Enrolment

Enrolment Requirements

All students enrolling at Knighton Normal School must have a copy of a NZ Birth Certificate or NZ passport or an overseas passport with a current domestic student visa/permit.  This is required by the Ministry of Education to ensure eligibility to attend a New Zealand state school.

Caregivers will need to provide proof that they reside in the school zone - this can be in the form of a tenancy agreement, power account, or landline phone account. Your attention is drawn to the zoning restrictions that are in place and are detailed on this website.

Enrolment New Entrants

We have a cohort entry policy for our new entrant students at our school. We believe this brings numerous benefits to our students and their families/whānau. Cohort entry refers to the practice of having children of a similar age group start school together at set intervals throughout the year. In this regard, we offer two entry points per term, specifically during weeks 1 and 6.  This means your child will start school on the first entry date after they have turned five and they have been enrolled.

New Entrant Cohort Entry Start Dates 2025

Term 1: Monday 3rd February

               Monday 10th March

Term 2: Monday 28th April

             Tuesday 3rd June

Term 3: Monday 14th July

               Monday 18th August

Term 4: Monday 6th October 

               Monday 10th November

New entrants have many adjustments to make in the transition from pre-school to school - the physical size of the school, the large number of people, a more structured day, eating and playing alongside others, and the increased level of effort expended in learning. Some children tire more readily than others. If your child tires easily and needs an earlier finishing time, this can be discussed with the teacher.

We ask parents of new entrants to enrol children at the school office up to 5 weeks prior to their fifth birthday, where possible in order to help make their transition to school as successful as possible. This also assists us with class placements and allows plenty of time for Play Time visits.

International fee paying students living in zone do not have automatic eligibility and will need to apply for enrolment. Click here for more information about enrolment of international students.  

*We do not currently have the capacity to enrol International Students.

Preschool Visits

Go to our Play Time at Knighton Normal page for information about our preschool to school transition visits.

Enrolled pre-schoolers can attend Play Time sessions with parents/caregivers. These sessions are held once a week for up to 4 weeks prior to their cohort entry date.

Te Hihiri

A Maori Language Partial Immersion Unit (Te Hihiri) operates within the school, however there is a waiting list for places in these classes.  Only children attending Knighton Normal School are eligible to be placed on the Te Hihiri waiting list. 

Go to the Te Hihiri Whanau page for more information.

A separate application form is required and available from the school office or download a copy here.

In-Zone enrolments

The address given at the time of application for enrolment must be the student’s usual place of residence when the school is open for instruction. This means that if you currently live at an in-zone address but move to an out-of-zone address before your child’s first day of attendance at the school, your child will not be entitled to enrol at the school.

The Ministry of Education has advised that parents should also be warned of the possible consequences of deliberately attempting to gain unfair priority in enrolment by knowingly giving a false address or making an in-zone living arrangement which they intend to be only temporary eg

• renting accommodation in-zone on a short-term basis;
• arranging temporary board in-zone with a relative or family friend;
• using the in-zone address of a relative or friend as an “address of convenience”, with no intention to live there on an ongoing basis.

Before enrolment takes place (ie before attendance begins), if the board has reasonable grounds for believing that the given in-zone address will not be not a genuine, on-going living arrangement, the board may withdraw any offer of a place which it may have made on the basis of the given address.

After attendance has begun, if the school learns that a student is no longer living at the in zone address given at the time of application for enrolment and/or has reasonable grounds to believe that a temporary in-zone residence has been used for the purpose of unfairly gaining priority in enrolment at the school, then the board may review the enrolment. Unless the parents can give a satisfactory explanation within 10 days, the board may annul the enrolment. This course of action is provided for under section 11OA of the Education Act 1989.

The Board of Trustees of Knighton Normal School has the right to check residency up to 20 weeks after a pupil starting at the school.