By Brendan Rees
Shiny shoes and oversized backpacks filled the corridors at Tooradin Primary School as many youngsters prepared for their first day at school on Tuesday, 30 January.
Despite some early nerves, the school’s newest 45 preps quickly settled in where they enjoyed activities such as puzzles, stories, colouring, and block building.
They also made their own first day of prep crowns which they proudly wore during the day.
Prep teacher Ms Cary Payne said the start of the school year was exciting for staff and students.
“The students got to experience many of our specialist programs. They drew self-portraits in art, learnt how to say hello and goodbye in Italian and played some fun games in sport.”
“At the end of the day students received their first day of school certificates and were very tired.”
Wellbeing Coordinator Rachel Davis said the preps would be the first to benefit from cooking and gardening classes each fortnight.
“It’s truly an exciting year ahead as they are a part of a school wide approach to embracing and celebrating learning within the classroom and in the unique outdoor education space,” she said.
“The preps are entering an exciting and nurturing environment at Tooradin that actively encourages them to develop a growth mindset and their social/ emotional intelligence daily alongside learning reading, writing and maths skills.”
