Selection Criteria

Eligibility

All children must meet No Jab, No Play Legislation requirements.

4 Year Old Group – a child must turn four years of age by April 30 in the year they are to attend to coincide with school entry age requirements

3 Year Old Group – A child must have turned three years of age by April 30 in the year they are to attend to coincide with school entry age requirements

3 Year Old Group – A child must be three years of age before they can commence the program as per Education and Care Services National Regulations 2012.

High priority children	Process that could be used to verify need(s)
Children at risk of abuse or neglect, including children in Out-of-Home Care	The child is: Attending a three year old kindergarten program through Early Start Kindergarten or Access to Early Learning, or Referred by:child Protectionchild and family services (family services referral and support team, Child FIRST/integrated family services/Services Connect case worker)maternal and Child Health nurse, or Out-of-Home Care provider.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children	As part of the enrolment process, service providers must respectfully ask families ‘is your child Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander?’ and record this information in KIM.
Asylum seeker and refugee children	An appropriate visa that identifies the child and/or parents as a refugee or asylum seeker.
Children eligible for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy	A child or parent holds a Commonwealth Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card, Veteran’s Affairs Card, ormultiple birth children (triplets, quadruplets).
Children with additional needs, defined as children who: Require additional assistance in order to fully participate in the kindergarten programRequire a combination of services which are individually plannedHave an identified specific disability or developmental delay	The child: is assessed as having delays in two or more areas and is declared eligible for a second funded year of kindergartenholds a Child Disability Health Care Cardhas previously been approved for Kindergarten Inclusion Support Package, or referred by:The National Disability Insurance SchemeEarly Childhood Intervention ServicePreschool Field Officer, orMaternal and Child Health nurse.

If there are more applications than places available, the following selection criteria will be applied:

Children who reside in the City of Whitehorse by the 30^th June preceding the year of enrolment will be given priority over children residing outside the City of Whitehorse.

Repeating children from Pope Road Kindergarten will have priority entry into the kindergarten. A second year of attendance in the Three-Year-Old Group is by recommendation of teacher and parents and approval of the Approved Provider and a second year of attendance in the funded Four-Year-Old Group and must be approved by the DET.

All children will then be prioritised according to the following Local Factors:

1. Link to the Kindergarten

Siblings – Brothers/Sisters of previous or current attendees.

Three – Four-Year-Old Group Continuation – Applicant has applied to attend the Four-Year-Old Group Program at Pope Road Kindergarten in the following year (used for Three-Year-Old Group selection process). Children who attended the Three-Year-Old Group Program at Pope Road Kindergarten (used for Four-Year-Old Group selection process).

2. Proximity

Closest distance from the child’s address to Pope Road Kindergarten. For the purpose of this clause, freemaptools.com will be used to calculate distance as the crow flies.

Where children live an equal distance from the kindergarten, a random selection process will be conducted in the presence of the enrolment sub-committee.

Once local factors have been considered, the following criteria will then be applied:

Other Repeating (4YO Only) – Children who have attended a funded Four-Year-Old pre-school program and are eligible for a second year of funded Four-Year-Old pre-school as recommended by an Early Childhood Teacher, and request the second funded year be at another pre-school.

Special Circumstances – Families can submit in writing (prior to the 30th June preceding the intended year of enrolment), to the Approved Provider, any circumstances which they feel worthy of consideration. This will be reviewed by the Approved Provider before offers are sent out.

Approved by Committee of Management, March 2020. Please note that the Enrolment Policy may be altered at any time. If you have already applied for a position you will be informed of any change to the policy.