Transition to School

Transitioning to School

Our pre-school program
Many parents are interested in the skills that children need prior to starting school. Whilst traditionally it was reading and writing, now schools prefer to teach this once children start school. The NSW Department of Education and training has developed a list of skills that may make starting school a bit easier.

These skills form the basis of our half yearly, and yearly, developmental summary / reports for children in the Bush Room – and give you a guide as to how your child is progressing. Our program allows children to develop these skills, by exploring topics that interest them.

Please don’t hesitate to talk to our staff if you have any questions.

Please see our Transition to School Information Flyer and Newsletters page.

Personal/Social Skills:

• Adapts to unfamiliar settings and new experiences
• Can say own name and address
• Can finish a task and tidies up afterwards
• Uses the toilet independently
• Plays co-operatively with other children – shares and takes turns
• Can sit and listen to a story for a few minutes
• Is curious about the world
• Can share an adult’s attention with several children
• Participates in imagination play

Language

• Talks to other people about familiar objects and events
• Answers and asks simple questions
• Makes needs known
• Follows simple instructions
• Uses books for enjoyment or looking at pictures
• Identifies pictures in books, magazines on television or video
• Uses a variety of things (pens, pencils, textas, paint brushes) to draw, to scribble or to write.
• Joins in singing familiar songs

Physical Skills

• Uses scissors to cut along a straight line
• Enjoys a variety of indoor and outdoor play
• Can put on and take off jumpers, shoes and socks independently
• Makes and designs things using a variety of materials

Mathematical Skills

• Recognised that numbers can be used to count
• Uses words like ‘many’, ‘a lot’, ‘more’ and ‘less’
• Identifies things in a group that are different
• Sees differences in shapes
• Differentiates between opposites and up and down, under and over, in front and behind, night and day.