[StevieD]

My nearest and dearest was talking to a Dutch schoolteacher today and she mentioned that once you a resident of a country, your children had to attend school within 2 weeks.

Has anybody else heard this or have any inkling if it like this in NZ?

I am pretty sure that there have been people on this forum who have kept their children out of school for a while when they were travelling around on first arrival.

Help, as always, appreciated.

Steve

[femke]

Hi Steve,

We arrived Oct 2004, our then 13yr daughter didn't start school till Feb 2005, we started off in Orewa, but ended up 2mths later in Havelock, Hawkes Bay.
We didn't really choose for her to have so much time before starting school, but we didn't know where we were going to settle, and we didn't want to put her in school only to take her out a few weeks later. Of course not long after we arrived, the summer hols started, :laugh

Good luck, i remember those last few days, like they were yesterday.:laugh
Moira

[Kim39]

When we arrived in Nov 05 we took ourselves off on a tiki tour and eventually found our way back to TA around 2 weeks later. Once we decided this was where we would be for the foreseeable future we took steps to get Nic and Hayley sorted school wise. We approached the schools and tried to make arrangements for them to get in for a week or two before the schools broke up for summer holidays. The primary school allowed Hayley to go in for a few days, but suggested we waited until after the holidays really. We decided against there advice and popped her in for the said time. As fo Nic, well she did have to wait until Feb 06 before she was allowed to enrol.

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule for this to happen. How can you decide on schooling over a short period of time, especially if you have one or two options available to you location wise. Would be totally different should you have a job offer in one location, and even then i don't think its a case of pushing your kids in at the earliest opportunity. Jeeze this is as much as a big move for them as it is for us adults. The kids need to find there feet too.

See ya monday bud;)

Kim

[eternalkiwi]

There is a legal requirement for students under a certain age (16 from memory) to be enrolled in school if they are resident in NZ.
But as the others have mentioned, the schools usually apply this regulation in a practical manner and, given the circumstances, the authorities are highly unlikely to reach an opposing view.

[pinkpiggy]

Great question Steve and one I was interested to hear the answer to. Like you, at the moment there Sam has no job offer and so we're not sure where we'll end up - could be North, could be South. I wouldn't want to put the boys in school for a few weeks only to remove them again if we move. :no

[StevieD]

Thanks everyone, seems pretty pointless to me, especially with migrant families being under so much stress and with everything being so uncertain in their lives.

Just that someone said it to Jan yesterday and wondered if it was the same in NZ.

[wiki]

I don't think any Government department would begrudge you keeping your kids out of school for up to a couple of months while you find a place to settle. If it is close to a holiday period, then starting on the first day of term would give your kids perhaps a better chance of easing themselves in.

I think the only problem you would strike would be if your children were out of education for more than two months - and perhaps you could set them small daily study tasks in the interrim so they don't get out of the learning habit.
Setting them research tasks on the internet could be a good option, or, depending on their ages reading and writing practice never goes amiss.

[Oregonkiwi]

There is a legal requirement for students under a certain age (16 from memory) to be enrolled in school if they are resident in NZ.
Yes, it is 16. The Ministry of Education website says:
Children are legally required to be enrolled at, and regularly attend, school between the ages of six and 16.

[marcia]

There is a lot of 'home schooling' done in NZ too.

I wouldn't worry about it Stevie, just make sure they are doing something, reading, practising times tables, and get them some books about NZ, trees, birds history etc, and what you are doing as a family is an education in itself.