Page 321 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 2019
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(1) There are approximately 4 850 ACT preschool places available with the number of sessions at each preschool ranging from one to nine. Please see Attachment A for more detail.
(2) Please see Attachment A for approximate number of preschool places for each school. This number is based on the physical capacity of the classroom space and the staffing ratios. Under the Education and Care Services National Law (ACT) Act 2011, preschool class sizes are set at a maximum of 22 students.
(3) As of 12 December 2019, there were approximately 4 663 applications. This is an estimate due to potential duplicate applications received from parents.
(4) Although enrolments for preschool are received through the Education Directorate electronic enrolment system, applications for preschool enrolment are forwarded directly to schools for consideration. Schools offer preschool places and forward any applications for enrolment that cannot be accommodated to the next preference preschool or preschool with capacity.
(5) Preschool is not a compulsory year of schooling. Where there is excess demand for places from students within the school’s PEA, enrolments may be referred to other preschools within the local area that have capacity. This may occur for children who are:
• resident within the PEA
• not resident within the PEA yet have siblings concurrently enrolled at the school
• resident in the shared enrolment zone for the school.
(6) While schools will attempt to accommodate preschool students who reside in the school’s PEA, due to the maximum class sizes defined by the Education and Care Services National Law (ACT) Act 2011 schools may not be able to accommodate all preschool students.
If students are offered a preschool place elsewhere, they are guaranteed a kindergarten place in their PEA school. ACT K-12 students living within the PEA of a school are guaranteed a place at that school regardless of when they apply or what preschool the student attended previously.
(7) Families who live in a suburb outside of the PEA are deemed to be living Out of Area Enrolment (OAE) area. They are able to apply for a preschool that is located outside their PEA at any time however they will only be granted a place if there is sufficient capacity within the school to accommodate OAE enrolments. When seeking an OAE school it is important that families provide evidence to support their application when completing the online application form.
(A copy of the attachment is available at the Chamber Support Office).
Schools—suspension guidelines
(Question No 2055)
Ms Lee asked the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, upon notice, on 30 November 2018:
(1) When did public consultation on the ACT Education Directorate’s draft guidelines for Suspension, Transfer or Exclusion of students in ACT schools close.
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