Essendon Primary School Follow The Gleam

School Age for 2026 Foundation Students
To start primary school in 2026, your child will need to turn five (5) years old by 30 April 2026. For children whose birthday falls after April 30 in the year in which s/he commences school, the application must first be approved by the Department of Education before the application can be considered by the school. Schooling is compulsory for children who have turned 6 years old.

A statewide timeline is in place for enrolling your child in Foundation (Prep) for the 2026 school year. All government primary schools, including P-9 and P-12 schools, will follow the same new timeline. If your child is starting Foundation (Prep) in 2026, you will be able to apply to enrol your child in a Victorian government primary school from the start of Term 2, 2025 (Tuesday 22 April 2025).

Criteria for Enrolment
1.    All applicants must provide a certified copy of their birth certificate, immunisation status and if applicable, a copy of the most recent school report.
2.    Applicants born overseas must provide a certified copy of their passport and visa.
3.    Full fee paying International students should contact the International Student Division of the Department of Education on 9651 3700 prior to contacting the school.

Enrolment Priorities
Every child has the right, as set out in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, to enrol in their designated neighbourhood school. Your designated neighbourhood school is determined on the basis of your permanent residential address.

Applications to schools other than your designated neighbourhood school are subject to the school having available spaces, as outlined in the Department's Placement Policy. As deemed by the Department of Education Essendon Primary School has an enrolment ceiling of 475 students. Where there are insufficient places for students who seek enrolment the following priority is used to determine which students will be enrolled:

1.    Essendon Primary School is required to enrol children who live within the Essendon Primary School zone. Findmyschool is the official Victorian school zones site and hosts the most up-to-date information about Victorian school zones.  The information on this site is updated in Term 1 each year, ready for the Kinder to Foundation and Year 6 to 7 transition period. To visit the site, see: https://www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au If you have a question about school zones call the VSBA Hotline on 1800 896 950 or email vsba@edumail.vic.gov.au
2.     Students with siblings who will be concurrently attending Essendon Primary School;
3.     Students in order of proximity of their home to Essendon Primary (by straight line radius from the school).

2026 Enrolment Process

The Enrolment Process for 2026 Foundation students will commence on Tuesday 22nd April when the 'Foundation (Prep) Enrolment Information Pack for Parents/Carers.',  including an application to enrol will be available to download. All children, including siblings, due to start in Foundation (Prep) in 2026 will need to submit the application to enrol  via email to essendon.ps@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 25 July 2025 if you want your child to be considered for enrolment at Essendon Primary School.  Enrolment applications submitted after this date will be processed by the school as they are received, in accordance with the Department's Placement Policy. Once submitted, families who are not already part of the Essendon Primary School environment will be asked to provide supporting documentation as per the 100 point Residential Address Checklist in order to determine and verify the child's permanent residence. Families who live within the Essendon Primary School Zone, which can be verified through the Find My School website, will automatically be eligible and invited to complete the official enrolment form. Places available to those who live outside of the Essendon Primary School Zone will be offered to families in order of proximity of their home to Essendon Primary (by straight line radius from the school).  Families will be notified of the outcome of their application between Monday 28 July and Friday 8 August 2025. This will include sibling enrolments. Those who receive an offer of placement, should contact our school office if they wish to accept the offer by Friday 22 August 2025.

Tours

We welcome prospective families to attend one of our school tours. Essendon Primary School continues to implement important practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. As such we are able to offer a comprehensive information session and tour of the school buildings and grounds in the mornings of Friday 2 May, Friday 9 & Friday 23 May commencing at 9:30am, for families who wish to be considered for a place in 2026. They are an excellent opportunity to see some of our classrooms in action and onsite facilities as well as ask questions. It is also a chance to see if our school could be the best fit for your family and children. It is important to look at a range of schools and consider the different programs they offer as well as the culture within the school community. The session will last approximately an hour and be facilitated by the Principal &/or the Assistant Principal. Bookings will be  available via CompasTix early in Term 2.      

Foundation Transition and Orientation Sessions

During Term 3, families who have accepted a place will be invited to meet with the Foundation Coordinator and Well-being Assistant Principal as part of our transition process

2026 Foundation Orientation sessions will take place from 9:30 to 10:30am on 4 mornings commencing Friday 14th November (Friday 14th  & 28th November, Friday 5th & Friday 12th December).  After the successful transition of students in previous years, we will continue to have all year levels step up to their new year level during this time.  This will allow us the opportunity to explore different groupings of students, seek feedback from teachers, students and parents and collect student-learning information in preparation for a smooth transition in 2026.  In the meantime, year 6 students will be able to work on their own transition program in preparation for secondary school.  Our final transition day, when students will meet as a 2026 cohort with their 2026 teachers in their designated learning space will be Friday 12th December.

Timeline