Guides

The guide, in order

1. How schooling works in New Zealand

   The starting point for understanding New Zealand schools: when school is compulsory, how year levels and school types fit together, what families pay, how zones work, what the senior qualifications are, and which agencies oversee it all.

2. When can my child start school?

   When a child is allowed to start school, when the law says they must be enrolled and attending, how starting in groups (cohort entry) works, how to enrol, and how the move from early learning is supported.

3. Year levels and types of school

   How New Zealand numbers its school years, and the different shapes a school can take: contributing, full primary, intermediate, secondary, composite and specialist schools, plus Māori-medium schooling and distance learning.

4. State, state-integrated and private schools

   The different kinds of school in New Zealand by ownership and funding: state, state-integrated, private and charter schools, what each costs families, and what a school's special character means for enrolment.

5. How do school enrolment zones work?

   What a school zone (enrolment scheme) is, who gets a guaranteed place, how out-of-zone places and ballots work, what happens when you move, and how to check whether an address is in zone.

6. How do I choose a school?

   What the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office and Govt.nz suggest parents and whānau look at, ask and do when choosing a school, in their own words.

7. What is NCEA?

   How New Zealand's main secondary school qualification works today — standards, credits, levels, grades, endorsements and the literacy and numeracy requirement — and what the Government has announced about replacing it.

8. What is University Entrance?

   What University Entrance is, what a student needs to achieve it as NZQA sets out, how it relates to NCEA, and what it does and does not guarantee.

9. What are the options after school?

   The main pathways after secondary school as official sources describe them — tertiary study, apprenticeships and training, and work — plus where to get careers help and how study can be paid for.

A closer look

• Are phones allowed at school?

  The rule on students' mobile phones at state and state-integrated schools: what it requires, when it started, the exceptions, who sets each school's policy, and how parents can help.

• Can my child get help with transport to school?

  Who can get Ministry of Education help with getting to school, how school buses and the conveyance allowance work, what support exists for children with safety or mobility needs, and how to apply or ask for a review.

• Can my child go to school in New Zealand if we are not citizens or residents?

  Who counts as a domestic or an international student at a New Zealand school, which children of visa holders can attend state schools free, how fees and student visas work for international students, and the Code that protects international learners. This is general information, not immigration advice.

• Do I have to pay school donations?

  What state and state-integrated schools can and cannot ask families to pay for, how school donations and the donations scheme work, and how to claim a tax credit for a donation.

• Free school lunches: Ka Ora, Ka Ako

  What the Healthy School Lunches programme is, how schools are chosen, how lunches are made and delivered, what has changed, and how to find out whether your child's school takes part.

• How do I change my child's school?

  What to do when your child moves school, whether across town or to a new region: telling the old school, getting a place at the new one, what happens to zones when you move house, and how enrolment records and NCEA results follow your child.

• How does home education work?

  How to get an exemption to teach your child at home, what the Ministry of Education looks for, the supervision allowance, qualifications for home-educated students, and what happens when you stop.

• What are attendance dues?

  What attendance dues at state-integrated schools are, why they are charged, how the maximum is set and published, what the money can be spent on, and how they differ from donations.

• What are special character and designated character schools?

  What state-integrated schools with a special character and designated character state schools are, how enrolment preference works, what parents agree to when they enrol, and how attendance dues fit in, as official sources describe them.

• What are stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions?

  What each of these terms means, how they differ, the limits the law places on them, what a school board decides, what parents are entitled to, and where to get help if you think a decision is unfair.

• What can you do about bullying at school?

  What official sources say bullying is, what schools and school boards are required to do about it, how to raise a concern and take it further, and where to find support.

• What does a school board do?

  Who sits on a school board, what the board is responsible for, how board elections work, and how parents can get involved.

• What does the law say about school attendance?

  Who is responsible for a child being at school, when a child may be away, what schools have to do about absences, what penalties the law sets, the government's current attendance plan and target, and where families can get help.

• What happened to school deciles?

  What school deciles were, how they were worked out, and what replaced them for school funding, as official sources describe it.

• What help is there for children with learning support needs?

  Who to talk to if you are worried about your child's learning, the people and funding schemes that support children with additional needs at school, specialist schools, going to a local school, and what the Government has decided to change.

• What is an ERO review?

  What the Education Review Office does, how it reviews schools today, what an ERO school report contains, and how to find and read one.

• What is Māori-medium education?

  What Māori-medium and Māori-language education mean, the kinds of kura and settings that offer them, the immersion levels used to describe them, and how to find a kura, all as official sources describe them.

• What is Te Kura, and who can enrol?

  What Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, the state distance school, offers, the enrolment gateways that decide who can learn with it, what it costs, and how to apply.

• What is the Equity Index (EQI)?

  What a school's Equity Index number estimates, how the Ministry of Education works it out and uses it for funding, how to read the number, and what the Ministry says it is not.

• What will my child learn? The national curriculum

  What the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa are, what the law requires of schools, how the new curriculum is being phased in, and the reading, writing and maths requirements for younger students.

• When are school terms and holidays?

  How the New Zealand school year is divided into terms, who sets the dates, how much teaching time schools must provide, when schools close during term, and the official term and holiday dates as the Ministry of Education publishes them.