General guidelines

Public preschools enrol children for one year only, the year before they start school.

Children can enrol from the beginning of the school year if they turn four years of age before 31 July that year.

Priority is given to:

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children
• children living in low socio-economic circumstances
• children who are unable to access other early childhood settings due to financial hardship.

The principal of the school will then offer enrolment in the following order:

• children living within the school's catchment area
• children living outside the catchment area but have siblings at the school
• other applicants

Preschool classes are a resource, shared across communities of schools. Unlike primary schools, there are no enrolment boundaries for preschool. Enrolment in a preschool class within a school does not automatically translate to an entitlement to enrol in that school for kindergarten. Public preschools have an obligation to provide education for all children, including those with disability, and ensure every child can participate on the same basis as their peers.

Immunisation

Families must provide documentation about their child's immunisation status. Enrolment cannot proceed without this information. Read more about immunisation.

Birth certificates

Families must provide documentation as evidence of their child's identify and date of birth. However, if no birth certificate is available, this can be shown through a secondary document. Examples of secondary documents are:

• passport
• blue book
• hospital birth card
• baptism, christening, name giving or similar record.

If none of these documents are available, a statuary declaration should be obtained from the parents stating the date of birth of the child and the reason why such a document is not available.

Application to enrol

Families can express interest in enrolling their child in a public preschool by completing an expression of interest to enrol in a NSW public preschool (PDF 316.2 KB). The completed application can then be submitted to the relevant school office.

Families offered a preschool place for their child will be asked to complete the application to enrol in a NSW public preschool (PDF 713KB).

Translated versions of the preschool enrolment application are also available.

Preschools designated for Aboriginal students

• Eleven designated preschools cater specifically for Aboriginal children.
• When vacancies occur every effort is made to ensure places are filled by Aboriginal children. If there are insufficient Aboriginal enrolments, places may be offered to non-Aboriginal children, although a buffer of two places must be maintained for future Aboriginal enrolments.
• When prioritising applications, preschools in communities with significant numbers of Aboriginal children should liaise with the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG).

Distance education preschool programs

• A limited number of preschools offer programs through distance education for geographically isolated children, unable to access any other children's services.
• Designation of sites that provide preschool programs via distance education is determined on a needs basis every 3 years.
• Find more information on the Rural and distance education site.

Temporary visa holders in preschools

• Preschool children who are temporary visa holders may enrol in public preschools under the same conditions as Australian citizens. However, some short-term visa holders are ineligible.
• Temporary residents who hold visitor/tourist visas are not eligible for enrolment.
• Temporary visa holders are required to pay preschool class fees although they do not have to pay the temporary resident's fee.

Early Intervention classes

Enrolment in early intervention classes is through an access request application process. Contact your local learning and wellbeing officer for further information.

Preschool fees

The NSW Government provides fee relief to support the enrolment of children in public preschools. Fees are not charged for preschool enrolment, attendance, waiting list applications or specialist programs.

Preschool hours

Preschools operate on the same days and hours as other public primary schools in NSW. Schools provide opportunities for staff and school leaders to improve their skills and professional capacity to deliver key curriculum priorities.

Preschools will be open the same days as schools see dates for school terms