In 2018 the Board of Te Kauwhata Primary School opted into the cohort entry scheme after consulting with the community in 2017. The Education Act was updated in 2020 and a part of this update saw more schools opting into having a cohort entry policy.
Cohort entry is when children start school in cohorts after they have turned five. At Te Kauwhata Primary School children can start on the first day of a term or at a mid-point during the term. Cohort entry does not replace the legal requirement that a child starts school at the age of six. Parents, caregivers and whanau can still choose to not enrol their student before then.
While the Board recognises that this may seem unfair for students whose birthdays are days after a cohort entry policy, they also recognise their responsibility to follow the Education Act of 2020 which states that four year old children are unable to enrol in a school or kura before the age of 5. For this reason the children who turn five after the start of a term will be allowed to attend school at the next cohort entry point.
#Notes:
- At TKP we deem that if a child starts school in Term 2 or has a birthday in either Term 2, 3, or 4, they are considered a Year 0. Children whose birthdays are in these terms will be Year 1 the following year
- For the children whose birthdays are after the mid term date in term 1 and who are starting at the beginning of Term 2 - they will be classified as Year 1 as their birthdays are in Term 1
- If a child starts on their 6th birthday their year group will be decided by ability or time at school (40 weeks is the equivalent of 1 year)
- If a child has attended another school and moves to TKP, we will follow the year assigned to them by their previous school