Burnside Primary School - Amendment to Enrolment Scheme 2022

Overview

The Ministry of Education has been working with Burnside Primary School to establish an amendment to their current enrolment scheme.

The purpose of an enrolment scheme is to assist the Board to manage the risk of overcrowding, provide a fair and transparent process for enrolment and to ensure we are making the best use of schooling facilities across the network of local schools. Click here for the purpose and principles of an enrolment scheme. (Right click to open in a new window)

A key part of an enrolment scheme is the home zone.

In order to manage the risk of overcrowding at a school, it is desirable that the home zone does not contain significantly more students than the school can accommodate. The current enrolment scheme of Burnside Primary School has some large overlaps with the home zones of neighbouring schools. This creates uncertainty regarding future enrolments at each school and creates an increased risk of overcrowding at Burnside Primary School.

Several areas of the current zone are identified on the attached map. Area A is the proposed amended home zone for Burnside Primary School. Areas B, C, D1, D2 and E are areas of the current home zone that are proposed to be removed from the home zone. All of these areas are within the home zone of a neighbouring school and most students residing in these areas attend other schools.

An amended home zone to include only Area A would mean a better match of local in-zone demand to the school's current capacity. The Board of Burnside Primary School have expressed that they would like to retain Area D1 and at least a portion of Area C within their zone. Retention of some areas could be considered, but it should be noted that the retention of such areas may need to be re-considered at a later date.

Current zone map with proposed withdrawal areas (right click to open in a new window)

The amended enrolment scheme is proposed to commence from 01 January 2023.

All learners/ākonga who live within the home zone of Burnside Primary School will have an entitlement to attend the school and those that live outside the home zone may be accepted if there are out-of-zone places available and their application meets the legislated requirements. To be able to do this, boards at state schools keep an eye on the number of applications received from in-zone students to help them determine the places they might have available for out-of-zone students once all in-zone enrolments are accepted.

Note that all students who are already enrolled at Burnside Primary School before the enrolment scheme amendment commences are entitled to stay at Burnside Primary School. Siblings of current students will have priority access to any out-of-zone places offered by the school.

In this case, any siblings of current students currently residing in any withdrawal areas may be able to enrol at the school as if they were still in-zone under the specific “additional entitlement to enrol” provision (this is also known as 'Grandparenting'). Please see the attachment below for further information.

It’s important that we hear and understand community perspectives before we establish this amendment to the enrolment scheme at Burnside Primary School – especially the design and practical implications of the home zone.  Please have a look at the map and information available before you participate in the consultation process.

This consultation process is about enrolment schemes, which determine eligibilty to enrol.

Information (please read this before completing the survey)

Note that Area A is the proposed amended home zone for Burnside Primary School. Areas B, C, D1, D2 and E are areas of the current home zone that are proposed to be removed from the zone.

Note that the Board of Burnside Primary School have expressed that they would like to retain Area D1 and at least a portion of Area C within their zone.

When completing the survey, please indicate which areas you are discussing.

Map and written description of proposed home zone (right click to open in a new window) 

Current zone map with proposed withdrawal areas (right click to open in a new window)

Frequently Asked Questions (right click to open in a new window) 

Additional entitlement to enrol information (right click to open in a new window) 

What happens next

After consultation is finished, the Ministry of Education will collate all feedback and process this information to ensure it meets the requirements of the Education and Training Act 2020 (Schedule 20, Clause 5). If the Ministry is satisfied that the enrolment schemes meets these requirements, the enrolment scheme will be finalised and provided to the Board. The school’s board must implement the finalised enrolment scheme as soon as practicable.