Douglas Park Fernridge Solway ES amendments

Overview

The Ministry of Education has been working with Fernridge, Douglas Park and Solway Schools in Masterton to amend their enrolment schemes. There is growth in the Masterton catchment partly due to new housing developments and boards need to be able to manage rolls to prevent overcrowding, with the prospect of further growth.

This will assist the Boards to manage overcrowding at the school, 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.

If overcrowding occurs or is likely to occur at a state school, the Ministry of Education must establish or amend an enrolment scheme for the school. 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.

All learners/ākonga who live within the home zone of a school 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 an application meets 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 Fernridge, Douglas Park and Solway Schools before the amendments commence are entitled to stay at the school. Siblings of current students will have priority access to any out-of-zone places offered by the schools.

It’s important that we hear and understand community perspectives before we implement these amendments – especially the design and practical implications of the home zone.  Please have a look at the maps and descriptions available before you participate in the consultation process.

This consultation process is about enrolment schemes, which determines the entitlement to enrol.  It’s important to note that a student’s eligibility to enrol may be different to their eligibility for School Transport assistance.  Further information about eligibility to school transport can be found here.

Information

Fernridge School, Douglas Park School and Solway School

Please see the consultation document at the bottom of the page for the proposed amendments and how to comment.

Frequently Asked Questions about Enrolment Schemes (Right click to open in a new window) 

Submissions are official information

Submissions you make become official information. The content of submissions can be asked for under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). Under the OIA, we must make information available unless there is good reason for withholding it.

Tell us if you have any objections to the release of any information used in your submission, particularly which part(s) you believe should be withheld, along with the reason. Reasons might include that it is commercially sensitive or it is personal information. We will take into consideration any objections when responding to OIA requests. However, any decision the Ministry of Education makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may tell us to release it.