“If you never did you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.”
- Dr Seuss
4 Year Old Kindergarten Enrolment
WHEN TO APPLY
4 year old kinder enrolments are managed by Nillumbik Shire Council. It is a centralised enrolment system run by the council for all of the shire’s kindergartens. Council collects applications, registers children in the central registration system, allocates a preschool place and liaises with families in relation to their four-year-old preschool registration.
Applications
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Open in March two years before your child turns 4 years.
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Must be submitted no later than 30 June in the year before attendance to be included in the first round offer process.
Nominate Yarra Warra Preschool as your first preference.
You do not need to be a resident of Nillumbik to enrol at Yarra Warra Preschool.
If you wish to enrol your child after the kindergarten year as begun, you will still need to contact Nillumbik Council directly to process a late application. A placement will only be offered if the groups are not at capacity already.
PRIORITY OF ACCESS AND OFFER POLICY GUIDELINES
Please read Nillumbik Council’s Priority of Access and Offer Policy Guildelines for detailed for information about the application and offer process, the No Jab No Play legislation, how priority of access ratings are determined, the roles of families, Council and preschools during the process.
If there are more enrolments than places available, Nillumbik has a policy in place to ensure families with a connection to Nillumbik Shire are not denied access to a kindergarten place at the expense of families with no Nillumbik connection. This policy applies to enrolments taken through their central enrolment system.
Nillumbik defines a connection as any one of the following:
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Residency
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Employment and / or education
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Study
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Existing child care arrangements
Children who have older siblings that have attended or are attending Yarra Warra will receive a connection to shire priority. Please contact Kerry, our Preschool Director, at director@yarrawarrapreschool.org for a connection to shire certificate.
Any families believing that special circumstances may apply to them will be considered on a case by case basis.
It is important to note that families who cannot demonstrate a Nillumbik connection are not excluded from enrolment and attendance at Yarra Warra as places will continue to be offered until all have been filled.
Please understand that Yarra Warra do not control the process for 4 year old enrolment. Some years our numbers are full, so we strongly urge you to complete your registration form and return it on the first business day in March, two years before your child is eligible to start kinder. Please also be aware that children transferring from another council to Nillumbik will be treated as new registrations.
For more information regarding Nillumbik Council’s enrolment process for 4 year old kinder and the online application form, please visit the Nillumbik Council website.
Once you have accepted an offer from Nillumbik for a place in Yarra Warra’s 4 year old kinder program, the kinder will be in touch about the next steps of selecting your group preference and orientation details.
THE OFFER PROCESS
Council run three rounds of offers from July to August.
30 June
Last date to enrol or change preferences without affecting allocation process.
Mid July
First round of offer letters sent from Council to families
Early August
Second round of offer letters sent from Council to families
Mid August
Third round of offer letters sent from Council to families
In September, the kinder will receive applicants enrolment information, at which time we will contact you about group selection, fees, orientation and our Annual General Meeting and welcome night.
As part of this process, families must provide evidence that their child is:
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fully immunised for their age OR
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eligible for a 16 week vaccination support period OR
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unable to be fully immunised for medical reasons
An Immunisation History Statement can be requested from the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) on 1800 653 809, at acir@medicareaustralia.gov.au or at a Medicare or Centrelink office.
For more information about immunisation contact the Department of Health, Immunisation Team/Nurse on 1300 882 008.
REPEATS AND DEFERRALS
If your child is offered a place at Yarra Warra by Nillumbik Council but you then decide defer your child’s enrolment for another year, you must do this through Nillumbik Council. You can email your request directly to the Preschool Central Registration Officer at preschool@nillumbik.vic.gov.au or via the Preschool Offer Form on the Nillumbik website.
Deferred applications will be considered a new registration by the council, and therefore your placement at Yarra Warra will not be guaranteed for the following year. However, you will not incur further application fees by the council.
Children who currently attend the preschool and have been approved for a second year of four-year-old preschool by the Department of Education and Training will enter the enrolment process in the Priority 1 group. They are therefore guaranteed a place at Yarra Warra for a second year. This process is usually initiated by our educators in consultation with the family.
BOOK A TOUR
We look forward to welcoming you to visit our beautiful Preschool on our Open Day. Or contact Kerry to arrange a tour.
E: 4yoenrolment@yarrawarrapreschool.org