By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
WITH 45 children already enrolled to start Prep at Cranbourne West Primary School next year, only six children are currently involved in the prep transition program.
Parent and community liaison at Cranbourne West Primary School Debbie Dodd said some children were starting Prep without any prior education.
“There are at least 10 Prep children that I know of this year that didn’t attend any pre-school or kindergarten and many that have never picked up a book,” she said.
“And they are the children we really have to spend more time with, coping with anxiety, separation and social and emotional confidence.”
The prep transition program has been running for two years at Cranbourne West Primary School after teachers noticed a need for a more comprehensive start.
“We used to run three days of orientation and realised that wasn’t enough, some children didn’t get enough experience in terms of school routines, feeling confident and meeting the teachers,” Ms Dodd said.
With an enrolment of 90 Preps each year, Ms Dodd said more than 50 per cent of their Preps were rating significantly below expected levels in academic literacy, numeracy and social and emotional development.
“Prep transition is so important because some of our children don’t know their ABCs, don’t know how to write their own name and these are things that children in some schools can already do by the same age,” she said.
The prep transition program runs from 2.30pm to 3pm every Monday afternoon and Ms Dodd said many families weren’t aware the program was available.
“Cranbourne is an area of high transience and a lot of families are moving into new estates and don’t know what’s on offer,” she said.
The weekly prep transition program will be moved to Wednesdays in term two to accommodate families with different schedules.
“Each week they do the ABC song and get buddied up with a Prep and do play-based learning with a strong literacy focus, while parents have afternoon tea,” she said.
Next term the children will get to experience specialist art, sport, performing arts and social competencies classes and will attend longer orientation sessions in term four.
“This program provides children with an opportunity for a smoother transition between kindergarten and primary school, it alleviates anxiety experienced by some children and their parents and helps develop school readiness,” Ms Dodd said.
To enrol in the half hour transition classes, contact Cranbourne West Primary School on 5996 2878 or parent and community liaison, Debbie Dodd, on 0409 419 306.
