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Enrolment

Our St Joseph's School enrolment policy and processes comply with the requirements of our integration agreement and the Education and Training Act 2020. As required by the Ministry of Education, we use the ENROL system (register of student enrolments) to update enrolments as students enrol, change schools, or leave the school system. Once enrolled, students must attend regularly. See Student Attendance.

Enrolment conditions

Our enrolment conditions include:

• Parents/Caregivers pay attendance dues.
• Parents/Caregivers accept that students will participate in the general school programme that gives the school its special character.
• The school has a maximum roll specified in the integration agreement, and we do not enrol students over this number.
• If a student has been excluded or expelled from another school, the board meets to consider the individual case and accept or decline the enrolment. The board also considers whether this is a preference or non-preference enrolment.

Types of enrolment

Preference enrolment

The Education and Training Act 2020 states that "the children of parents who have a particular or general philosophical or religious connection with a State integrated school must be preferred to other children for enrolment at the school" (Schedule 6, s 26).

Parents/Caregivers may apply for preference enrolment for their child, and the decision to accept the enrolment is made using the nationally set criteria listed on the Preference Enrolment Certificate.

Non-preference enrolment

Parents/Caregivers may apply for non-preference enrolment if a student does not meet preference enrolment criteria. Non-preference enrolment is determined by criteria and available places, and is restricted to a percentage of the maximum roll as specified in our integration agreement.

Enrolment process

As part of the enrolment process, parents/caregivers are asked to provide enrolment information. This information allows St Joseph's School to meet the requirements of the Education and Training Act and is kept securely. See Privacy Policy and School Records Retention and Disposal.

Before enrolling a new student, we ensure the student is eligible to enrol at our school. This includes:

• checking documentation (e.g. birth certificate, passport)
• keeping evidence of enrolment eligibility
• making evidence available on request to Ministry of Education staff, reviewers from the Education Review Office (ERO), and others as required.

Once an enrolment is approved, the school arranges appropriate class placement, orientation, transition support, and learning support (including applying for appropriate resources and funding) as needed.

Class placement

Considerations for class placement include:

• age
• information shared by the student, parents/caregivers, and whānau
• school assessment of individual social and learning needs
• class composition and available space.

Reclassification between year levels may occur occasionally. Parents/Caregivers can make an appointment with the school to discuss the potential effects of their child repeating or moving forward a year. If a shared consensus can’t be reached, the school reserves the right to make the final decision. The principal has final approval of all class placements.

Related policies

• Special Character
• Inclusive School Culture
• Learning Support
• Communicating with Parents and Whānau
• Income
• Stand-down, Suspension, and Exclusion
• Privacy
• School Records Retention and Disposal
• Student Attendance

Legislation

• Education and Training Act 2020
• Human Rights Act 1993

Resources

• Ministry of Education l Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga:
  • Enrolling students
  • Enrolment schemes
  • Guidelines for the development and operation of enrolment schemes for State Integrated Schools
• New Zealand Catholic Education Office: Non-preference enrolment examples

Release history: Term 2 2023, Term 1 2021

Topic Number: 1631	Last Modified Date: 14/08/2025 14:07:22
Topic Version: 1	Published Date: 30/01/2026