Enrolment & Transition

School Tours & Enrolment

Highvale Primary is a welcoming, caring, high achieving school with a clear focus on student wellbeing and learning.

We invite interested families to join a Wednesday morning School Tour at 9.30am with the principal. Tours provide a valuable opportunity to see our learning programs in action, meet the principal and other staff and experience the unique characteristics of Highvale Primary School.

Bookings are essential – Please call Andrea and Bec in the office:

9887 8000

For information on how to enrol your child for Prep 2025, go to the Starting School page on the Victorian Government website.

You may like to use FindMySchool to locate our school in reference to your residential address. Further information regarding the Department of Education Placement Policy can be found at Placement Policy.

We look forward to meeting you.

Further information is provided below.

Prep 2025 (Foundation) Enrolments

In 2024 the Department of Education (DE) released a new state-wide Prep (Foundation) enrolment timeline.

The timeline advises families when and how to enrol their child into Foundation (Prep) at a Victorian government primary school, including Highvale Primary School.

The timeline applies for children starting Prep in 2025. All government primary schools follow the timeline in 2024 to support Prep enrolments for the 2025 school year.

You can also download the ‘Foundation (Prep) Enrolment Information Pack for Parents/Carers for the 2024 school year’ from the Starting School page (available from 15 April 2024).

Please note: You will be able to apply to enrol your child in Prep (Foundation) 2025 at Highvale Primary School from 15 April 2024.

What you need to do:

  1. Contact our school, Highvale Primary School to book a school tour or to learn more about our school and the enrolment application process.
  2. Download the Prep (Foundation) enrolment information pack from Starting School page (available from 15 April 2024).
  3. Submit an enrolment application for Prep (Foundation) by Friday 26 July 2024. Student Enrolment Form
  4. You will be notified of the outcome of your application by Friday 9 August 2024. If you receive an offer of placement, you should contact our school to accept the offer by Friday 23 August 2024.
  5. Take part in our Open Day activities during Term 3 and our Parent Information and Transition sessions during Term 4, 2024.

Enrolment applications submitted after 26 July 2024 will be processed by our school as they are received, in accordance with the Department’s Placement Policy.

Year 1 – 6 Enrolments

If you would like to make an enrolment enquiry for Year 1-6, please call our school office.

You may also like to:

  • E-mail the school at: Highvale.ps@education.vic.gov.au with any questions you may have
  • Download our enrolment form (Year 1-6)
  • Check you designated school Zone on findmyschool.vic.gov.au
  • Submit application via email

Enrolments for new students for all levels are accepted at any time during the school year.

Our School Zone

Our school zone is available on findmyschool.vic.gov.au which hosts the most up-to-date information on school zones in Victoria.

Students residing within our school zone are guaranteed a place at our school, which is determined on the basis of your permanent residential address.

Our school manages enrolments using the Placement Policy to ensure that students have access to their designated neighbourhood school and may enrol at another school, if there are available places.

For more information, you can:

Age For Enrolment
A child is admitted to school at the beginning of a year if their fifth birthday falls on or before the 30th April of that year.

Documentation Required for a New Enrolment

  1. Completed school enrolment form
  2. Proof of your child’s legal name and date of birth
    • We require a copy of your child’s birth certificate (translated to English if in another language)
    • If your child was born overseas, we also require your child’s passport and visa
  3. Your child’s Immunisation History Statement.

As of 28 February 2018, an Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register will be the only form of documentation accepted as proof of a child’s immunisation status.

a) If you have a Medicare card you will need to contact the Australian Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809 to have them post you a copy of your child’s Immunisation History Statement.

b) If you do not have a Medicare card or if the Immunisation Register does not hold any information for your child, you will need to take your child’s immunisation information to a doctor to have it uploaded to the Australian Immunisation Register.

Enrolment Documentation

Preschool to Prep Transition Program

We believe a smooth transition from Preschool to Prep (Foundation) is vital to provide a positive start to school life for each child and their parents.

Through participation in this program, children are provided with the opportunity to meet and become familiar with staff, our school environment and importantly, the children they will enter school with the following year.  This creates a wonderful opportunity for each  child to develop a sense of belonging, trust and familiarity which builds a positive mind set in preparation for commencing Prep.  As well, our teachers are able to interact with, build relationships and familiarise themselves with each child as an individual.  Participation in this program also enables teachers to know and understand each child’s abilities, strengths, talents and areas where support may be required.  Knowing this information prior to the commencement of the school year enhances planning and preparation for the school year and maximises the effectiveness of a strong home and school partnership.

Prep

Once your child commences Prep at Highvale, our focus is on developing the foundation knowledge, skills and understandings required to ensure your child has a great start to their primary school years.  The learning that each child experienced prior to starting school is assessed through formal and informal tasks which assist teachers to understand the diverse learning needs of each child. This is ongoing.

This information is used together with the continuum of learning from the Victorian Curriculum to plan differentiated learning tasks.  Our aim is to ensure that all students are engaged in learning which embeds and builds upon what is currently known.  This takes a great deal of expertise and time which is why our teachers work in Professional Learning Teams to actively support each other’s work and ensure each student experiences success in their learning.

Throughout Prep there is a deep focus on the five curriculum areas of English, Mathematics, The Arts, Health and Physical Education, and Personal and Social capabilities.  This includes explicit teaching of synthetic phonics as an essential building block for reading, writing and spelling.  Students are also introduced to foundation Science and Humanities concepts.  Through this learning the foundations of positive attitude, self-esteem, sense of achievement and a love of learning are also established. You can find out more about the areas of the curriculum here.

Our curriculum framework and evidence based teaching practices are designed to cater for the needs of all children so that their learning is relevant, meaningful and paced appropriately.  The Prep program features:

  • A deep understanding and provision for the diverse range of maturity, experiences, values and abilities with which children start school.
  • A focus on individual needs and learning goals, both social and academic so that each child’s learning growth is explicitly evident and monitored.
  • Explicit teaching of Cooperative Learning skills.
  • Additional support for students at Level 2 or 3 of our Response To Individual Needs (RTI) Model.  This may be corrective or extension within or external of the classroom.
  • A strong emphasis on English and Mathematics to build the required foundation knowledge, skills and understanding.
  • Intervention support for EAL (English as an Additional Language) speakers.
  • Authentic opportunities for the provision of parent engagement in student learning.
  • Specialist STEAM (Science, Technology & Engineering, Arts, Mathematics including foundation robotics and coding), Performing Arts, Physical Education (including swimming) and Languages (Mandarin & German) programs.
  • Contemporary learning tools including desktop computers, iPads in every room, laptops, interactive whiteboards and screens.

Before/After School and Vacation Care program is available to all students.

Transition Prep to Year 6

School transition is a process of movement or change that takes place from one school year to the next. This change could include changes in the physical surroundings, friendships, relationships, expectations and routines.

It is our endeavour at Highvale Primary School to provide support and clear processes for all students as they move through their educational journey. For some students, family and teachers, transition may present a number of challenges.

At Highvale PS we have implemented a variety of programs that aim to provide additional transition support for our students that:

  • Encourage smooth and effective transition for all students.
  • Support teachers as they plan, monitor and assess student progress and continue to develop educational pathways for all students.
  • Include personal, social and teaching and learning transition needs of students at risk.
  • Display flexibility in timelines to accommodate all students.

Transition Year 6 to Year 7

Moving from primary to secondary school is an important step in the next stage of each child’s education. This happens alongside the transition from childhood to adolescence and includes many changes, both physically and emotionally.

At Highvale, preparation for transition to Year 7 commences well before Year 6. Through our comprehensive Prep -Y6 Wellbeing and Transition programs students are explicitly taught cooperative and collaborative skills, strategies to enhance organisation, resilience and study skills.

In Year 6 all students participate in a comprehensive transition program which includes information for parents. Our teachers work closely with local secondary schools which includes visits to local settings, access to Year 7 students from the previous Year 6 group and staff. Where required individual plans are developed to support a positive transition.

International Students

Level 1 accredited schools

Studying in Victoria

Victorian government schools are a destination of choice for international students. Our schools provide international students with a high-quality education, excellent English language tuition and caring welfare support services. To learn more about studying and living in Victoria as an international student, see: www.study.vic.gov.au

How to apply

Most international students must apply to the Department of Education in order to study in a Victorian government school. To learn about the application types and to apply, see: How to apply

Contact our school

For more information about international students, please contact the below staff member.

International Student Coordinator (ISC): Rebecca Foot

Phone: +61 3 9887 8000

Generic school email or ISC email: highvale.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Highvale Primary School is accredited under the Department of Education’s CRICOS registration (CRICOS provider name and code: Department of Education, 00861K). For more information, see: www.study.vic.gov.au

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