Starting Kindergarten
A positive start to school will help your child engage well with their peers and teachers and set them up for academic and social success. On this page, we guide you through some ideas and information on how you can prepare your child for Kindergarten and the big first day.
getting-ready-for-school.pdfGetting Ready For Primary School
A booklet with tips and checklists to help parents prepare their child for Kindergarten.
Activities to prepare your child for primary school
Give your child a head start by practising the skills they will use in Kindergarten with them.
To try
Set up a play date for your child to play with a friend.
Check out the local library and let your child choose books to borrow.
Take a ball to a park to throw, catch and kick together.
Organise a picnic with a packed lunch and encourage your child to open it and eat the food by themselves.
Read Daisy's First Day together (See below).
To practise
Putting on their school shoes and walking in them.
Dressing in their school uniform.
Writing alphabet letters.
Writing their name.
Drinking from bubblers.
Cutting and pasting pictures from a magazine and drawing pictures.
Taking jumper off and on independently.
Read With Your Child Every Day
Make reading fun and enjoyable. Children learn about reading by watching, copying and interacting with others. How often does your child see you reading? By showing your child that you love and enjoy reading it becomes a normal and enjoyable part of every day life. It is important that your child knows that we read for enjoyment as well as for learning.
Let your child choose and re-read books and other texts they are interested in.
Talk about the book/text before you start reading. Talk about the title and what the text could be about. This can be done when reading recipes, newspapers, signs and instructions, as well as, books.
Discuss the pictures and how they add to the story.
Whilst reading, ask your child questions about the story such as, What do you think might happen next? Why do you think that?
After reading, talk about the story. Ask questions such as, Which part of the story did you like best? or What was exciting, funny or sad in the story? You could also ask your child questions to support their inferencing skills such as, Why do you think the character did that? How do you think the character was feeling? Why?
Have siblings or family members take turns at reading their favourite stories with each other.
Choose a variety of reading materials such as newspapers, magazines, posters, street signs, recipes and shopping lists.
Explore this website for more information on how to help your child at home.
Daisys_First_Day_story.pdfDaisy's First Day
A children's book about Daisy the koala on her first day at primary school.
Starting_schools_work_sheet_frame_-_puzzle.pdfDaisy's First Day
Daisy's First Day Puzzle
Letters&Numbers NSW font.pdfLetter and Number Practise
Print off and practise writing letters and numbers. Use a different colour each time to create rainbow letters or laminate and use whiteboard markers.