St Benedict’s School enrols a minimum of 95% of its students as children in Catholic families (preference enrolments).  The students must be New Zealand citizens or residents.

Guidelines

1. Preference of enrolment is in accordance with the Integration Agreement for St Benedict’s School and in accordance with Section 29 (1) of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 which states preference of enrolment shall be given ‘only to those children whose parents have established a particular or general religious connection with the Special Character of the School and the Controlling Authority shall not give preference of enrolment to the parents of any child unless the Proprietor has stated that those parents have established such a particular or general religious connection to the Special Character of the School’.
2. Criteria for Preference of Enrolment in Integrated Catholic Schools:

5.1         The child has been baptised or is being prepared for baptism in the Catholic Church.

5.2         The child’s parents/guardians have already allowed one or more of its siblings to be baptised in the Catholic faith.

5.3         At least one parent/guardian is a Catholic, and although their child has not yet been baptised, the child’s participation in the life of the school could lead to the parents having the child baptised.

5.4         With the agreement of the child’s parent/guardian, a significant familiar adult, such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle who is actively involved in the child’s upbringing undertakes to support the child’s formation in the faith and practices of the Catholic Church.

5.5         One or both of a child’s non-Catholic parents/guardians is preparing to become a Catholic.

3. A parent/caregiver enrolling a child(ren) must provide a signed preference certificate, signed by a Parish priest, Lay Pastoral Leader or an agent of the Bishop who may sign the certificate on his behalf.

 

Parent/Caregiver Agreement

Parents/caregivers of a child or children agree to support the school by:

•       Accepting as a condition of enrolment that the student is to participate in the general school programme that gives the school its special character (Section 30 Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975).
•       To pay Attendance Dues as determined by the Proprietor from time to time and approved by the Ministry of Education (Section 36 Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975).

 

Priority of Enrolment

Catholic schools were established to provide a Catholic education for the Catholic children of New Zealand and St Benedict’s School strives to fulfil this mandate. 

St Benedict’s School has a maximum school roll of 320 as per the school’s Integration Agreement and the Board of Trustees manages the roll accordingly.

Preference students will always be given priority.

Preference Students

Available enrolment placements will be offered at St Benedict’s School to preference students.  When there are more applicants than places available, an order of priority for preference students will be established based on the following criteria:

1.     Siblings of current students
2.     New Entrant students from families who live in the Ōhāriu Parish area
3. Children of staff members  
4.     Students who have previously attended St Benedict’s School and are returning to the area and the Parish
5.     Students who live in the area transferring from another Catholic School
6.     New Entrant students not covered by criteria 1 – 5
7.     Siblings of former students
8. Students from families who live within the Parish area, but not covered by criteria 1 – 7
9. Students who are not New Entrants entering other year levels of the school, who live outside the Parish area.

Within each criteria, consideration will be given to the date of the receipt of the enrolment application.

Priorities 1 – 9 are all subject to whether there are places available in the classroom at the year level of the applicant (refer to MOE curriculum staffing guidelines).

If your child does not meet the criteria, but you still want a place for him or her in the school, please contact the Principal to discuss enrolment as a non-preference student.

Non-Preference Students

The Private Schools’ Conditional Integration Act, Section 29 (1) allows St Benedict’s School to take up to 5% of the maximum school roll for Non-Preference children.  Non-preference students will be enrolled only if places remain after all preference applicants have been enrolled*. The non-preference roll is closed when the actual roll exceeds 85% of the maximum roll (272 students) as per the Archdiocesan of Wellington policy.

Non-preference applicants for enrolment are considered under the following criteria:

1. Siblings of current students
2. Children of staff members
3. New Entrant students from families who live in the Ōhāriu Parish area
4. Students who have previously attended St Benedict’s School and are returning to the area and the Parish
5. Students who live in the area transferring from another Catholic School
6. New Entrant students not covered by criteria 1 – 5
7. Siblings of former students
8. Students from families who live within the Parish area, but not covered by criteria 1 – 7
9. Students who are not New Entrants entering other year levels of the school, who live outside the Parish area.

*All of our  Non-Preference places for the 2023 school year are currently allocated.

 

Enrolment and Waiting List Process

1. If the total number of applicants is greater than the number of places available a waiting list will operate. A child may be placed on the Waiting List at any time after submitting an enrolment form to the school.  We encourage you to enrol your child as early as possible to be placed on the Waiting List for St Benedict’s School. Towards the end of each year parents will be contacted to advise whether they wish their child to remain on the Waiting List.
2. A local advertisement may be placed each year seeking enrolments.
3. Closing date for enrolments for the following year is 30^th October.
4. After the closing date, applications for enrolment will be prioritised as per the criteria above.
5. Notification of confirmation of the enrolment will be made within one month of the closing date of enrolments.
6. Acceptance of the enrolment offer will be required within one month of date of receipt of the confirmation.
7. If the total number of applicants is greater than the number of places available, unsuccessful applicants will be placed on the Waiting List within their relevant priority criteria.
8. Parents of students on the Waiting List will be notified when and if a place(s) become available for their child(ren).
9. Enrolments after the closing date will only be considered if the maximum roll has not been reached.

Please click here for a Preference Certificate to print off and contact the parish office on office@stfrancisohariu.nz, or phone 478 7137