Many Brisbane families may be unaware that there was an abrupt change recently introduced which affects the entry age requirements for children attending kindergarten (pre-prep) in Queensland.
Previously, a child needed to be four years old by June 30 to participate in a kindergarten program. Under the new changes, introduced in January 2015, a child must be four years old by July 31 to participate in a kindergarten program.
| Child born | Child can attend kindy |
| 1 July 2010 to 31 July 2011 | 2015 |
| 1 July 2011 to 31 July 2012 | 2016 |
| 1 July 2012 to 31 July 2013 | 2017 |
| 1 July 2013 to 31 July 2014 | 2018 |
What about prep?
Significantly, this means that children who turn four during July in the year they participate in kindergarten may be eligible to enrol in prep early.
It also means that those children born in July 2010, can skip their pre-prep year altogether and move straight into prep in 2015.
The final decision is left up to parents, but forfeiting the kindergarten year to begin prep early must also be approved by the school’s principal, after assessing the child’s readiness for prep.
If your child does not start Prep early they can continue to participate in kindergarten for the following year as per normal.
Why change the dates?
The changes have been controversial, but are designed to bring the Queensland kindergarten and prep eligibility requirements into line with New South Wales.
This means that Queensland and New South Wales now have the youngest school starting age in Australia.
Is your child ready for school?
For a variety of reasons, some parents may feel that their child would benefit from starting kindy at a later age or would be better off completing a second year of kindergarten.
Again, this decision rests with the parent but advice can be sought from medical and teaching professionals.
Still unsure? Call the Kindy Hotline during business hours for more information on 1800 4 KINDY (1800 454 639) or visit their website. You can also confirm all the dates of eligibility on the Queensland Dept of Education Website http://deta.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/service/access-kindy/enrolment.html
Will these changes affect your family? Tell us your thoughts!
Lily pills
I’m an EC teacher and from years of experience and mountains of research on early age of entry, children will always benefit from being older when they start school.
Ngaire Stirling
I agree Lily pills. They are young for such a short time. Let them be children, give them time to learn how to learn and time to play. If only you and I were making the decisions.
dave
Our little guy was born Jun 30 at 11.44 PM. That would have made him the youngest boy in the state. Took a real push from us for him to start later, but seeing other kids near his age struggle this year it is not a decision we regret. There is good evidence to support the proposition that kids who start later do better and are much happier.
Rachael
Speaking as an ECT and Primary Teacher – Later is definitely better for most children, however I know that some children will be more than ready at that early age! It really depends on the child!!
As a Mum I held my daughter back for a year and am glad I did!!
bonnie
i think unless your child is gifted then you should keep them home til the following year, i think starting kids that arent even going to be 4.5 when they start just makes it harder on teachers and children
Dee
In QLD, late entry is at discretion of the principal, not the parents. We wanted to send our daughter the year after she was supposed to go but we would have to negotiate this with the school and they make they decision. If you don’t have it in writing they can reneg and make your child go straight to grade 1. Setting to be careful of for Qlders.
lansed
Pre prep is a money scam and just another plave for parents to dump their kids.
Nass
I had this conundrum last year with my third child who is not 5 until mid June, he is currently completing prep.
We understood that he was going to be young and there are a few instances where that is evident, namely being a bit shy and reluctant to jump right in, however on the flip side he is so much happier at school and his confidence has blossomed.
He goes to a catholic primary school where prep is very play based but he is flourishing in both an “academic” and social sense.
He is also in a situation that he has had his brother and sister do prep sequentially, they are now in yrs 2 & 1, and has a little sister who is less than 2 yrs younger than him and very social. He did not need another year to play as he can do that with his 3 siblings all the time and loves and thrives on structure.
We are very happy with decision we made for him. And yes we may repeat him later if we feel the age thing is going to be an issue but at this point it has been fantastic for this little boy.
I just wanted to add this as I totally respect the opinions below but as his parents we feel we knew his needs.
Hope this helps anyone else going through this same decision, it is a big one!