The Ministry of Education normally receives about 200 applications per month for exemptions. Since September 2021, they have been receiving around 800 applications per month. That four-fold increase is resulting in applications often taking longer than the usual 4-6 weeks to process, though that does vary from region to region.

Meanwhile parents who have chosen to home educate may be in various stages - application submitted some time ago and awaiting the outcome, application only recently submitted, or application not submitted yet. Those who submitted applications well before Christmas may understandably feel that it's not fair if they are expected to send their kids to school for the beginning of this term when they did their part in a timely manner, and it's the Ministry who are taking a long time. Parents who more recently submitted applications, or have not done so yet, can of course not have reasonably expected to have exemptions before the school term started, in most cases. 

Regardless of the timing, there are a wide range of reasons why parents may not want to send their kids to school right now, including:

• They are all set up and ready to start homeschooling; want to get on with it, not disrupt the children's learning by putting them into school and then pull them back out again within a few days/week. 
• Reluctance to expose their children to possible COVID in the school setting, with the country at Red, and Omicron starting to move through the country. In some cases, this may be because of medically vulnerable family members. 
• Concern over vaccine mandates or mask mandates.
• All the other many reasons why parents want to choose homeschooling in the first place, and may not see any benefit or sense in sending the kids back to school while awaiting the exemption.

The surge in homeschooling applications has been attracting a lot of media attention recently. Schools have also in some cases not been sure how to handle things as the term begins. The Ministry of Education puts out a regular bulletin to school leaders on COVID-related matters. This week's bulletin, on 1st Feb, included the following section regarding home education applications:

​"Applications for home education

Since September there has been a significant increase in enquiries from parents about home education.
Information about home education and the application process is on our website for parents and whānau.
 
Here are some key messages about home education you can use if parents and whānau inquire.

• Home education is not a short-term solution. To home educate well, parents need to thoroughly research and plan their approach.
• If parents are concerned about their children attending school during the pandemic, they should first talk with their children’s teachers and principal about alternative learning options that the school may be able to support.
• Parents must apply for an exemption to home educate their children and they must demonstrate in their application that they can teach their children as regularly and as well as in a registered school.
• Applications are reviewed and assessed by our Ministry regional staff and exemptions are approved/declined at the regional level.
• We are currently assessing a large number of home education applications and decisions are taking longer than usual – on average more than six weeks. While families wait for their application to be assessed, legally all children aged over six years must be enrolled at and attending school (children can enrol at age five and then they must attend)."

I've seen already several schools tell families they have had "advice from the Ministry that students must remain enrolled in/attending school until they receive their exemptions" and so insist that the students go to school. While it is true that the law requires students 6-15 to be enrolled/attend until/unless exempt, this has always been the case. The Ministry's statement above is simply repeating the facts. It's not new or a harder line. 

What is missing from this statement is the fact that 5 year olds can be removed from school without an exemption. For more on that see HERE

Because the law only states, in effect, two things around this subject, it does not leave specific space for transition. Those two things are:

• ​All students aged 6-15 must be enrolled in and attend school
• Parents can apply for and be granted an exemption from the above for their student

The law, does, however, include some specific statements around reasons why a school/principal/the Secretary might excuse a student from attending. These include:

• Attending suitable alternative tuition
• A transition plan to ease a student into full time attendance due to age, medical or psychological needs
• The student lives significant walking distance from the school (varies by age)
• Short term "justified absence"  or "because it is sensible to do so" - however these are limited to 5 & 7 days respectively. 

For more info on these, see the relevant sections of THIS article. 

Though it is not specifically stated in law, a medical practitioner can also, when appropriate, write a medical certificate excusing a student from attendance for a period of time, which the school must accept.  

So where does commonsense come in? Are there some circumstances in which it might be sensible not to send kids to school while waiting on the exemption certificate? Most people would likely say yes, there are. And they may well be right. However, the law, as we've seen, does not explicitly allow for those things; it comes down to people using commonsense, hopefully in agreement with one another where more than one party is involved. Here are some examples that might be appropriate:

• A parent has submitted exemption applications more than 6 weeks ago, but the Ministry has not yet finished processing them. This family was anticipating being approved and beginning homeschooling from the beginning of Term 1. They've got all the books and everything set up ready to go. If they send their kids back to school, then it may only be literally days, or a couple more weeks, before they are approved, and would be taken back out of school. Sending them seems disruptive both to the student and to the school (as well as unnecessarily expensive if new school uniforms/stationery/fees are needed). Perhaps the family can discuss this with the school, and the school may be supportive of this, either marking this as acceptable alternative tuition as discussed in my truancy article linked above, or marking them as unjustified absence, but with no intention to refer the family to attendance services as long as the exemptions come through in the near future.
• A family has a medically vulnerable person and has genuine concerns about COVID, not wanting to send their kids to school until things settle down. According to the Ministry bulletin quoted above, schools may be able to provide alternative learning options for them. This could be instead of transitioning to homeschooling, or while transitioning to homeschooling if they plan to keep them at home in the longer term. 
• A family has not yet submitted exemption applications; they recognise that it will take some time before they have the exemptions, and decide to send their children to school until they are received. This is sensible and appropriate unless there are reasons they cannot or should not be at school, such as health and safety reasons, mental well being issues etc, in which case they should likely talk to their doctor about a medical certificate in the meantime.
• A family has submitted applications recently; it may be a while until they receive the exemptions, but they believe they have genuine reasons for not sending the children to school in the meantime. Depending on the circumstances, they may be able to discuss this with the school, or a medical professional and come to some agreement. 
• A family strongly feels that, though they need to wait upon the exemptions, that their duty of care to their children's wellbeing and best interests means that they are not able to send them to school in the interim. Despite the school being unsupportive of this, they make this choice, knowing that they may be followed up by attendance services, and could potentially face prosecution, though this usually only occurs in extreme or long-running situations. (For more on how that works, see HERE). This family would, if they have not already, get their exemption applications completed and submitted asap. Attendance Services, if they become involved, may apply commonsense by seeing that the family is genuinely working on/awaiting the application process, and has made this decision based upon what they believe is best for their children, and therefore taking no further action other than ensuring the exemption was approved in due course, so they can close their file. 

These are just some examples of how commonsense may be applied. They are all genuine examples that have occurred in one form or another, but this does not guarantee they will work out that way for any given family. 

The bottom line is, every family should do their best to remain within the letter of the law if at all possible. However, sometimes circumstances result in a wee bit of colouring outside of the lines during a transition phase. If that occurs, it should be kept to the shortest time possible, and reasonable communication should be maintained with others involved, such as the school, Attendance Services or whomever. It is very unlikely that the Ministry will be rushing to prosecute anyone who is genuinely transitioning from school to home education. However, if families take their kids out of school for long periods without gaining an exemption, that would be a completely different situation. 

A lot of conflicting advice is floating around about this. Families are asking "Do I have to send my kids to school at Red level?" The government's position on this has been clear: schools are open and students should attend at red level. This is in fact simply the law; the law requires students who are enrolled to attend whenever the school is open. So, except where there are health orders that require a school to close, or require students to not attend (eg due to close contact situations), then the standard laws are operating and all students are legally require to attend. 
However, as noted in the Ministry's bulletin to school leaders quoted above, schools may be able to offer alternative learning options if parents are concerned about their children attending during the pandemic.  

In 2017, a law change was passed requiring enrolled 5yos to attend school. This caused a lot of confusion about parent's ability to withdraw 5 yo children from school. I outlined the facts HERE. 

Now that the Education and Training Act 2020 has come into force this July, I'm writing this updated version of the situation with links to the new legislation.

The purpose of this post is to clarify what the attendance requirement for 5 year olds do and don’t mean. 

​

1. The age at which a child MUST be enrolled in a registered school under law remains unchanged at 6 years old. Section 35 of the Education and Training Act 2020 says that a domestic student must be enrolled in and attending a registered school from their 6th to their 16th birthdays.
2. As previously, students MAY be enrolled in a school from their 5th birthday. It is against the law to enrol a child younger than 5 in a registered school. (s62). This is still the parent’s choice. They do not HAVE to enrol their child at any time prior to the 6th birthday.
3. The 2017 change, continuing in the new Act, is that once a child is enrolled in a school they are required to attend, even if they are under the age of 6. These attendance requirements are covered by Section 36 of the 2020 Act. This means that parents whose 5yo children are enrolled in a school are subject to the same requirements to send them each day as the parents of an older student. The only exception is if a transition plan is in place to ease them into full time attendance.
4. HOWEVER, there is nothing in any part of the Act that prevents a parent from UN-enrolling their child (permanently removing) them from a school (for any reason). If the child is less than 6, a parent can still unenroll their child and begin home educating them immediately, so long as by the time they turn 6 they have obtained an exemption (or enrolled them in a school).
5. A parent or guardian can apply for an exemption to home educate their child, on the basis that the child is to be “taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school.” This long-term exemption from the requirements of Section 35 is covered by Section 38 of the Education and Training Act. Because it specifically refers to “exempt…from the requirements of Section 35” which only covers 6-16 year olds, home education exemptions continue to be applicable only to students from the age of 6. (No change under the new Act). As per agreed Ministry policy, parents can apply for an exemption any time after the 5th birthday, and have the application processed and the exemption granted, but the exemption comes into force from the 6th birthday, as prior to that there is nothing to be exempt from.

March 2022 update: there continue to be problems persisting with schools and/or Ministry staff telling parents they cannot unenrol their 5 year olds. I recently emailed the Ministry's national office about clear information being easily accessible to staff, schools and parents to clarify this and hopefully mitigate problems. Janine Moss, Manager Provider Services, sent this:

"Children who are five years old can be withdrawn from school. If they are currently enrolled at a school they must be attending, but they can be removed from the roll and leave the school at the parent or carer’s request. Parents can refer the schools to the following links if there is any misunderstanding. Links on unenrolling five year olds can be found on Parents.education enrolling-and-starting-your-child-at-school and the Ministry website Starting school"

Parents should be able to provide their schools with the above links (or the one below) to clear up any confusion; scroll or click on the "Unenrolling 5 year olds" sections to go directly to the specific info. 

Clarification was also added to the Ministry's Bulletin to School Leaders of 15th February which says this:
"Update: Five-year-old children enrolled in school: Our bulletin on 1 February noted that “While families wait for their application to be assessed, legally all children aged over six years must be enrolled at and attending school (children can enrol at age five and once enrolled must attend)”.
Children who are enrolled in school from the age of five may be removed from the roll before their sixth birthday at their parents’ request. In this instance, children will not be required to attend school until they turn six.
Schools should update ENROL using the leave reason “Caregiver decision” for these situations."

A related matter - returning to ECE:
A related matter I get asked about from time to time is "If my child has been enrolled in school at 5, and then I withdrew them, can they be re-enrolled in an ECE, and receive the funding?" The answer is yes, they can. Any child under 6 who is not enrolled in a school can be enrolled in an ECE, and if they meet the other eligibility criteria, receive the 20 hours-per-week funding. 

A family who experienced difficulty around this asked for my support. The result was an email from the ECE team at the Ministry that confirmed:
"If a child under the age of 6 has recently enrolled in school, then subsequently un-enrols from school in order to re-enrol in an early learning service for an ongoing period (for example because the parents have decided that the child is not ready to transition to school), then they are eligible for any early childhood funding available.  Children are not able to access early childhood funding if they are enrolled in school on an ongoing basis, eg they cannot enrol in an early childhood service in the school holidays."

​Legislation and Links:
The current Education and Training Act 2020 can be viewed online here: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS170676.html

My step-by-step guide to getting a home education exemption can be found HERE.

The Ministry of Education's information about home education exemptions can be found HERE.

Section 58 of the Ministry's 2018 internal Home Education Policy and Procedures Manual confirms that 5yos may withdrawn from school at any time and not re-enrolled in a school until they turn 6

The Ministry publishes a document for schools and BOTs called Attendance Matters. The current version is out of date on a number of points, but I include it here to point out that it states under the National Administration Guidelines (NAGs) on Page 15 that "a parent is free to withdraw their 5 year old at any time and not re-enrol them in another school until they are 6"

The Education and Training Act 2020 is the piece of legislation that governs most things education related. You can read the entire Act HERE. For the previous Education Act 1989, go HERE. 

​The main three sections to consider here are (with links to previous Act version under each):

Section 35 Domestic students aged between 6 and 16 years must be enrolled at registered school
(1) Every domestic student must, during the period beginning on the student’s sixth birthday and ending on the student’s 16th birthday, be enrolled at a registered school.
(2) Before a domestic student’s seventh birthday, the student is not required to be enrolled at a school more than 3 kilometres walking distance from the student’s residence.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to international students.
Compare: 1989 No 80 s 20
 
Section 36 Students of registered schools required to attend whenever schools are open
(1) Except as provided in this Act, a student is required to attend a registered school whenever it is open if the student--
(a) is required to be enrolled at a registered school:
(b) is aged 5 years and is enrolled at a registered school.
(2) A board must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the school’s students attend the school when it is open.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a student attends a school on any day if, on the day,--
(a) it has been open for instruction for 4 hours or more; and
(b) the student has been present for 4 hours or more when it was open for instruction.
Compare: 1989 No 80 s 25(1)-(3)
 
38 Long-term exemptions from enrolment
(1) An employee of the Ministry designated by the Secretary for the purpose (a designated officer) may, on application by a parent of the student, grant the parent a certificate that exempts the student from the requirements of section 35 if the designated officer is satisfied that the student--
(a) is to be taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school; or
(b) is to be taught at least as regularly and well as in a specialist school or a special service (if the student would otherwise be likely to need special education).
(2) If a designated officer refuses to grant a certificate under subsection (1), the applicant may appeal to the Secretary, who, after considering a report on the matter from the Chief Review Officer, must confirm the refusal or grant a certificate.
(3) The Secretary’s decision is final.
(4) An exemption certificate granted under this section must state why it was granted.
(5) The Secretary may revoke an exemption certificate, but only if the Secretary--
(a) has made reasonable efforts to get all of the relevant information; and
(b) has considered a report on the matter from the Chief Review Officer; and
(c) is not satisfied under subsection (1).
(6) If the Secretary thinks any student to whom an exemption certificate applies would be better off if receiving special education, the Secretary may revoke the certificate and issue a direction under section 37.
(7) An exemption certificate expires when the person to whom it applies turns 16 years or enrols at a registered school, whichever occurs first.
(8) A certificate continues in force until it is revoked or expires.
Compare: 1989 No 80 s 2

So, legally, a child from their 6th to 16th birthdays must be enrolled in and attend school, unless they are exempt under Section 38 as home educators (or one of the other types of exemption, but we won't go into those here). This means that until the exemption is granted, the child should remain in school. 

In some circumstances, parents believe it is not in their child's best interests, or otherwise reasonable, to keep their child in school during the application process. Common scenarios include:

• A child who is suffering from extreme anxiety regarding school
• A child who is not safe at school
• A child who's health and/or well-being prevents them from attending school
• A family who have just moved to the country or an area, and to put them in school for a very short time would be unreasonably disruptive and/or expensive for family and school
• A family who have made a last-minute decision to proceed with home education, and school is going back in for a new term or similar
• A family who believe their child is simply better learning at home, perhaps because they have not been making appropriate progress at school
• A family who are simply keen to get on with it
• A family who's child turns six during the application process

Every parent has both the right and the responsibility to look out for their child's best interests. The Care of Children Act states that parents have the right to decide important things for their children, including where and how they will be educated (which is the reason Section 38 exemptions exist). I encourage all parents to remain within the law if at all possible - the onus is on parents in most circumstances to arrange to submit an exemption application in a timely fashion so that they can begin homeschooling their child without a period of truancy. However, parents must also consider their child's needs and well being and do what is best for them. 

If you have decided to keep your child home during the application process, then there are some things you should know, and some options you should consider. 

Firstly, if either of the following can be applied, then there will be no "truancy" during this time:
1) Talk to your child's school principal. Explain the decision you have made, and ask them if they would keep the child on the roll and mark them down under one of the following until the exemption is granted:

• "justified absence"
• learning at home with the school providing schoolwork 
• principal's discretion for alternative education on the basis that you will be educating them at home (Section 52a) 

2) See your child's doctor and ask for a medical certificate for a period of 4-6 weeks. Give a copy to the school, who must then mark the student as absent for medical reasons. HOWEVER, please consider this: a doctor does not have to put a reason on the medical certificate, but will make a note in the student's medical records. If the reason for the child being unable to attend school is around anxiety or mental health, do consider whether it would be in their best interests to have this in their medical records if it's not already there. I have heard, anecdotally, of young adults being refused life insurance due to a medical record of mental health issues from several years earlier. I imagine with the high suicide statistics among young people this is a concern to insurance companies. Now, this may only be a problem with serious mental health issues, rather than things like school anxiety, but I would recommend considering this carefully and perhaps discussing with your doctor etc before you go down this route.

If the principal and/or doctor is unwilling or unable to be supportive about this, then you will need to decide whether to keep them home anyway. Meanwhile, they will be marked on the roll as "unjustified absence." 

​When a referral to Attendance Services will happen
Each school is responsible to have and abide by it's own policies regarding the running of the school, and this includes how they handle non-attendance. The policy will usually determine at what point the school will refer the student to Attendance Services. This may be as little as three days, or as long as 20 days, of unjustified absence. After 20 consecutive days of unjustified absence, the school can remove the student from their roll if they are 5 years old or 16 and over; as students of those ages are not legally required to be enrolled in school, once removed from the roll there is no truancy matter to be followed up. For other student, the School Attendance Regulations 1951 also direct a school to remove the student from the roll after 20 consecutive days of unjustified absence, unless they have been told the absence is temporary. 

All students in NZ are on a national database known as ENROL, which also shows them linked to their school of enrolment, or as being home educated if exempt. If a student is removed from the school's roll and not enrolled in another school, nor exempt, then there is an automatic enquiry triggered for Attendance Services to follow up on.

If your child has just turned six and has never attended a school or ECE, then they will not yet be on ENROL. In that case, it is very unlikely anyone will be following up on why they are not enrolled in/attending school unless something else triggers it. 

Attendance services are contracted out by the MoE to various companies across the regions. All of these subcontractors have one primary role in regards to absent children: to talk to the families and try to ensure the child is returned to some suitable form of education. If they are asked to do so by the school, or an automated enquiry from ENROL, then they must follow up a family (though some are prompt about this, and some seem to take a long time!)

If you are contacted by Attendance Services, it should begin as a non-threatening enquiry as to why your child is not in school, and what your plans are. 

If you tell Attendance Services that you have chosen to home educate and have put in an exemption application, then the only things they should say then are:

• That usually takes about 4-6 weeks to process
• Please refer to the Ministry's website for more information

They might also try to discuss, especially if the child has already been absent for some time, whether it would be best to put them in school until the exemption is granted. If you have made a firm decision about that and communicate it to the Attendance Officer, then they should leave it there. 

Attendance Services only remaining role in the event of an exemption application is to follow up and ensure that the exemption was granted so they can close their file - they can do this by accessing ENROL in due course. 

Most Attendance Services staff are pleasant people, and in some cases they can be very supportive. There's no reason to be afraid of them.

On rare occasions in the past, we have had incidences where individual attendance staff have made ill-informed and inappropriate statements to parents about the exemption process and their part in it. If you happen to experience that, please get in touch. 

It's important to understand that Section 20 (requiring attendance) is there to protect a child's right to an education. It's aimed at ensuring children do go to school. For a law to work, there have to be possible penalties for those who break the law. In the case of on-going truancy, the law (Section 243 and Section 244) allows for fines to be imposed on parents, but ONLY upon conviction in a court of law. The fine for the first infringement is a maximum of $300, and for subsequent infringements, up to $3000 in the case of irregular attendance, and a maximum penalty of $3000 in the case of non-enrolment.

Note, however, that a court case and fines are generally treated as a last resort when all attempts to discuss and support a family so their child can be returned to school have failed. 

In a situation where a parent has decided on an alternative form of education - namely in this case home education - and is in the process of applying for an exemption, there is unlikely to be any attempt to prosecute them. If, however, the exemption is declined and the child remains absent or non-enrolled for a prolonged period without resolution, then the Ministry may consider doing so. 

An exemption application and attendance are two separate matters. Your child being "truant" during this process does not affect the exemption application and it's outcome. Note, however, that you can expect to see the following:

• When the Ministry acknowledges receipt of your application, they use a form letter which includes a reminder that children from 6-16 must remain in school during this process
• If you happen to have direct contact with Ministry staff, they may also remind you of this law

These things are to be expected. Take them in your stride and consider them in context with the rest of the information in this post.

If at all possible, apply for a home education exemption 4-6 weeks before you intend to begin homeschooling, and remove your child from school once it is granted. (Sometimes exemptions are processed much faster than that, but no guarantees). 

If this is not possible, and you feel your child cannot remain in school until it is granted, discuss the situation with your child's principal and/or doctor and see if you can have them under "justified absence" in the meantime. 

If that fails, you must consider the best interests of your child and act accordingly, understanding that you may be contacted by Attendance Services during this time. If so, be polite and firm, and ask for support from your local home educators group, myself or NCHENZ if needed. 

2020 NB: Please see my updated post on this matter HERE, as new legislation has come into effect. This original post remains here FYI.

With the recent passing of the Education (Update) Bill, the resulting changes of which will come into effect on 3rd July, there has been considerable discussion among home education groups about what effect this will have on parent’s ability to home educate their young children or the processes involved. 

The purpose of this post is to clarify what the changes do and don’t mean. 

Legislation and Links:
The current Education Act 1989 can be viewed online here: http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0080/latest/DLM175959.html?search=qs_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_education+act+1989_resel_25_h&p=1&sr=1

The Education (Update) Bill can be viewed online here:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2016/0160/latest/DLM6928611.html
In time, the amendments will be incorporated into the Act, but for now it is necessary to read them side by side to see the entirely of what a section will say once the updates come into effect. 

Ministry of Education's information regarding the Education (Update) Bill:
https://education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/regulatory-impact-statements/updating-the-education-act/ 

My step-by-step guide to getting a home education exemption can be found HERE.

The Ministry of Education's information about home education exemptions can be found HERE.