Enrolments FAQ
Still looking for more information on enrolling at Essington?
To assist families with their decision to enrol at Essington, we have created a specific FAQ list to answer queries around the enrolments process, fee schedule and terms and conditions.
If you have additional queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
You can register your details for a tour on our website or phone the Admissions Office. Personalised tours of the School are conducted for Early Years, Junior and Senior School during the operational hours of our school day and at a mutually convenient time.
We suggest you apply for admission as soon as you know you are interested in sending your child to Essington.
Entry into the Preschool program from the age of 3 years ensures your child’s position through our Early Years programs and guarantees entry into the Junior School.
We encourage a Year 7 entry as the best admission point into the Senior School.
Yes, vacancies may be available in any year of the school depending on demand.
Please contact our Admissions Office and we can arrange to email you the required information. Alternatively, you can find the online enrolment form on our website.
To apply for admission, we will need:
- A completed Application for Enrolment form
- A copy of your child’s birth certificate or passport and residency status
- A copy of your child's Immunisation Records
- A copy of your child’s latest school reports and NAPLAN reports
- $58 Application Fee
Please see the current fee schedule on our website. Each year the fee schedule is published and distributed to families prior to the new school year.
By signing the Enrolment Agreement, the parents/guardians are agreeing to pay the School fees.
If the fees are to be paid by a third party (for example, grandparents or another relative) those persons should sign the Application and direct Debit Form.
Offers are made based on availability of places at the School and after completion of a successful interview. If we do not have an available place, your child will be placed on our waitlist.
For families with a child/children already attending Essington, sibling priority will only be given if the enrolment form for the additional sibling is received prior to April 1 one year prior to commencing at the School. This does not guarantee an offer of enrolment. As with all enrolments we encourage families to enrol as early as possible.
We do not disclose where students are on the waitlist nor can we advise how many students are on the waitlist.
If it is looking extremely unlikely that we will be able to offer your child a place at the School, you will be notified as soon as this becomes apparent to the School.
No, we generally do not ask students to sit an entrance exam as we are a non-selective School.
Each student will have an interview with either the Principal or the Head of School, which will give us the opportunity to meet you and your child. At times we may require a deeper understanding of your child’s learning needs by accessing further reports.
Students from Transition and above whose first language is not English are required to have their readiness for entry into the School supported by a certificate of their English fluency from the Australian Education Assessment Service (AEAS).
This certificate must accompany your Application for Enrolment and will be reviewed before an interview can be arranged and a place offered.
Yes, we offer a limited number of Academic-Scholarships each year to students (both current and future) entering Years 7 to 11. Registrations normally open in October and close in February for positions commencing the following year. If you wish to be considered the Scholarship examination is compulsory and is normally held in late February on site at Essington.
Awarding of Scholarships will take into consideration the results of the Scholarship examination plus the information about the Scholarship process is notified to current and prospective parents.
You can find additional information at our SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES page.
In certain limited circumstances the School may be able to offer fee assistance to current families requiring financial support while their child/children are enrolled at the School. Applications for financial assistance are considered on a case-by-case basis and are subject to a formal application process. We do not offer financial assistance to families who are not enrolled at the School to support an application for enrolment. Further information can be obtained from the Business Manager.
By signing the enrolment documentation, you are entering into a contract with the School which is binding and enforceable like any other contract.
The documents comprising the contact are:
- The Application for Enrolment form
- The Preliminary Letter of Offer
- The Letter of Offer
- The Terms and Conditions
- The Terms of Business
- The Application for Company Membership
The terms of the contract are detailed in the documents listed above. From time to time, the terms may be amended. When this occurs, we will notify the change in advance, via email to our enrolled families. The changes are also published on our website.
The Essington School Constitution includes a requirement that every family with a student enrolled in the School nominates one parent to be a member of the Company. This membership elects the Board of Directors to govern the school on their behalf. In turn, the Board represents the interests of parents through oversight of the School. Parents are the most important constituency in ensuring that the School remains true to its purpose. Parent members are the moral owners of the School, exercising moral ownership through the Constitution. The Board has the legal responsibilities and, as importantly, the ethical duty to meet the expectation of those on whose behalf the School exists - the parents.
In addition to the terms of the contract, the student and parents must abide by the School regulation requirements. From time to time these may be amended. When this occurs, we will notify the change in advance on our website. Above all else the School values guide our behaviours.
Yes, at any time, subject to compliance with the notice requirements and the payment of any fees due. Prior to terminating the contract at least one term's notice in writing is required before the student is removed from the School.
Yes, but only in certain circumstances. These include the failure to abide by the Conditions of Enrolment or the Terms of Business or because of a breach of the Rules of the School or nonalignment with the Schools Values. These provisions are detailed in the enrolment terms and conditions.
A change in the family situation does not automatically change the legal relationship with the School. Should you have a change in family circumstances, including a change of address, you need to advise the School in writing as soon as practicable. You may also be required to re-sign the Essington enrolment.
If you have a change of circumstances which impacts on the custody arrangements of your children, or on who pays the School fees or how they are to be paid, you should discuss this change with the Business Manager as soon as possible. It is important to note that until the School has agreed a change in arrangements for the payment of school fees, or relevant court orders have been provided to the School, the arrangements agreed to in the Enrolment Agreement remain in place.
A unilateral declaration of a change in arrangements by one fee payer is not accepted by the School.
As is normal practice with non-government schools, at least one term’s notice in writing is required before the student is removed from the School. If such notice is not given, a fee equivalent to one term’s notice is payable in lieu of the required notice. As an example, if it is your intention to withdraw your child from the School at the end of Term 4, written notice must be received (and receipt acknowledged in writing) by the Principal (or his delegate) no later than the last day of academic classes in Term 3 of that year.
At Essington fees are charged in 10 equal monthly instalments. A term’s fee is the equivalent of three instalments.
Like any business, the School must manage budgets, cash flow and day to day operations. The School makes staffing plans and arrangements based on its enrolments from year to year and from term to term. These include practical arrangements relating to class sizes, timetabling and resource allocation and commercial arrangements such as the employment of teachers and other staff. These arrangements cannot easily be changed on short notice.
The requirement for adequate notice or the payment of fees in lieu allows the School to meet its commitments and continue to offer the high level of service towards students.
If you have any questions you wish to discuss you can make an appointment with the Business Manager.
If you have any concerns about the contractual and business arrangements, you should clarify those issues prior to signing the contract with the School. It is not generally possible to vary those arrangements after the contract has been commenced.
In recognition of the financial burden on families with several children from the same household attending the School, a sibling discount is available. In 2024 the discount is 25% of the tuition charge for the 2nd and subsequent child in a family.
Sibling concessions are calculated on the number of children from the same household who are attending the School at the same time and where the account is being paid as a single account. Sibling discounts are not applied if the student is the recipient of a Scholarship or any other form of Financial Assistance Grant.
The sibling discount only applies to the published tuition fee and does not apply to non-tuition charges (such as excursion costs).
Yes. In addition to the published tuition charges, the costs of excursions, activities and some other resources are charged separately.
This page does not form part of your contractual arrangements with the School and is intended only to address queries you may have.