The young children from Little Diggers and the Lightning Ridge Preschool, who are making the transition into ‘big school’, had their graduation on Tuesday and Wednesday after having spent one day a week for the past month at the Lightning Ridge Central School in preparation for the coming year.
The program, aptly named Kinderstart, provides the children with the opportunity to
adapt to the new world of education that awaits them.
Primary deputy principal Helena Hodson was thrilled by the reports and the maturity shown by next year’s Kindergarten students.
“Parents have been telling me that they never thought their kids would be as excited about starting school as they are”, said Ms Hodson.
“I would like to acknowledge the hard work the support staff of Di Holz and Tippy Brown, with kinder teacher Sue Heynes, who have been meticulous and so committed in reaching a high quality in the children’s transition.”
“They have experienced a wide variety of exercises and have all participated and had a good time. They are really familiar with the surrounds and they are very comfortable and eager to learn”, responded Ms Heynes.
Principal Chris Tome also attended the small ceremony and shook the hands of each graduate before handing them a bag full of material, donated by Murramay Murilla, to prepare them for the coming year.
Families NSW, as part of their family strategy, kindly donated backpacks for the children, which contained a lunchbox, pencils and support information.
Mr Tome was so impressed by the development of each child in the program that after finding out that the current source of funding would be cut he said new avenues for grants would be looked into and securing the future of the Kinderstart program in Lightning Ridge would be high on the agenda.
“It has been a great success”, he said.
Annie from the Lightning Ridge Preschool has been following the progress of the kids for the past week and said that they have really been enjoying the experience.
“They are really excited about coming to ‘big school’ and they are really proud of themselves and what they’re doing,” she said.
“Thank you to Sue, Di and Tippy on organising the Kinderstart program, this year they have out done themselves and we look forward to the next,” said Sarah on behalf of the Little Diggers Team.
All the parents of the children involved in the program received a portfolio that detailed their child’s progress and preparation for their initiation into the ‘big school’ world.
Those children that have participated in the program will be among the first students to be allocated a seat in next year’s classrooms.
In preparation of the new year some parents have taken part in a workshop, which takes them through the kindergarten teaching cycle, enabling them to participate in the classroom as volunteers.
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