We know that enrolling your children in a new school can feel like a complicated and sometimes confusing process. Most families come to us partway through a much longer conversation at their own kitchen table, and by the time they pick up the phone, they want to know one thing: what actually happens next.
This guide sets out our enrolment process step by step, in the order you will experience it. It covers what we ask for, who you will meet, where the waiting happens, and what you can do to make the whole thing smoother. If you would rather just talk to a person, that option is at the bottom of the page, and it is honestly the better place to start.
Key takeaways
- There is no cost to apply. We do not charge a fee to submit an application or to arrange an interview and a school tour.
- There are seven steps, beginning with an enquiry and ending with your child’s first day.
- Your interview is scheduled when a place becomes available, not when you apply, so the timing depends on availability in your child’s year level.
- You will meet a Principal, not just an administrator. The interview is a genuine two-way conversation about your family and our community.
- Enrolling includes joining our Association. Rehoboth is parent-governed, and membership is part of how that works.
- Kindergarten and Primary run at both campuses. Wilson offers Kindergarten to Year 6, and Kenwick offers Kindergarten to Year 12.
- Apply earlier than feels necessary. Getting into the queue costs nothing and gives you options later.
Before You Start
Two things are worth understanding before you begin, because they shape everything that follows.
The first is that Rehoboth is parent-governed. We were founded in 1966 by families who wanted a distinctly Christian education for their children, and the College is still operated by an Association of parents who elect a Board. That means enrolling is not a transaction. You are joining a community that you will also have a say in.
The second is that we exist as an extension of the Christian home. Our purpose is to support parents in a task that belongs to them, not to take it over. This shapes how we talk with you during enrolment, and it is why the interview matters more here than it might elsewhere. If you are still weighing us against other options, our guide to public vs Christian schools in Perth is the better starting point.
The Seven Steps to Enrolment
Step 1 – Enquiry
Get in touch and tell us you are interested. Our Enrolments Officer, Marika Kappert, will follow up with you within a few days to answer your questions and talk through what enrolment would look like for your family.
This is the lowest-commitment step there is, and it is the right place to ask the awkward questions. What year levels have space. What our expectations are. How realistic the timing you have in mind actually is. You can make an enquiry online, or call the Enrolments Office on +61 8 9274 9911.
Step 2 – Application
When you are ready, you complete an enrolment application with the supporting documents we need. You can start an application online. The core documents are a Parent or Guardian Application Form and a Student Enrolment Form, both signed by both parents or guardians, along with a Testimonial Form completed by your pastor, minister or church elder.
Our Enrolments Officer will confirm anything further we need for your particular circumstances, so do not worry about assembling everything before you speak to us. Once your application is received, it goes onto our list for your child’s year level.
Step 3 – Interview and School Tour
When we have a place available, our Enrolments Officer will contact you to arrange an interview and a school tour. The interview is with the relevant Campus Principal, not with an administrator, and it usually runs alongside a walk through the campus your child would attend.
This is a conversation rather than an assessment. The Principal will want to understand your family, what you are looking for, and what your child is like. They will also talk with you about the Christian faith and about church involvement, since we accept enrolments on the basis that at least one parent is an active member of a Protestant Christian church.
If you are unsure how that applies to your family, raise it at the enquiry stage rather than waiting for the interview. Come with your own questions. You are choosing us as much as we are welcoming you.
Step 4 – Administrative Review
After your interview, we check that your application is complete and in order, and submit it to our Chief Executive Officer for approval. Nothing is required of you at this stage. It is an internal step, and it is short.
Step 5 – Board Approval
Your approved application then goes to our Board’s Membership Monitor, who signs off on the enrolment. This step exists because of how the College is governed. As a parent-controlled school, enrolments are confirmed by the elected Board rather than by staff alone, which keeps the parent community at the centre of who joins it.
Step 6 – Confirmation
You will receive a Letter of Confirmation setting out your child’s enrolment and your level of Association membership. At this point, a Security of Enrolment fee becomes payable to hold your child’s place, within fourteen days of the date on that letter.
It is credited to your College account in the first term after your child starts, so it comes off what you would otherwise pay rather than being an additional cost. Current amounts are on our fees page.
Step 7 – Commencement
Your child starts. We will be in touch before the first day with the practical details, including uniform, the bus service if you need it, and who to contact in the first few weeks.
What It Costs to Apply
Applying is free. We do not charge a fee to lodge an application, and we do not charge for the interview or the school tour. We would rather you came and looked properly than hesitated over a form fee.
The first payment arrives at confirmation, in the form of the Security of Enrolment fee described above, and it is credited back to your account once your child commences. Tuition, resource levies and other charges are set out in full on our fees page, which carries the current fee schedule. Our fee year runs from April to March rather than following the calendar year, so check which period a schedule covers when you are comparing. For a wider view of what independent schooling costs across the city, our guide to private school fees in Perth sets out the range.
Becoming Part of the Association
Enrolling at Rehoboth includes an application for membership of the Association for Christian Education, the body that operates the College. This is what makes parent governance real rather than symbolic.
There are two levels. Ordinary membership carries voting rights at general meetings and eligibility to stand for the Board, and attracts an annual fee. Affiliate membership carries no charge and no vote. Your Letter of Confirmation will set out which level applies to you, and you can move between them later.
Most families start as affiliates and think about it further down the track. There is no pressure either way, and nothing about your child’s place depends on it. If the model itself is new to you, it is worth reading how parent-governed schools work and what it means for your voice in the school.
Starting Age and Year Levels
Kindergarten and Primary run at both of our campuses. Wilson, at 22 Dalton Place, offers Kindergarten to Year 6. Kenwick, at 92 Kenwick Road, offers Kindergarten to Year 6 and Years 7 to 12, so a child starting at Kenwick can complete their whole schooling on one site. Starting ages follow the state rules.
A child may begin Kindergarten if they turn four by 30 June in that year, and Pre-primary if they turn five by 30 June. Kindergarten is optional in Western Australia; compulsory schooling begins at Pre-primary. The Department of Education sets out the age requirements in full, and our own guide to kindergarten age in WA walks through the cut-offs year by year.
For students joining partway through their schooling, we will talk with you about the right year level placement during the interview. Families arriving from the state system may also find it useful to read what to expect when transitioning from public school to Christian school.
Families Applying From Overseas
We are registered to enrol international students under CRICOS Provider Number 01984B, and we do not use education agents. You apply to us directly. Alongside the standard application, we ask for evidence of your income tax status in Australia and copies of passports and visas for both parents and each student, including the page showing the date of arrival.
Students entering Year 4 and above are assessed for English language proficiency through the Australian Education Assessment Service. There are also accommodation requirements. Primary students must live with a parent or a close relative, and secondary students under eighteen must live with an immediate relative or in a homestay arrangement we help to organise with a Christian family.
Tuition for overseas students is payable a semester in advance, and the fee schedule differs from the resident schedule. The full details are on our overseas students page.
Help With Fees
We would rather talk with you than lose you over cost, and there are several mechanisms families use. Tuition reduces for each additional child enrolled, with a substantial reduction by the third child and no tuition charged for a fourth. A discount applies to families who pay their annual fees in advance.
Our College Support Scheme offers a fee reduction to parents who volunteer a small number of hours each semester, through the canteen, gardening, classroom help, camps or excursions, and most of the things parents already want to do qualify.
There is also an introductory discount for a family who refers another family to the College, which is claimed by naming them on the application form. For families in genuine difficulty, fee relief is available on application through our Business Office, assessed confidentially.
If cost is the thing standing between your family and a place here, please raise it rather than assuming the answer.
What Happens in the First Few Weeks
New students are placed in a Form group in the secondary school, with a Form teacher responsible for their pastoral care, or with a classroom teacher in the primary years who acts as the first point of contact for both student and parent.
Our chaplaincy team is available to any student who wants to talk, and students make contact directly rather than being referred. Every student joins one of our three houses, Wycliffe, Tyndale or Newton, which is usually the fastest route into the wider school for a new arrival.
Expect a settling period of a few weeks. It is normal, we have seen it many times, and we would rather you rang us in week two than waited until the end of term.
Come and See for Yourself
Choosing a school is one of the most significant decisions you will make for your family, and no web page will settle it. The families who join us almost always describe the same turning point, which is the day they walked through a campus and talked to the people who would be teaching their children.
Rehoboth Christian College has partnered with Western Australian families for over 60 years, since 1966. We remain parent-governed, our staff are practising Christians, and we hold academic rigour and Christian faith together rather than trading one against the other, from a child’s first day of Kindergarten to their final WACE examination.
Start with a conversation. Make an enquiry or call our Enrolments Office on +61 8 9274 9911, and we will take it from there.