Forty-five little hands waved goodbye to forty-five sets of parents on Thursday, as Ss Michael and John’s youngest and newest pupils started prep year.
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The five and six-year-olds’ first few hours as Foundation year students involved meeting up with their buddies - other SMJ students they first met while still at kindergarten - and getting to know their new classmates with some communal coloring-in exercises.
Student wellbeing officer Louise Chesterfield said a lot of planning went into making the first day of school the best it could be.
“It’s the foundation for the rest of their education, and first and foremost they need to understand school is a great place to be, a place where they are recognised as individuals for their strengths and their challenges,” she said.
Mrs Chesterfield said building students’ relationships with teachers and classmates was their immediate focus.
“Yes the academic side is important, but you have to have that relationship, so the teachers here would have spent the previous days planning for today and school days through to next week.
“The focus during that time is relationship building, getting the children to know each other setting expectations for the year, we do all the planning so that today is a great day.”
Mrs Chesterfield said this year’s Foundation year intake of 45 was higher than normal, due to siblings of existing pupils starting and children from new families joining SMJ.
Alexander Darling
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
Alexander has been a member of the Wimmera Mail-Times' editorial team since December 2018, covering politics, business and property among other rounds. He is a passionate St.Kilda and rock and roll fan, and has previously worked as a radio reporter in Port Macquarie and Gosford, NSW.
