Application to enrol in a NSW public preschool
- provide the school with the documentation required to enrol their child in the preschool
- communicate with the school during the enrolment process.
What needs to be done
1. Preschool education in NSW
The department is committed to delivering fee-free early childhood education in NSW public preschools. Public preschools cannot charge fees for preschool enrolment, attendance, waiting list applications or specialist programs in public preschools.
The department operates public preschools, of these:
- there are designated preschools catering specifically for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children (refer to section below, Enrolment in a designated Aboriginal preschool)
- 2 preschool classes provide distance education (refer to section below, Enrolment in distance education preschool).
Public preschools are an integral part of the NSW public schools in which they are located and operate within the same hours as the school.
It is the department’s intent that preschools provide:
- for the most disadvantaged children in the local community, and these places will be prioritised
- access to high quality early childhood education in the year before school.
1.1 Enrolment in public preschools
Preschool classes operate on the grounds of NSW public schools and often serve more than one school community. Children do not have to reside within the host school’s catchment zone to attend the preschool. Attendance patterns vary and are determined to meet the needs of the local community.
Children can enrol in preschool from the beginning of the school year if they turn 4 years of age on or before 31 July that year.
Schools are encouraged to enrol the maximum number of children they are approved for.
The principal must prioritise offers of enrolment for:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children
- children living in low socioeconomic circumstances
- children unable to access other early childhood services due to disadvantage or financial hardship.
If places remain, the principal of the school will then offer enrolment in the following order:
- children living within the school's enrolment intake area
- children living outside the school's intake area and who have siblings enrolled in the school
- children living outside the school's enrolment intake area.
When vacancies exist, principals must make every effort to ensure places are filled in accordance with the enrolment priorities outlined above. This includes:
- offering additional days to children who are currently enrolled
- offering places to 3-year-old children in consultation with the school Director, Educational Leadership and the Director, Early Learners.
When considering a request for an additional year of preschool, principals must:
- consult with the teacher, and parents and/or carers
- treat any enrolment for an additional year of preschool as a new application and apply the standard enrolment priority.
Principals must:
- enrol children who hold temporary visas according to the standard enrolment criteria and processes
- not enrol children who hold visitor or tourist visas.
The schedule of visa subclasses and enrolment conditions provides eligibility information on preschool access for each of the temporary visa subclasses.
Preschool children who are temporary visa holders do not have to obtain Authority to Enrol and are not liable for the Temporary residents program education fee.
For more information or assistance with the enrolment process for temporary residents, please contact the Temporary Residents Program:
- phone – 1300 300 229 (then select option 1)
- email – tempvisa@det.nsw.edu.au
1.2 Enrolment in a designated Aboriginal preschools or distance education
Principals must:
- make every effort to ensure places are filled by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children.
- offer places to 3-year-old Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children when places are available.
- offer places to non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children where there are insufficient enrolments of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children.
- reserve 2 places for future enrolments from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children.
If there are significant enrolments of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children in their communities, principals are encouraged to liaise with their local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc. (AECG).
Distance education preschools cater for geographically isolated children who cannot access other early childhood education services.
Preschool children need to meet the same distance criteria that applies to primary school-aged children as detailed in section 2.1 of the Distance Education Enrolment Procedures.
2. Enrolment process
Parents and carers of children who want to enrol their child in a preschool must complete the expression of interest form.
Principals will:
- establish a placement panel to assess all expressions of interest and make an enrolment offer in accordance with the enrolment priority as per section 1.1
- inform parents and carers if they are eligible for enrolment.
If an offer of enrolment is accepted, parents and carers must:
- complete the form,
- provide documentation listed in section 2.1.
Families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds should be offered the translated enrolment application (for a list of available options, refer to Application to enrol in a NSW public preschool) and/or interpreter assistance in obtaining this information, if required.
Principals must:
- establish a placement panel in consultation with the school community
- ensure the panel includes at least one staff member (other than the principal), a school community member and a community member nominated by the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc. (AEGC) where applicable; panel members must declare any conflicts of interest.
The placement panel will review and prioritise applications and record all decisions.
When the number of applications exceeds the number of available places, children’s names will be placed on a waiting list and assessed by a placement panel.
The waiting list is valid for the year before enrolment in the preschool class and for the current preschool year.
If a vacancy occurs during the year, the school will offer the place to the child with the highest priority on the waiting list.
2.2 Document requirements
Principals must ensure copies of particular documentation are collected with each enrolment application.
Copies of the following documents are required:
- Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) documentation
- proof of residential address
- passport or immigration card and evidence of visa status for children who are not Australian citizens
- low-income health care card if applicable
- copies of any family law or other relevant court orders if applicable
- birth certificate or identity document.
If no birth certificate is available, principals can rely on a range of secondary documents to confirm a child’s identity, including:
- passport
- Immicard
- NSW Ministry of Health Personal Health Record or “Blue Book”
- hospital birth card
- baptism, christening, name giving or similar record.
More information is available under the ‘Establishing age without a birth certificate’ section of the Legal Issues Bulletin 43 - Enrolment of children in government schools.
If none of the secondary documents are available, a statutory declaration can be obtained from the parents/carers stating the date of birth of the child and the reason why such a document is not available.
2.3 Immunisation requirements
Under the NSW Public Health Act 2010 (Part 5, Division 4), immunisation procedures apply to children enrolling in public preschools. These procedures help to improve childhood immunisation rates and support the management of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Children who are unvaccinated due to their parent’s or carer’s conscientious objection are not able to enrol in preschool.
Principals must not accept an enrolment unless the parent or carer has provided the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) documentation as outlined below.
The following documents are required:
- AIR Immunisation History Statement showing the child is either:
- ‘up to date’ with their immunisations
- has an approved medical contraindication or natural immunity to one or more vaccines
- is on a recognised catch up schedule
- has a medical contraindication
- completed and signed AIR Immunisation Medical Exemption Form – Medical contraindications or natural immunity
- completed and signed AIR Immunisation History Form – Catch-up Schedule.
The following documents cannot be accepted:
- AIR Immunisation History Statement showing that child’s immunisation is not up to date
- an Interim NSW Vaccination Objection Form (after 1 January 2018)
- the NSW Personal Health Record (Blue Book)
- GP letter or an overseas immunisation record.
Detailed information is available on the Immunisation Enrolment Toolkit.
In the following exceptional circumstances, there is a 12-week temporary exemption for supply of the documentation for:
- an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child
- a child evacuated during a state of emergency
- a child in out of home care.
Principals must:
- maintain a register detailing the immunisation status of enrolled children for a period of 3 years after they leave the preschool
- provide NSW Health officers with access to the register when requested
- request parents or carers supply updated immunisation records when their child turns 4 years while enrolled
- not exclude a child if updated documentation is not provided.
3. Access for children with disability
Principals must:
- ensure that every student can participate in the curriculum on the same basis as their peers as detailed in the Disability Standards for Education
- comply with the Inclusive education for students with disability policy and seek support from the Inclusion and Wellbeing team within the local Student Support and Specialist Programs team when required.
4. Enrolment and attendance patterns
Children will be enrolled and attend preschool in line with the Commonwealth Government’s Preschool Reform Funding Agreement (2022 to 2025) to strengthen the delivery of preschool and better prepare children for the first year of school. The agreement supports the delivery of 15 hours of preschool a week (the equivalent of 600 hours a year) for all children in the preschool.
4.1 Flexibility in the delivery of 15 hours per week
Preschool classes are required to offer 2 attendance patterns across the week to ensure each child has access to 600 hours of preschool over the year (or 15 hours a week).
Attendance patterns include:
- a 5-day fortnight program, with 3 days one week and 2 days in the alternate week for 2 separate groups of children (12 hours one week and 18 hours the next)
- alternate semesters or terms, with children attending 2 days a week in one term or semester, and 3 days in the alternate term or semester
Each preschool can decide, in consultation with their community, which of these enrolment attendance patterns will be offered. In exceptional circumstances, preschools may offer flexible enrolment patterns to cater for the needs of individual children. For example, a child who is at risk of harm may be offered enrolment 5 days a week.
Additionally, if a preschool has vacancies and does not have a waiting list, children can be offered a full-time place in the same order of priority as for all enrolments.
4.2 Dual enrolments
A parent or carer may seek to enrol their child at 2 different public preschools. If a preschool becomes aware of this, the principal should contact the other preschool to discuss the matter and determine if one or both preschools will offer the child a place. Approval for dual enrolment is at the principals’ discretion, after considering if:
- it is in the best interests of the child
- the child is at risk
- the child would be better off being offered a full-time place in their local preschool, rather than attending 2 separate preschools.
- a waiting list already exists for either of the preschools in question.
The child should not be offered a second preschool placement ahead of other children on a waiting list as preschools are encouraged to maximise the number of children enrolled for 600 hours over the year.
If both principals agree to offer dual enrolment to the child, one school needs to be the lead school in Enrolment and Registration Number system (ERN). If required, EDConnect can offer advice on setting up the child’s enrolment.
Record-keeping requirements
- Preschool enrolment records to be kept until the end of 3 years after the child’s last attendance.
- Immunisation Register to be kept for 3 years after child’s last attendance (for further information on record keeping for immunisation documents, refer to 2.2 Immunisation requirements).
Mandatory tools and templates
- Expression of interest to enrol in a NSW public preschool
- Application to enrol in a NSW Government preschool
Supporting tools, resources and related information
- Enrolment of Students in NSW Government Schools policy
- General enrolment procedures
- Distance Education Enrolment Procedures
- The NSW Department of Education and NSW AECG Incorporated Partnership Agreement
- Inclusive Education policy for students with disability
- Disability Standards for Education
- Disability Inclusion Action Plan (2021-2025)
Contact
The Executive Director, Curriculum and Reform monitors the implementation of this procedure, regularly reviews its contents to ensure relevance and accuracy, and updates it as needed.