This afternoon I receive and email from Lucy Ambrose from the National Office about the process of getting an exemption for our nearly 6 year olds. Lucy’s email is about a policy change and is a direct result of the Scoping Survey that was done last year.

Hi Barbara and Meredith,

As you will remember, we agreed to look into the age that a child must be before parents can apply for a long-term exemption from enrolment. We have now reached an in-principle agreement that we will be able to accept applications following the child’s fifth birthday (as opposed to the current six weeks before their sixth birthday).

The law remains the same, however – the exemption begins at the sixth birthday, but this change will allow the Ministry to process applications before these children are obliged to enrol in a school. This will reduce disruption to home education parents, students and schools.

This will take effect from 1 June 2015, absent major technical challenges.

We are having a hui with our regional home education staff on 11-12 May, and will brief them about this change. At this meeting, we also intend to train our staff in a range of home education philosophies, and the benefits of each.

We will also put a note on our website regarding this change.

Kind regards,

Lucy Ambrose-Segetin | Senior Advisor | Learner Engagement

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