The Ministry of Education is conducting a review and would like input from families who have children with learning support needs, and would value input from home educators. The stated purpose of the review is:

You can read more about the review here: ​https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/changes-in-education/highest-needs-review/ 

You can have your say by making a submission using the online portal HERE, or by emailing highestneeds.review@education.govt.nz 

Submissions close 31st March 2022.

A comment passed on to me by a home educator who talked with Manager of the Highest Needs Review: "She agrees that it is important to give homeschool families a voice in the highest need review that the MoE are currently doing. She wants parents to know that they can send their thoughts and feedback in (regardless of the fact that their children are not attending mainstream schools)."

Once an exemption is granted, how is a home education programme monitored? In order to legally home educate a child, the parents must go through a significant application process, in order to "satisfy" the Ministry of Education that "the child is to be taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school" in order for the exemption certificate to be granted under Section 38 of the Education and Training Act 2020. 
But once the exemption is granted, then what? 

Note: The wording on the letter that comes with a certificate of exemption talks about ERO contacting parents and conducting reviews. This is there only because they might be called upon to do a review, as outlined below. They do not routinely do them. 

Let's explore the ins and out, parental obligations, Ministry responsibility, and where ERO comes in. The relevant sections of the law are near the end of this post, for reference. 

The Ministry of Education is responsible (under law) to process an exemption application and determine whether the proposed programme of learning outlined therein satisfactorily demonstrates that the child will be "taught as regularly and well as" they would be in school. Once they've determined that and granted the exemption, do they have an on-going responsibility to check that the child continues to be thus taught? And if so, how do they do that?

The law gives ERO the ability to review home educators, and it give the Ministry the ability to ask ERO to carry out a review. It also states that the Ministry cannot revoke an exemption without first considering the outcome of an ERO review. 

What the law does NOT do is require the Ministry to regularly review home educators or in any other way follow up on their exemption & home education programme, nor specifically empower them to ask questions about the education programme of the exempt child after an exemption has been granted, except where they are gathering information when considering whether an exemption should be revoked. 

Anything that a government department does in terms of its processes and procedures that is not explicitly set out in law is rather based on policy. Policies are the ways in which the law is interpreted and applied as decided within a department. Policies can be changed relatively easily. Laws required parliamentary process to be changed. Policies should always, always be within the boundaries and scope set by the law, but sometimes they drift beyond this (if so they can be subject to challenge and amendment). Laws are generally quite broadly worded, leaving room for policy to be developed around how they are applied.

The Ministry, at the directive of the then-government, ceased routine ERO reviews of home educators on the 30th June 2009. (For more detailed history and review statistics see HERE).  Since then, they have provided funding for up to 35 reviews per year. That's review of up to  35 students, not 35 families, as they pay per-student that is reviewed. And how do they decide who will be reviewed in any given year? Their policy is that reviews are initiated only when/if the Ministry has some reason to believe they may need to check up on a family. In rare cases, this could be initiated by information from a government department, but for the most part this only happens as a result of what is known as the "complaints process." More on that shortly. 

So, in the absence of ERO reviews, how is the Ministry to determine whether an exempt child continues to be "taught as regularly and well as"? Do they even need to? As we've seen above, in fact, no, they don't actually need to, under law. However, there is one cardinal unwritten rule of all government departments. I like to call it "C.A.R.E" which stands for "Cover [rear], Retain Employment." In other words, nearly everything they do is predicated upon the ideal of never leaving themselves open to being found responsible for something going horribly wrong because of something they did, or neglected to do. (Look carefully at the actions of any govt dept and you'll see that this is true). 

This kind of mindset has led to a number of ideas over the years. The most persistent one is some variation on this: "If we grant an exemption for little Johnny when he's 6 and he turns out to be an uneducated societal misfit when he's 16 it will be ALL OUR FAULT. Therefore we need assurance that Johnny will be ok." 

And this, in the absence of routine ERO reviews, is what led to the policy of sending out 6 monthly declarations for parents to sign and return, on which parents affirm that their child has been "taught at least as regularly and well as.." for the last 6 months, and will be for the next 6 months (or insert start/stop dates). And because there is no legal basis for these declarations, they can't force parents to sign and return them. Thus the other policy - of linking the supervision allowance to the return of these declarations - it's the "carrot" to get most folk to do so. "You send us this piece of paper, duly signed, and we'll give you the allowance." We've been assured, you've been paid, everyone's happy. Or something like that. 

But what if you don't care about the allowance and don't sign and return the form? Well, that's when they might act upon another policy. That is, since they haven't been assured via the declaration that little Johnny is still being taught as regularly and well, then they must have an "obligation" to investigate further, to ensure he is. This makes them "concerned" about Johnny's learning programme, and this is where the complaints process can also come in. 

As noted above, the only time, under the law, that the Ministry has the right or obligation to "gather information" related to the learning programme of an exempt student once the exemption has been granted, is when they are considering whether there is grounds for the exemption to be revoked. That is, they are considering whether there are grounds for them to NOT be satisfied that the child is being taught as regularly and well. And why would they be considering that?

Under current policy, since routine ERO reviews ended, they do this on a "complaints basis"- that is, if someone  expresses a "concern" or makes a "complaint" to the Ministry suggesting that an exempt child is not being satisfactorily educated, then they investigate to determine whether or not that is the case.

Legally, they can immediately request an ERO review to make this determination, but as this process is sadly open to abuse by people just wanting to make trouble for the homeschooling family, the Ministry agreed to a NCHENZ request that they first talk to the family about the complaint and give them an opportunity to address what might be going on before deciding whether to initiate an ERO review, and this has become part of the process. 

However, the way this is being interpreted and applied is not really what was originally agreed to. The NCHENZ request was both to ask the Ministry to investigate the source of the complaint to determine legitimacy, and so that if a family knew that there was someone with a personal axe to grind who might be making a nefarious complaint to the Ministry, this could be identified and an ERO review not pursued unfairly. This has mostly morphed instead into the Ministry asking families for an update on their learning programme so that they can decide whether there is likely to be an issue that warrants further investigation via ERO. 

So, if the Ministry receives a complaint or an expression of concern about your children's home education programme, they will contact you to let you know, and ask you for an update on their programme. If the complaint expressed specific issues, they may ask you just to speak to those, or they could ask for a more general update. Either way, you have the right to see the original complaint before you respond, though any identifying information about the person complaining will be redacted. You can ask for this under the Privacy Act. 

You then have the opportunity to put together such information as you feel is appropriate and submit it to the Ministry, who will then review it and decide if what you have provided satisfies them that your children are continuing to be taught "as regularly and well" - in which case they advise you of this and close the file - or not - in which case they request an ERO review, and advise you they have done so. 

However, if a previous complaint did not result in an ERO review, and another one has been received, Ministry policy is generally to skip asking for an update and just refer to ERO.

The regional office that deals with exemptions for your area is the same one that would deal with the above process. However, they cannot on their own authority ask ERO to conduct a review - they must put in a request to the national Ministry office, who need to check everything is in order and confirm the request, and then order the review. 

If this happens, then ERO would contact your family in due course, arrange a time to meet with you and conduct the review, advise you of the expected outcome, write a report on their findings, send you a draft copy to review and request amendment to if appropriate, before sending the final report to the Ministry. ERO reviews can take several hours, but result in reports that are typically less than 2 pages long. They always conclude with a statement that the child IS being or is NOT being "taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school."

If the finding is that the child "is being taught as regularly and well as" then the Ministry will be satisfied and close the file, and the family's home education programme carries on. If the finding is that they are not, then what happens next depends on certain factors, including whether ERO suggested the family could meet the requirements with a few changes or some additional support, and/or whether the Ministry (and the family) are open to discussing how the family might improve their programme to meet the requirements and so give them another chance. Otherwise, they will enact the law to revoke the exemption/s. 

I will write more detailed posts separately about responding to a complaint-based info request, and preparing for an ERO review.

When parents decide to home educate their child, they are taking full personal responsibility for their child's learning programme. This is not something to be entered into lightly, and the application process itself ensures that parents have thought through what and how their child will be taught. (For more on this process see HERE). 

Once the exemption is granted, the parent continues to assume full legal and moral responsibility to ensure their child is educated at least as well (and regularly) as they would be in a school. Many parent's personal bar is a lot higher than "as in a school." Yes, this is a responsibility, but it's also a privilege and a right - the right to decide how and where your child will be educated, the privilege of being right there with them to see the learning happening and to be a part of it all alongside your child. 

Part of being responsible for your child's education is, in some appropriate way, self-reviewing how things are going from time to time - considering what the next steps in your child's learning are, how you will facilitate those things, whether additional resources are needed, whether your child is progressing appropriately etc. Alongside of this is a need to record progress somehow. Now, there are no rules or laws about how you do any of this - it's up to you. Whatever you decide about the details, the purpose of this is primarily to serve you and your child by supporting their learning journey and helping you to manage things more easily. There are many great ideas to be gleaned from other experienced home educators about how they do this; what you choose to put in place should not be so burdensome that it unnecessarily detracts from the time you need to actually engage with and teach your children. 

One of the big pluses of maintaining some kind of on-going record is that in the event you are asked for information by the Ministry or have an ERO review, it will be so much easier for you to pull things together in response or preparation. Another plus is that when they're grown and gone you'll enjoy looking back at those reminders and memories, plus when some other parent (or maybe your own children when they want to homeschool their children) asks you how you did things, or what you used etc, the answers will be at your fingertips! (Believe me, those things you think you will remember in vivid detail often are not so easy to recall!)

NCHENZ has some helpful info on planning and record keeping, as well as examples from two families. 

So, the most significant responsibility of a home educating parent is the daily and on-going teaching, guiding and supporting of your learner, with all that that implies including resourcing, reviewing progress, maintaining appropriate records that serve you etc. Your other responsibilities include:

• Signing and returning the 6 monthly declarations
• Being able to give the Ministry an update if requested
• Being able to provide ERO with evidence of your child's learning programme and progress if requested. ERO ask questions, but also look for evidence to support your answers. Which is where records of some kind and/or samples of work come in. 

The Education and Training Act 2020 sets out the laws around gaining (and keeping) an exemption, and the powers of ERO as it applies to homeschooling. 
I've written a more detailed post regarding all sections of the Act that may be relevant to home educators HERE; for the purposes of this post, I'll quote two ,main parts:

Once an exemption has been granted, the on-going monitoring of a home education programme primarily rests with the parents, who have chosen to accept responsibility for their own children's education. The vast majority do an excellent job (which is why the government felt justified in de-funding routine ERO reviews). On the other hand, the Ministry does check up on families via 6 monthly declarations, and when a complaint/concern is brought to their attention, via a request for an update and/or an ERO review. 

The key piece of legislation is from the Education and Training Act 2020, Section 213, which says:
"The Secretary may require the managers of a private entity that is not registered under section 214 to apply for its registration as a private school under that section if the Secretary considers that the entity is operating as a school, whether or not any exemption certificates issued under section 38 are held in respect of any or all of the students being taught there." 

This means that if the Ministry believes that a private group is operating in a way that fits the legal description of a private school, even though the students involved hold homeschooling exemptions, they can require that group or organisation to apply for registration as a private school. 

The description of what constitutes a private school is taken to be the criteria for registration of a private school as set out in Schedule 7 of the Act:
The criteria for registration as a private school are that the school--
(a) has premises that are suitable, as described in clause 3; and
(b) usually provides tuition for 9 or more students aged 5 years or over but under 16 years; and
(c) has staffing that is suitable to the age range and level of its students, the curriculum taught at the school, and the size of the school; and
(d) has equipment that is suitable for the curriculum being delivered or to be delivered at the school; and
(e) has a curriculum for teaching, learning, and assessment and makes details of the curriculum and its programme for delivery available for parents; and
(f) has suitable tuition standards, as described in clause 5; and
(g) has managers who are fit and proper persons (as described in clause 6) to be managers of a private school; and
(h) is a physically and emotionally safe place for students.

The Ministry has an internal document called the Home Education Policies and Procedures Manual, published in 2018. This document guides regional staff on processes related to home education. I obtained a copy under the Official Information Act shortly after it was published. While it has not yet been updated (to my knowledge) to reflect the new 2020 Act, the principles remain the same. In respect to home educators operating as private schools it notes the following key points:

• "It is illegal for home educators to form a school. However, many home educators meet together on a regular or semi-regular basis. A parent has not necessarily relinquished responsibility for their child's learning if they are being home educated in these groups.
• These home educators could be an extended whanau or large family who are not trying to form a school. However, large families or extended whanau should be advised that if they were to teach children from other families they could be in breach of (Section 213).
• The larger and more organised a group is (especially if they teach nine or more children) and the less responsibility parents have for their children's education, then the more likely it is that a group would need to register as a school. 
• Whether there are nine or more "students"  is not the only factor to consider when determining if a group is  operating informally or as a registered school. For example, if a group of six children from five different families are being taught together several days a week at a specified location by a single adult using planned lesson material this can be regarded as a school. 
• In contrast, an indeterminate group of home educating parents meeting for three mornings a week delivering educational programmes to their children does not necessarily constitute a school. 
• Similarly, a Sunday school run by home educating parents is probably not a school either under Section 213 even if it had more than 100 children or young people attending. This is because it is restricted in scope and, though regular, is in session for only a small period once per week. 
• Other factors that may contribute to an assessment that a home educator group is in fact a "school" included whether they are or there is:

1. Advertising
2. Taking on a formal structure or name
3. Hiring a site or establishing a substantial "school" building rather than simply meeting in a convenient location
4. A lack of involvement or control on the part of parents
5. A timetable that resembles a typical school day - ie Monday to Friday for periods of six hours or more"

They go on to quote the criteria for a private school from the Act, then note that if a regional office becomes aware of home educator groups that may be operating in breach of Section 213, they should refer the matter to the national office who will seek legal advice on further action, and that:
"in the past the Ministry have asked large home educator groupings to cease operations immediately or seek provisional registration as a school. In the case of small groups, the Ministry should advise that the emphasis in these groupings should be on individual, rather than group, instruction." 

Quite a number of years ago, there was a small group of parents in one area who all decided to homeschool their children, using the same curriculum. They decided to have the children together 3 days a week, with a teacher (parent) overseeing them, and the children work at home with their own parents the other 2 days. When the number of children reached 9, the Ministry said they needed to register as a private school. To actually make this registration work (since they had to then meet ALL the criteria of a private school registration) was not entirely easy, but with the support of an MP it happened, and the small private school came into being. Over the years that followed, they first continued with the 3:2 model, then 4:1, until the school was eventually disbanded some years later. 

Of note: there was a planned curriculum, the parents were handing over supervision of their children for several days a week, and the numbers exceeded 9 before the Ministry saw it as a problem. Because they were using the same curriculum at "school" and at home, there was also consistency in what they were doing. You'll see why that is important below.

I have had contact more recently with two separate people who WANTED to register and set up a small private school, but the Ministry told them they could not, because they didn't/wouldn't meet the criteria. 

In one case, an experienced teacher of a certain style curriculum wanted to make this available to a small group of children. When she attempted to register as a private school, the main two reasons the Ministry refused were:

• She did not have 9 or more students aged 6 and over (yet - a couple were only 5)
• The premises she wanted to use had a bathroom in a separate building that would also be accessible to other users of the greater site (ie not exclusive to the use of the "school")

The alternative for her was for the children to get exemptions, and still be taught by her as intended. 

In the other case, a parent wanted to set up a programme where the children would come together 3 days a week to be taught by teachers, and the other 2 days a week would have the freedom to be at home with their parents, working on alternative projects or learning according to what the parents wanted to do. This came out the family's personal experience and wanting to offer families the best of both worlds. The Ministry said they would not be able to meet the criteria  of a private school (as currently proposed) because:

• "A school that is only instructing 3 days out of 5 is likely to be assessed negatively as to whether it meets the registration criteria as the regularity of instruction would only be 60% of that of a comparable state school meaning it may not have suitable tuition standards. So the key question around this proposal is what is proposed to take place on the 2 days the students wouldn’t physically attend. If the school was still instructing (e.g. by remote means) then this might meet registration criteria for e.g. It would depend on what is proposed."

This second example contrasts with the group that WERE registered as a school in the section above, who were using the same programme in school and at home.

So, it seems that sometimes even if you want to be private school or the Ministry thinks you should be a private school, you may not meet the criteria and so not be able to register as a private school. While what I set out above is the initial criteria of what constitutes a private school, to actually register as a private school, one has to meet more detailed criteria set out in Schedule 7 of the Act. 

Private schools are not fully funded by the Ministry - they are funded (usually) by the fees charged to parents. There is partial funding - the exact amount varies a bit by year and by age of students, but it's in the vicinity of $1100-$2300 per student per year. See HERE. If home educated students are part of a group which becomes registered as a private school, their exemptions would cease, just as they do with any school enrolment. 

​A registered private school has to meet a number of requirements, including reporting, ERO reviews, and now, vaccine mandates. 

Any parents considering forming a group and hiring someone to teach their children or leaving their children to the care and teaching of another person should carefully consider the criteria of a private school laid out in the above information and in the Act. 

Note that in the following circumstances, you should not be considered to be operating as a private school:

• Getting together as a group to do activities with the children, including, for example a specific class such as art class or a history class once a week. These are limited in scope and duration. 
• Getting together with one or two other families to teach and learn together part of the time - because all the parents remain involved and responsible for their children's teaching/learning. For example, one year our family and another (9 kids between us) met up one day a week to do science and some other activities together. The other mother and I took turns planning and delivering the lessons for the week, but we were both there and involved. Even if you did this for more days per week, you should not be considered a private school if the parents of each family unit remain directly involved in what is happening. 
• Getting the kids together to play or do some fun or sports activities, even if some of the parents do not remain present for the time. This is again, limited in scope and duration and is not handing over key teaching to someone else. 
• Hiring a tutor to deliver certain subjects to a small group one day a week or for several short sessions over the course of the week. Eg to hold a math class 3x week. Again, limited scope and duration. 
• Using an online platform for the children to be taught remotely for some classes - they remain in their own home under the supervision of their parents. 
• And, according to one of the examples above, possibly even having the kids taught as a group by one or two people 2-3 days a week, while doing other learning at home the rest of the days. 

Generally though, the key (but not only) things that the Ministry initially considers to determine whether home educators may be operating as a private school are:

• How many students there are (9 or more, though this number is not an exact requirement)
• Whether the parent is handing over teaching responsbility to someone else (and how much they're handing over)

Before setting up a group learning kind of situation for home educated children, consider the above information and whether your group might be considered to meet the criteria of a private school, and what that would mean for you and your group. 

After the big overhaul of the NCEA system that has been conducted over the last couple of years and is now coming into force, I was recently informed that the Ministry is conducting a series of Teacher Only training days at local high schools. Home educators may attend - they need to contact the principal of their local high school in order to arrange this. Note that I expect you would need to make other arrangements for the care of your children during this time. 

The graphic below shows the dates for each region. 

For a PDF outline of what will be covered click HERE and for a more complete PowerPoint outline click HERE

The current Ministry of Education application forms (published 2016) are designed to be used for a single, individual child. This is because at the time of publishing, the Ministry felt strongly that "each child must have an individual application." However, since that time through ongoing meetings and conversations with the Ministry, they have come to see the sense in being able to include more than one child in a single application in some circumstances. As a result, they have promised updated forms that allow for the inclusion of information on more than one child in a single form, but that hasn't happened yet.

Meanwhile, keep the following in mind:

• You do not have to use their forms for your full application. It is, however, best to use Section One of their forms - that is the part that asks about name, date of birth, parents details etc etc, and includes an important declaration. It's a waste of effort to replicate this section elsewhere, and all the info it asks for MUST be included. Since on the current forms this is only set up for one child, then I recommend you complete one copy of Section One (it's only 3 pages and can be filled in on the computer and saved) for each child. 
• For the rest of the application, use your own document, such as one written in Word or Google Docs and then converted to pdf before sending to the Ministry. My exemption guide pack contains a template in Word. (This advice applies whether you're applying for 1 or more children)
• When writing in your own document, you may include multiple children if it sensible to do so, but bear the below advice in mind.
• If you want to use the Ministry's application forms for the full application (Sections 1-4), you will have to do them individually until the new forms come out.

If you are writing exemption applications for 2 (or more) children who are very close in age and/or in stage of learning - eg twins, or often children 1-2 years apart in age, or where one is behind or advanced, bringing them closer in level, or in some cases where the program is very multi-child, such as unit studies based - then it often makes a great deal of sense to combine their information in one application. Otherwise you might be essentially supplying two almost identical sets of documents, with just the name changed. If you feel like that's you, or close, then yes, write them in one document if you like. 

Note, however, that is is absolutely ESSENTIAL that if you choose to do this, that you show sufficient and suitable information that demonstrates that you are taking into account each child's particular needs, which might include areas of strength or weakness, particular learning needs, next steps in learning, or individual preferences in things like sports, music etc etc.

Here are some examples of applications I would write as one, and the ways I would personalise them:

• Twins working at essentially the same level. If their program of learning is identical (and it may well be) I'd make a particular effort to include info on what each one enjoys or wants to focus on, or needs to improve in. Eg Jack might want to learn to play the drums and take part in rugby. John might play the guitar and prefers soccer. Or Jill might love to write stories and needs to develop her writing-reviewing-editing process while Jane has strong ideas and would enjoy the challenge of writing succinct, persuasive letters to the Editor. Anything relevant where you can include some personalisation will benefit your application.
• Two children close in age, working at the same level in literacy but a year apart in math. I would include the different math program/topics for each child, but much of the rest would be the same. Again, I would add personal interests, individual goals etc whereever applicable. 
• Multiple children where the family is using a strongly unit study approach with all children working on the same topics together. This one is a bit trickier to do all in one, but I would outline each subject content, then show how it will be tailored to each child - for example in literacy and numeracy you would set tasks and have specific goals and next steps for each child according to their age/stage/ability. Likewise in Science and Social Studies while they may study the same topics, they would apply that learning in different ways - an older child writing an essay after doing research, for example, while a young one might draw pictures and add captions with parental help, and meanwhile the middle child is expected to write a short report or complete some worksheets or whatever.

Note: No matter how you format your applications, you must have different topic plans for each child (even if you are planning to have them all take part in each topic). So if it's all in one document, have Topic Plan 1, Topic Plan 2 etc, each centred around a different child.

For the last few years, I have written or supported families writing quite a number of multi-child single applications through all regions of the country. Most have been twins or children just 1-2 years apart working at the same level. In only one case I know of, did the Ministry turn around and insist they needed completely separate documents for each child (it happened to be twins). So the parent changed the name/s in the document and printed two copies. I hope that that office later realised it was a bit silly. If someone strikes this, I would be happy to discuss the situation and provide support if needed. 

The reality is that a lot of the time it's actually EASIER to write the applications separately. That doesn't mean it's double or triple or whatever the work - you write one, then use it as as template for the others, saving a lot of time. It's ok to have a lot of similar or same content in applications for different children - that is normal - so long as their individual needs are covered where applicable. 

​But by doing them individually, it can be much easier to just focus on the one child at a time and what their individual program looks like. Unless your children are very close in age/ability and are therefore doing essentially the same program as discussed above, it makes more sense to write them up individually. If you're trying to cram a lot of different info about multiple children into one document, it could become very long and potentially confusing.

After you've written the first application, just save an extra copy, use the Replace function to change the name throughout, and then go through and edit the parts that need modifying for the next child - likely to be primarily English and Math, then Science and Social Studies depending on your planned approach, and the rest is most likely just about individual interests where they apply. You also must have a different Topic Plan for each child, regardless of the format of your applications. 

The Ministry of Education divides the country into 10 "regions." When sending in an exemption application or needing to contact your regional office about home education matters, it's useful to know which ones cover what region. So here is the current list. Note, there are additional local offices in each region, but those do not deal with home education matters as such - they are only handled by the specific regional offices outlined below.

If you are wanting information and forms to apply to Home Educate, you do not need to contact the offices. Just visit the Ministry's Home Education page, where you can download the forms and find current information. 
​(And for help understanding and completing those forms, see my Exemption Guide)

The following include the contact details you can use when sending in an exemption or are needing to get in touch to update your address, advise your intention to begin/end a school trial, dates for leaving/returning to NZ or anything else related to your child's home education. The lead contacts named below are the specific staff members, where known, who deal directly with home education matters, or oversee such matters in their region.

Northland/Tai Tokerau (everything north of Wellsford)
PO Box 911
Whangarei 0140
Email: enquiries.whangarei@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 09 436 8900
Lead Contact: Lyndsay Whitehead

Auckland (from Wellsford to Mercer)
​Private Bag 92644
Symonds Street
Auckland 1150
Email: enquiries.auckland@education.govt.nz
Phone: 09: 632 9400
Lead Contact: Julie Spedding

Waikato (includes Thames-Coromandal, Matamata-Piako, Waipa, Otorohanga, Waitomo and part of Ruapehu including Taumaranui)
PO Box 774
Hamilton 3240
Email: enquiries.hamilton@education.govt.nz
Phone: 07 850 8880
Lead Contact: Candida Hamana

Bay of Plenty/Waiariki (includes BOP, Taupo, Rotorua, Opotiki) - all home education matters are currently handled out of the Tauranga office
PO Box 15564
Tauranga 3144
Email: enquiries.BoP-Waiariki@education.govt.nz
​Phone: 07 571 7800
Lead Contact: Elizabeth (Liz) Moli

Whanganui (includes: Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatu regions. Southern boundary is Himatangi corner. Tokomaru is included. Tararua region is not)
Private Bag 3012
Whanganui 4540
Email: enquiries.whanganui@education.govt.nz
​Phone: 06 349 6300
Lead Contact: Charles Quirk

Napier (Hawkes Bay and Gisborne)
​PO Box 147
Napier 4140
Email: enquiries.napier@education.govt.nz
Phone: 06 833 6730
​Lead Contact: Hana Ruth

Lower Hutt (from Foxton south including most of the Horowhenua, Kapiti, Porirua, Wairarapa and Tararua)
PO Box 30177
Lower Hutt 5040
Email: enquiries.lowerhutt@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 04 463 8699
​Lead Contact: Gail Vinnell

Nelson (all of Marlborough, Tasman, West Coast)
PO Box 282
Nelson 7040
Email: enquiries.nelson@education.govt.nz
Phone: 03 546 3470
​Lead Contact: Alison Locke

Canterbury (includes Chatham Islands)
PO Box 2522, Addington
Christchurch 8140
Email: enquiries.christchurch@education.govt.nz 
Phone: 03 378 7300
​Lead Contact: Fiona Green

Otago/Southland  (home education matters are handled in both Dunedin and Invercargill offices; the lead adviser is based in Invercargill)
Private Bag 1971
Dunedin 9054​
Email: enquiries.dunedin@education.govt.nz
Phone: 03 471 5200 (Otago office)
or 03 211 8000 (Invercargill office)
Lead Contact: Trina Eastwood

The role of Lead Contact: A lead contact is an Education Adviser or Senior Education Adviser who holds the portfolio for home education in their region. This means they take overall responsibility to ensure applications are processed and other enquiries responded to, but they may or may not directly process all exemptions themselves. In four of the offices, the lead contact is also the person who processes all exemptions. In all the other offices there are a number of advisers who process applications, reporting to the lead contact, who may peer review applications before a final decision is made. (All applications are peer reviewed, but by whom varies from office to office).

This department deals with the six monthly declarations and Supervision Allowance payments. They are also an alternative department to contact to update your contact details. 

PO Box 1666
Wellington 6140
Email: resourcing@education.govt.nz
Phone: 04 463 8383

The Ministry map of the regions can be viewed HERE
​For more contact details on all regional offices see the Ministry's website HERE

There are two important numbers assigned to home educating families and students which should be known and understood. Here's some info on how to find and use these numbers.

When a family applies for their first home education exemption, the Ministry staff processing the application create a record on their homeschooling database known as RAD. In doing so, the family is assigned a number which is personal to that family only. This number is displayed on the exemption certificate and all subsequent correspondence from the Ministry in respect of home education, such as the six monthly declarations. 

The number will have, currently, 5 digits (older ones had 4), followed by a -1 for the first child exempt, a -2 for the second child and so on. For example, if the Smith family are homeschooling 3 exempt students, their family numbers might be 12345-1, 12345-2 and 12345-3. 

You will seldom need to use this number, but it will come in handy if corresponding with the Ministry about anything to do with your family exemptions. So keep a record of it in a safe place.

Every student in New Zealand has a National Student Number or NSN which is assigned to them from the time they first enrol in an ECE, school, or gain an exemption. This is the number they are linked to on ENROL, the national schools database, as well as on the NZQA framework, Studylink, at tertiary institutes etc. NSNs are 9 digits long and are personal to each individual student rather than family.

If at any time you wish to enrol your child in a program which has credits or funding attached to it, then you will need their NSN number. You will also need it to complete an NZQA registration, which is also needed for earned credits to be recorded on the Framework, and to access those records.

You will also need an NSN to check eligibility for Fees Free via the Fees Free website. 

It is mostly families of older students who need their NSN. Until now, finding out your student's NSN has required contacting the Ministry of Education and requesting it* - an often frustrating process. Last year at our meeting with the Ministry, in my role as Government Liaison for the National Council of Home Educators of NZ (NCHENZ), I requested that student NSNs be made easily accessible by including them with future exemption certificates and also adding them to the six monthly declarations. The Ministry agreed, and as of the current round of declarations (March 2020), these have been added.**

Now on your declarations you should see a line for each student which states:
Family homeschooling number, student's full name, students NSN.
Just one more reason to keep a copy of your declaration and not just shove it back in the post and return it. :-)  

The student's NSN will also be stated on any new exemption certificates issued. An exemption certificate is a legal document, and should be kept in a safe place.**

Below is a made up copy of part of a declaration for a fictious student - the family number is in red and the NSN in blue for clarity. This format is what you should see on declarations from now on.

*Note: if you're reading this at a time when you don't have a declaration handy, and need your student's NSN, you can still ask for it by contacting the regional Ministry office in your area. You are most likely to be successful by contacting the staff member there who processes exemption applications, if you are a home educating family. 

**Note: there is an exception - if you have applied for and been granted an exemption for a 5 year old, which doesn't legally come into effect before they turn 6, and have been sent out a declaration and/or exemption certificate in advance, post dated, then the NSN won't be on it/them as it won't have been generated yet; Ministry staff will have diarised adding your child to ENROL on their 6th birthday, at which point the NSN will be generated, and you will see that on your subsequent declaration. This is because Ministry staff are doing their best working with a sadly outdated and clunky database system, which causes all kinds of frustrations. Procedures in regional offices do vary - some will wait to send out the exemption certificate until the time of the birthday rolls around (in which case it will likely have the NSN on it), others will send them in advance, post dated (so they will not). 

All regional Ministry staff are working from home. They will be able to process exemption applications received via email (ie electronically), but not those that are sent by post, as they cannot access the mail until after the shutdown. 

As doing it this way is new to most of them, they are unsure about whether timeframes for processing will be affected. However I've had a number of reports back from families who have submitted applications during lockdown so far that they have been approved very swiftly. 

Regional staff will contact families to let them know that their application has been approved. At this point some regional offices are saying they will email the exemption certificate to families, others are saying they will have to wait until they are back in the office to access printers and will post them out. Some plan to do both.

This is the wording that the Ministry has added to their website on 2nd April:
"The Covid-19 lockdown has restricted how we process home-school applications and declarations. However, we will do our best to ensure no family who wishes to formally home-school their child, or children, is disadvantaged.
As our staff are having to work from home, local offices will only be able to process emailed applications.
If your application is approved you will receive your certificate of exemption by email.
If you have any queries please contact your local Ministry office."

The April declarations were mailed out before lockdown. Families are starting to receive them now. I have today (Monday 30th) spoken to Resourcing Division and here is the situation and advice:

The lovely staff member I spoke to, who like everyone was taken by surprise by the announcement of impending lockdown, hastily printed off all declarations, took them home with him, and personally stuffed envelopes and sent them out, so families would get them (big ups to Kenneth!)

He advises me that while families can send the declarations back, they have no way of processing them, regardles of whether they are posted or emailed. This is because the system they are working with is complex and antiquated, partly paper based, and significant parts cannot be done remotely. IF the lockdown ends of schedule, they hope to make the payment as intended in the week starting May 18th, but if it is extended, it may be June or so before payments can be made. 

Some families have already contacted the Ministry and emailed their forms. That is fine. HOWEVER, it would be much more helpful if the bulk of forms were posted to the Ministry, so they can work through them systematically as soon as they are able. 

We discussed various aspects, and the following are important recommendations:

1) If you can, please post your declarations back. BEFORE you do this, take a scan or clear picture of it as a back up so that if there are issues later, you can then email that back up copy to them. But if you're one of the efficient ones who already sent it back in without keeping a copy, then don't worry about it; if later it turns out we need to submit electronically then at that time you can ask for a new copy to be emailed to you. 
Note: this time around, for the first time ever, students NSNs are included in the declarations. You are going to want a copy so you have that info for the future too. See THIS for more. 

2) If you have no access to mail services at this time and/or have not received your declaration in a reasonable period of time (say the end of this week), then you can email resourcing@education.govt.nz and ask for a copy to be sent to you electronically. They do have the capacity to send them out by email on request, but not to reprint any at this time. Please give it a bit of time first though - post is likely to be slow currently.

3) If you cannot access postal services to return your declaration, then you can also email the completed return to resourcing@education.govt.nz. But again, only do this if you cannot post, as if we overwhelm their inbox, mistakes are more likely to be made than if they're working through a physical pile of paper in due course.

Further wording the Ministry have added to their website re allowances on 2nd April:
"As stated, the Covid-19 lockdown has restricted how we process applications and declarations.
The date when declarations are due and allowances paid may be subject to change. We will seek to provide further advice over the coming weeks.
If you have any questions you can contact resourcing support at: resourcing@education.govt.nz"

And for anyone looking for the postal address, it's:
Resourcing Division
Ministry of Education
PO Box 1666
​Wellington 6140

During these difficult and unprecedented times everyone is doing the best that they can, but disruptions are unavoidable. Let's be patient and kind to ourselves and each other. 

• Exemption applications can still be sent into regional Ministry offices, but should be emailed rather than posted, as only emailed applications can be processed at this time. ​
• Declarations can be signed and posted back in - they will be processed once lockdown ends, though if it is extended payment dates may be delayed. Emailing declarations will not speed up processing, and too many emailed declarations could cause issues and actually slow things down. Where needed, though, emailing is an option - see above for details.

​I phoned Resourcing today; the same diligent staff member who made sure declarations were sent out has had the boxes of received declarations delivered to his home, and is working on processing them. He will have another delivery in the next few days, to ensure that all declarations received by the cut-off date (last Friday, May 1st) are also processed. He has been working with the payments team and they believe they have come up with a way to ensure that payments can be processed remotely. At this time, therefore, they hope that all payments related to declarations received on time will be made on schedule, in the week of 18-22nd May. Note that this is an untested way of doing this, so they cannot yet guarantee success, but it is their intention to make it work.

Any declarations which were not received by the Ministry by the deadline will still be processed, but will have to wait until staff are able to return to the office; a date which is as yet unknown.

Today Resourcing confirmed that payments are being processed "as we speak" and everyone should have them by the end of the week. All declarations recieved by post or email by the May 1st cut off have been processed for payment.

Those who sent declarations in late can expect that they will be paid on a later cycle, as is usually the case. (The Ministry normally has payment cycles roughly every two weeks)

If you have not yet received a declaration, contact Resourcing at the email address above and ask for one to be emailed to you. 

If you think you've returned a declaration but are worried it has not been received or processed, you can call the Ministry to check. I suggest waiting to see if you get the payment this week first, so as to limit calls to just those who have not.