School principal Matt Collins said the transition program was designed for pre-school children who were planning to attend the school in 2024, as well as to show parents who were undecided what the school had to offer.
“Any child that is beginning primary school in the region in 2024 is guaranteed a place in the program,” Mr Collins said.
Transition program co-ordinator Mary Swoffer said the program, which runs for 16 weeks, was designed to help pre-school children get a taste of what school life would be like.
“The program will be a combination of school readiness activities, including literacy and numeracy activities, as well as a lot of art and crafts, music, singing, play-based learning activities and other activities to build personal growth,” Mrs Swoffer said.
Some of the literacy activities will be linked to the school’s pre-existing literacy program called InitiaLit, which focuses on aspects of language, including phonics, speaking, listening and writing.
Mr Collins said one of the program highlights would be working within the school’s kitchens.
“They will get a chance to use our kitchen garden facilities,” he said.
To help make the transition program more enjoyable, each participant will be paired with an older Barooga Public School student as part of the school’s buddy program.
The buddy program will help ease the transition student’s entry into school life by giving them an anchor and ensuring they have a friendly face they know and trust.
As part of the program, the participants will also have their own subsidised school bus, which will pick them up from the surrounding early education centres as well as other locations around the area.
They will also have their own unique uniforms.
“We are also providing all the participants a transition shirt that they can wear during the program free of charge,” Mr Collins said.
The school is holding two information sessions on Wednesday, July 26, with one beginning at 1pm and a second at 6pm.
Expression-of-interest forms have been delivered to all early education centres in the region for pick-up, and Mr Collins said parents and caregivers could also ring the school on 5873 4242 for more information.
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