MercyCare / News / Ballajura kindy kids ready for ‘big school’

Ballajura kindy kids ready for ‘big school’

Starting school is a big deal, so having a familiar face around can make that transition a little smoother.

A group of 13 children, most of whom started day-care in the baby room at MercyCare Ballajura Early Learning Centre, will have a bunch of familiar faces around as they start kindy together at Ballajura Primary School this year.

A group of the soon-to-be students visited the school last month as part of an excursion to help prepare them for the move to ‘big school’ in 2020.

“To make the transition to school a little easier, we arranged a visit to the kindy classes so the children could have the opportunity to view their classroom and meet their new teachers,” MercyCare Ballajura Early Learning Centre Manager Amanda Andrew said.

The three and four-year olds had the opportunity to take part in mat time and were shown where they will put their bags, lunchboxes and drink bottles when they attend kindergarten next year.

“We discussed how they will have to find their names on the board at the start of the day and the teachers were very impressed that all of the children were already able to recognise their names,” Ms Andrew said.

While the children haven’t started official schooling, their MercyCare educators have taught them a lot that will help them in this next step.

Ms Andrew who has seen many children come through her centre in the nine years she’s been there, said while it is a little sad saying goodbye to children once they start school fulltime when they enter pre-primary, the process of introducing them to school was all part of her job.

“We get to see their development from babies, we are along for the ride when their parents come in and tell us about the mile-stones they are reaching, and we enjoy seeing the children start to become social with one another and form friendships. Growing up and moving on to that next stage is all part of that.”

Many of the children will share their schooling experience with their MercyCare educators, as they will attend before and after school care and/or their non-kindy days at the centre in 2020.

Preparing children for the next step in their learning journey is done in a number of ways across our 13 childcare centres.