Registration for the new school year is less than two weeks away and parents with little ones enrolling in Government pre-schools and primary schools will need to make a note on their calendars. This year's enrolment dates are February 2 to February 4.

On any one of these days, parents of pre-school or primary school age children can go to the selected school, complete and application form and present it, along with a copy of the child's birth certificate or passport, to the school administrator for consideration.

If the child is non-Bermudian, the parent must attach a copy of documentation from the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety confirming that the child will be resident in Bermuda beyond the start of the school year for students in September.

In order to be eligible to attend one of the eleven Government pre-schools in September this year, a child must celebrate his or her fourth birthday between January 1 and December 31 this year.

The child must also live in the same Parish as the pre-school to which application is made.

The only exceptions are:

Southampton Pre-school, which will accept applications from persons living in postal zone MA 06 in Sandys;

Warwick Pre-school which will accept applications from Southampton residents living east of the gates of Fairmont Southampton, and

Pembroke residents, who have a choice of applying to either Prospect or St. John's Pre-schools.

If your child turns four in December this year, they will be admitted to pre-school first, followed by those who turn four in November, October and so on, until each pre-school is full.

Children who are eligible for primary school will celebrate their fifth birthday between January 1 and December 31 this year and must live in the same zone as the primary school to which application is made.

The schools in the various zones are as follows:

Eastern Zone: East End Primary, St. George's Preparatory School, St. David's Primary School, Francis Patton Primary School, Harrington Sound Primary School and Elliott Primary School.

Central Zone: Prospect Primary School, Victor Scott Primary School, Northlands Primary School and West Pembroke Primary School.

Western Zone: Gilbert Institute, Paget Primary, Purvis Primary School, Heron Bay Primary School, Port Royal Primary School, Southampton Glebe Primary School, West End Primary School and Somerset Primary School.

If application is made for a child who has a sibling already in Primary 1 though Primary 5 of a primary school, that child will be given priority in admission.

Once siblings have been admitted, the school principal will select those applications who live closest to the school, until all available spaces have been filled.

In both the pre-school and primary school cases, the school administrator will not make a decision about who is admitted until after the close of first enrolment on February 4 and parents will be informed of the outcome of their application during the month of March.

Admission is not done on a first come, first served basis so parents do not have to be the first one at the school door in order to have their child considered for admission.

Anyone wishing to register a pre-school or primary school age child after February 4, should bring the form and completed documents directly to the Chief Education Officer, Dundonald Place, Dundonald Street in Hamilton.

Those with questions about first enrolment can call 278-3304, or can e-mail students.admissionsmoed.bm