The Ministry of Education has asked all schools to consult with their community of current parents, prospective parents, staff and contributing early childhood education centres, regarding the issue of cohort entry for children starting school.

Cohort entry is where groups of students start together at the beginning of a term, as opposed to starting school on or after their 5th birthday. The school has the choice as to whether it remains with the current system of children starting school on or after their 5th birthday, or if it wants to change to a cohort entry system where children start as a group at the beginning of the term.

We believe that it is important for parents to understand the implications and pros and cons of each option. Please consider these carefully based on what you believe would work well for your child(ren) as they start school at Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kereru. We have attached links to further information about cohort entry from the Ministry of Education below.

Education Act update fact sheet regarding cohort entry

Parent information on cohort entry from Ministry of Education

The 3 options are: Option 1: The current system where a child starts school on or after their fifth birthday. Parents are able to select a suitable date throughout the term for their child to start school.

Option 2: Cohort entry where all children start school on the same day, at the beginning of the term that they turn 5. In this option a four year old child may start school at the beginning of the term in which they turn five, provided that their birthday falls before a mid-term cut off date for that term. This date will be decided by the Ministry of Education. Parents may prefer to wait until the following term to start their four year old after they have turned five. If the child’s fifth birthday falls on or after the designated mid-term date, their school start date will be the first day of the following term.

Option 3: Cohort entry where all children start school on the same day, at the beginning of the term after they turn five. After the child’s fifth birthday, their school start date will be the first day of the following term.

Please click on the link to the survey below, to let us know your preference. The survey findings will be collated alongside the views of staff, contributing Early Childhood Centres and parents who have children currently pre-enrolled at the school. This information will then be presented to the Board of Trustees who will make a decision with regards to cohort entry for our school. We will communicate the outcome of this process and any other updates through the Whanau News.

Please complete by Friday 8th September.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SURVEY

Kind regards

Gavin Burn, Kirsty Brownlie