Enrolments

School Age for 2025 Foundation Students
To start primary school in 2025, your child will need to turn five (5) years old by 30 April 2025. 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 new statewide timeline for enrolling in Foundation (Prep) for the 2025 school year was released last 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 2025, you will be able to apply to enrol your child in a Victorian government primary school from the start of Term 2, 2024 (Monday 15 April 2024).

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).

2025 Enrolment Process

The Enrolment Process for 2025 Foundation students will commence on Monday 15th 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 2025 will need to submit the application to enrol  via email to essendon.ps@education.vic.gov.au by 26 July 2024 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 29 July and Friday 9 August 2024. 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 23 August 2024.

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 19th, Friday 26th April and Friday 3rd May commencing at 9:30am, for families who wish to be considered for a place in 2025. 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’s 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. At the conclusion of each tour applications to enrol will be distributed should you wish to proceed with the enrolment process. Bookings are now available via this Compasstix link.

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

2025 Foundation Orientation sessions will take place from 9:30 to 10:30am on 4 Friday mornings commencing Friday 15th November (15th  & 29th November and 6th & 13th 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 2025.  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 2025 cohort with their 2025 teachers in their designated learning space will be Friday 13th December.

Timeline
  • Download the Foundation (Prep) enrolment information pack from Enrolling in Foundation (Prep) which is available from Monday 15 April 2024 and will include an enrolment application form.
  • Friday 26 July 2024 Submit an enrolment application for Foundation (Prep) before this date.
  • You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 29 July and Friday 9 August 2024.
  • Friday 23 August 2024 contact the office to accept the offer by this date to receive the 2025 enrolment form.
  • Term 3, 2024  Transition Meeting when the Foundation Coordinator & Well-being Assistant Principal will meet with the children and their families
  • Term 4, 2024 Foundation (Prep) orientation and parent information sessions. 9:30 to 10:30am on the 15th  & 29th November and 6th & 13th December
  • Thursday 30 January 2025 start for Foundation (Prep)


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