National Council Home Educators NZ

10/09/2026

An update on our most recent meeting with the Ministry and ERO:

Representatives of NCHENZ attended a workshop on the 24th of August in Wellington which was hosted by the Ministry of Education and also included representatives of ERO and HSNZ.

The main focus of initial discussion was the intended updates to the exemption application form and guidance. The Ministry had shared a rough draft of these documents, and discussion focussed on key matters such as:
- What is actually needed in an exemption application?
- What information should/should not be asked for?
- How can the application best draw out useful information?
- What guidance is useful for applicants?

We were able to present a number of suggestions, questions and information, such as what home education looks like in practice, that parents entering home education cannot be expected to plan beyond the first 12 months, whether the Ministry actually needs to hear from schools etc.

The outcome was that the Ministry have provided us with an opportunity to put together more detailed suggestions/recommendations around what is and is not useful in an exemption application form and guidance.

There was also brief discussion around the need for the Ministry to build out a new IT system to allow for possible centralisation and/or digitalisation of application documents, processing, declarations etc, should those proceed.

The Education Review Office outlined their role in appeals and reviews, and presented some documents for our consideration, and we had an interesting discussion around how reviews are conducted. ERO asked how they can help parents feel more confident when approaching a review.

The intended agenda item of discussing future monitoring and assurance was put aside for now, due to both time constraints and a desire to prioritise getting the application forms right. This means we can look at doing more work on this based on previous feedback from home educators before presenting any ideas to the Ministry at a future meeting.

After the main meeting, we also had a discussion with the Resourcing manager, who explained to us the complex manual processes that sit behind getting declaration and allowance forms to families due to the lack of functionality in the current database, and the challenges with the idea of digitalising the forms.

A follow up meeting will be held in November.

20/08/2026

Thankyou everyone who has already taken the time to fill out this survey. For anyone who hasn't yet, please do so, as your feedback is important. Survey open until Friday 5pm!

On 24th August, representatives of NCHENZ will be meeting with the Ministry and ERO to discuss a range of home education matters and possible future changes. In preparation for that we are putting together a proposal for what future updates/reporting could look like if required. We would like your i...

18/08/2026

We at NCHENZ are preparing to meet with the Ministry and ERO in Wellington, on Monday 24th August. We have designed a short survey and are asking you to participate in it, so that we can take your perspective on the proposed ‘Home Education Update’ to the Ministry.

This proposed home education update is what it might look like for home educating families to provide the Ministry of Education some sort of evidence that we are providing an education ‘as regularly and well as in a registered school’. For more information, please watch the video within the survey link. The survey will close on Friday 21st August at 5pm.

On 24th August, representatives of NCHENZ will be meeting with the Ministry and ERO to discuss a range of home education matters and possible future changes. In preparation for that we are putting together a proposal for what future updates/reporting could look like if required. We would like your i...

15/07/2026

Are you new to Home Education and are not quite sure of what to do next or where to get correct information from?

Look no further. There is an amazing "Getting Started" section on the NCHENZ website just for you.
NZ focused, upto date and relevant.

Go and have a look and pop any questions below and we will do our best to answer them or point you in the right direction.

Getting Started The Ministry of Education (MoE) oversees home education in Aotearoa NZ, and their regional offices are responsible for assessing and approving exemption applications in their area. On the MoE Home Education webpage you can find information on homeschooling, the exemption application,...

07/07/2026

Here is Sheena Harris, Cynthia Hancox and Krystel Watts providing an update from our progress so far, including some information from our recent meetings.

25/06/2026

For those who have been wondering about what comes next since the proposed legislation was withdrawn, here is the first of many updates to come:

Representatives of NCHENZ met last week with senior Ministry of Education staff to discuss operational matters. This is the first in a series of planned or expected meetings, with both the operational team and the policies team.

The key operational matters under discussion were:

- Intended updates to the exemption application forms
- Possible centralising of the processing of applications to the national office, rather than through regional offices as currently happens

We had an open and productive discussion, and have another meeting set for next month. We were able to put forward questions and concerns, and will continue to discuss these. The Ministry is committed to on-going dialogue and consultation.

The application form changes and centralising of processing are under development, and no date has yet been set for these to be introduced. When they are ready to be rolled out, we will have the opportunity to inform and prepare the home education community for these changes. It is agreed that there will be a reasonable transition period when updated application forms are introduced, so that parents who are already well into working on their applications have the opportunity to complete that process rather than be required to start over with new forms. (This also occurred when the current forms were introduced back in late 2015.)

Digitalising the six-monthly declaration and allowance forms, and updating the Ministry’s Home Education Policies and Procedures Manual was also discussed, with work planned on both of these matters.

We have a meeting with the Secretary of Education, Ellen MacGregor-Reid, and Deputy Secretary Geoff Short, set for 2nd July in Wellington. Subsequently we will also begin meeting with senior members of the policies team, whose responsibilities include any future policy or legislative change proposals.

19/06/2026

Are you a member of NCHENZ??

If not, why not? Because IT IS FREE! :)

You get exclusive membership deals, quarterly emails to keep you up to date on everything Home Education within NZ and opt in monthly emails for even more in depth information.

Sign up today for FREE and be apart of an amazing NZ community.

Join the National Council Members have access to a wide range of discounted subscriptions along with Student ID cards, Educator ID cards, tools and templates to assist with day-to-day homeschooling, and webinars recorded especially for member information and use.We would love to have you join us, ho...

08/06/2026

Are you connected with your local group yet?

We have a great list of local groups here on the website
https://www.nchenz.org.nz/local-groups

If your local group isn't listed here or the contact details need updating, please get in touch with us.

31/05/2026

Celebrating getting our voices heard and to EVERYONE who played their part, big or small, background or upfront. We did it because we were unified!

Thanks goes to Kristy Roulston for being our photographer for the day. Didn't she do a fantastic job!

30/05/2026

Following the monumental turnaround by Education Minister Hon Erica Stanford to dismiss Amendment 583, NCHENZ have hosted another panel with Cynthia Hancox, Krystel Watts, Ni Law, Hayley Smeaton and Sheena Harris. Join them for the conversation of how our Home Educating community rallied to bring about the change and what the future may look like for homeschoolers and homeschooling in New Zealand.