Fill out a waiting list form at the kindergarten.  They will go onto the waiting list for the sessions you have enrolled them for and you will be contacted when a space becomes available in the sessions you have enrolled your child in.

Your child needs to be enrolled for a minimum of 2 sessions per week.

Recently the number of children enrolled to attend kindergartens in some areas has been falling.  For kindergartens to sustain roll numbers moving forward and for the changing needs of communities to be met, we need to diversify some of our services.  The changes we are considering would offer whanau/families more flexibility around the days and hours their child could attend kindergarten.

In July 2007 the government introduced the 20 Hour Free Early Childhood Education Scheme, which changed to 20 Hours ECE in 2009. This scheme means that families can enrol their child in an early childhood service that offers this scheme for up to 20 hours a week, maximum of 6 hours per day for free. Currently, our kindergartens do not offer families the option to attend for 20 hours a week. With the proposed changes families could better maximize their 20 Hours ECE. 

We are looking at offering a five day service of up to 6.5 hours per day for children, with a sessional component available, if the communities signal this.

The main aspects are:

• the choice of a 6 hour or 6 ½ hour kindergarten day

AND one of the following (depending on the community need)

• a  3 hour morning or afternoon session per day
• a  4 hour session in the morning; for those children that do not wish to attend the full day
  

When a kindergarten changes to a Kindergarten Day Model, the Ministry of Education issues a new licence for the kindergarten.  The conditions of the licence include improved teacher:child ratios which means it will become 1:10 and not 1:15.  This means we will employ extra teachers to meet the new ratio and incur higher operating costs.

For hours enrolled that exceed the 20 Hours ECE policy for three and four year olds, you may be eligible to access a WINZ subsidy to help meet these costs.

Families will now be able to choose to enrol for the days and times that better suit their child to attend kindergarten.  They will be able to enrol for a full day session, or a shorter session of three or four hours depending what model of operation is offered.

Families will have more choice as children only need to attend a minimum of two sessions per week. The final decision about the length of the sessions will be made after the kindergarten community has been consulted.

There will be improvements to the number of teachers working with children. Currently the ratio is 1 teacher to 15 children per session. This will change to a ratio of 1 teacher to 10 children per session. 

You can:

• Stay enrolled in your current sessions, there may be an alteration in the start/finish times. 
• Change your child’s enrolment.  This could mean changing to more, or fewer sessions.  If you want more sessions, you would put your child on a waiting list for the extra sessions.
• Ask for a transfer to another AKA kindergarten.  The AKA would arrange for transfers from the kindergarten to be given the next available space at another local kindergarten.

You can choose a mixture of sessions if your kindergarten offers this.  However your child needs to attend a minimum of 2 sessions.
Remember that the fee will be charged for any hours your child is enrolled in and are not covered by your 20 Hours ECE each week.

You can:

• Stay enrolled in your current sessions, the start/finish times will alter and they will increase from 2.5 hours to 3 hours.
• Change your child’s enrolment. This could mean changing to more, or fewer sessions.  If you want more sessions, you would put your child on a waiting list for the extra sessions.
• Ask for a transfer to another AKA kindergarten. The AKA would arrange for transfers from the kindergarten to be given the next available space at another local kindergarten.

You can choose a mixture of sessions if your kindergarten offers this.   However your child needs to attend a minimum of 2 sessions.
Remember that the fee will be charged for any hours your child is enrolled in and are not covered by your 20 Hours ECE each week.

You can:

• Fill out a new enrolment form.  This new form will allow you to choose which hours you want your child to attend.
• Ask to have your enrolment transferred to another AKA kindergarten.  Your child will not lose their place on the waiting list if you do this, but remember that other kindergarten waiting lists may be a little longer or shorter than the waiting list which you are presently enrolled on.

You can choose a mixture of sessions if your kindergarten offers this.  However your child needs to attend a minimum of 2 sessions.
Remember that the fee will be charged for any session your child is enrolled in and are not covered by your 20 Hours ECE each week.