Prep

Information

Booklet

Thank you for choosing Waraburra State School as the provider of

your child’s education. The staff would like to warmly welcome all

children and parents to Waraburra State School. We look forward to

a successful year working with you and your child in Prep. We hope

the following information is of assistance in supporting your child’s

transition into Prep. Please also take the opportunity to read the

detailed School Handbook for further information.

From 2007, all Queensland children of eligible age are able to attend

a fulltime Preparatory year of education before starting Year One.

The Prep year is compulsory and is available at schools offering

primary education. Prep is the first year in the early phase of

learning.

Children need to be five by the 30th June in the year they enrol in

prep. The State Government’s research following the Prep year trial

in 2003 indicated that the Prep program was highly successful in

promoting children’s social-emotional development and their

communication, numeracy, literacy and motor skills. Prep gives each

young Queenslander the very best start to school by setting them on

the path to lifelong learning and helping them make a smooth

transition to Year One.

What does a Prep day look like?

The Prep day starts at 9:00am and concludes at 3:00pm. Prep

attendance is fulltime – five days each week. Prep teachers like to

have regular contact with parents. As the school day starts at 9:00am

we would like Prep children to arrive as close to this time as possible.

The attendance roll is marked at 9:00am and 2:00pm each day. It is

our preference that children be accompanied to the room by a family

member/ friend or carer to build a smooth transition between home

and school life and enable us to develop relationships between

parents, teachers and students. Should families arrive before 8:55am

then they are asked to come to the Covered Games Area in front of

the Tuckshop and wait until the teacher on duty dismisses all

students that are present. You may then make your way to the Prep

classes and Prep precinct. We ask that no parents wait outside the

classrooms. Parents/Carers collecting their child in the afternoon are

asked to wait in the Covered Games Area in front of the Tuckshop

until 3pm. Once the bell rings at 3pm then Parents/Carers may

proceed to the designated Prep collection point.

At 8:55am students may need to be prompted to:

Put their bag away

Place their water bottle in the container

Visit the toilet before the school day starts

Participate in any informal activities

At the end of the school day teachers will dismiss students to the

collection point. Please try to collect your child as soon as possible to

avoid unnecessary stress for your child. Students not collected by

3:10pm will be taken to the office to await collection.

First Day

There are some simple steps you can take to make your child’s first

day at school more enjoyable and relaxed.

Be prepared.

The best thing you can do is to make the first day as stress free and

relaxed as possible.

On the day:

Leave plenty of time to get ready

Make a nutritious breakfast – this is essential for sustained

energy and concentration

Talk through the daily routine – start, lunch and finish times

Be positive and encouraging about your child’s attendance at

school

Leave with a happy face

Prep Interviews

Members of the Administration Team will meet with children and

parents before the close of the previous school year. Parents will

complete an information sheet which supplements the enrolment

form to ensure the best transition possible. At the interview you are

able to talk about your child’s particular interests, needs etc. You

may also provide your child’s Transition statement from Kindy.

One of the major goals for the year is to develop independence and

how to be responsible for one’s own belongings. Please encourage

children to put their own port, water bottle and homework away.

Rehearse this at home with your child. Other things you can do to

help prepare your child include:

Practice putting shoes on and off

Practice eating and drinking without help (opening lunch boxes,

wrapping and unwrapping food, taking lids off drink bottles,

removing straws from poppers, opening tins, using spoons etc)

Using a handkerchief or tissue

Toileting independently

Using playground equipment safely

Carrying their own bag

Identifying belongings

Familiarising your child with the school environment ie. Drive

past and talk about the start of the prep year and how excited

you are for your child. Tell your child how they will get to and

from school, talk positively about Prep and the teacher.

Emphasise how to play safely and make good choices, including

not hurting others or solving problems with physical means.

Although Prep does not include a formal rest session please advise us

if your child is becoming very tired at the end of the day and we will

endeavour to provide a time when he/she may have some quiet rest

time. The Prep program incorporates some less active time after

breaks to meet student needs.

Uniforms

Waraburra State School is a strict uniform school. We have the

support of our Parents’ and Citizens’ Association to promote 100%

adherence to the uniform.

At Waraburra Prep students are expected to wear the school

uniform available from Lowes. The school community expects all

students to take pride in themselves and their school community.

We are a Sun Smart School, as such we enforce: “No broad brimmed

or bucket hat – no outside play”.

Our School Dress Code for Prep is as follows:

Girls Summer Uniform W.S.S Polo shirt Bottle Green skorts, shorts or skirt Green sports brief or bike pants underneath skirts

Boys Summer Uniform W.S.S Polo shirt Bottle Green shorts

Boys and Girls Winter Uniform Bottle Green fleecy lined track suit or bottle green tights Boys and Girls Sports Shirts Coloured, collared polo house shirts can be worn on significant sports days and every Thursday

Hats Bottle green broad brimmed or bucket hats are permitted Footwear Fully enclosed shoes preferably black or joggers for support and safety with black or white socks

Curriculum

Prep teachers use the Australian Curriculum for all 8 Learning Areas.

Staff plan to connect the experiences of home and school, prior

educational experiences and child care placements as appropriate In

Prep, children will be actively involved in varied learning pathways.

They will be encouraged to develop independence and personal

organisational skills, and to work with other children and adults.

In Prep, children will be:

Engaging with a variety of texts e.g picture books, rhyming

verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, multimodal texts and dramatic

performances.

Participating in shared reading, viewing and storytelling.

Reading decodable and predictable texts that range from

caption books to books with one or more sentences per page

and illustrations that strongly support the printed text.

Writing stories

Counting and connecting names, numerals and quantities

Comparing lengths of objects

Creating and using patterns and number patterns

Problem solving

Exploring sounds as they learn to listen to and make music.

The Australian Curriculum is designed to help all young Australians to

become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and

active and informed citizens.

Home Readers in the Prep Year

All Prep students at Waraburra bring home readers. Home reading

programs foster the partnership between home and school – a

partnership which brings success for all students.

It is important that right from Prep you help your child establish good

school habits and a positive attitude towards learning at home and

school. Teachers provide information to parents when the home

reading commences to show how to get the most out of the home

reading program. Experience shows that students who read and who

are read to every night are the most successful learners. Sharing

stories, discussing pictures, identifying letters and words, predicting

what will happen in the story and talking about how you enjoyed the

book and its characters are all positive ways you can build your

child’s reading skills.

In today’s world reading involves more than reading books. Books

are still very important, although viewing websites, television and

movies, reading shopper dockets, catalogues,

neighbourhood/community signage and food item labelling provides

great opportunities for families to encourage their children’s reading.

Specialist Activities

Prep students will access specialist teacher delivered lessons in

Music and Physical Education. They will also visit the library each

week. Prep students do not have access to Religious Instructions.

Waraburra is well resourced in the way of technology to support

learning. We believe that computers engage learners and motivate

them to want to learn. All Waraburra classrooms have Interactive

Whiteboards and these are used daily. These are large white boards

that are interactive to the students. The children use a large pointer

or pen to drag images, write and select objects etc as you can do on

a computer with mouse. In addition the school has class sets of

laptops and iPads for learning during the year.

Other Important information within the school

Communication

If you have a problem or question, please go to the Prep teacher in

the first instance. It is best to make an appointment time before or

after school as teachers will be engaged in focused teaching and

learning with the class and it will be difficult for them to speak with

you.

Communication between parents and teachers is crucial to a

successful program in the early years of schooling. Teachers are

available before or after school in person or may be contacted

through the office by phoning 49317 888. We also have an “open

door” policy and encourage parents to spent time in the Prep class

with their child.

School eNewsletters – are emailed every fortnight. Please make sure

the office has your email address.

School parade is conducted weekly on a Friday morning at 9am in the

school hall (Warambu) parents are most welcome to attend parade.

Report cards – are emailed twice per year – at the end of Semester

One and Semester Two. Parent teacher interviews are offered at the

end of Term one and Term three and parents may see teachers

about any concerns they have at any time regarding their child’s

development.

Illness

Occasionally, children become ill while at school. If this happens, we

contact you by telephone to arrange for your child to go home. If you

are not available, we will contact you at work or call the emergency

numbers recorded on your child’s enrolment form. In the event that

we are unable to contact anyone we will endeavour to make your

child as comfortable as we can. However the school is not the best

place for an ill child and we do ask you to ensure you have adequate

arrangements in the event of illness or accident. On collection of

your child, please sign your child out at the office. In the case of a

seriously ill or injured child we will arrange for the ambulance to

attend to your child and be guided by their advice should we be

unable to contact you.

Please keep the school up to date with changes to contact

numbers, addresses and information relating to emergency

contacts.

If your child is sick in the morning of the school day, please call the

school absentee line on 49317 860.

If your child develops a contagious condition such as measles,

mumps, chicken pox, influenza etc they must stay home for the

period specified by the Health Department. A call to the school office

will clarify the length of absence required as our staff will refer to the

exclusion table.

Please regularly check your child’s head for head lice. The best way

to manage head lice is through the vigilance of parents. If you detect

head lice please visit your pharmacy and treat according to product

instructions. Please inform your child’s teacher if your child has

contracted head lice.

Medication

Medication including Asthma related medicines prescribed by a

doctor or dentist may be administered to the students by school

staff. It is necessary to complete an Administer Medications Form

available from the office. The medication must be delivered to the

office in its original packaging with the Pharmacists label attached,

medication will be administered to the student according to the

Pharmacist/Doctor instructions.

Education Queensland regulations prohibit students carrying their

medication in their school bag or lunch box. A school register is kept

of all medication issued. Non-prescribed medications e.g Panadol,

cough mixture should not be brought to school and will not be

administered by school staff.

Book lists

Book lists are provided in your enrolment pack. Additional stationary

equipment may be requested by your child’s teacher before the end

of the school year as your child develops and programs expand.

Every Day Counts

Regular attendance in Prep ensures maximum opportunity to engage

in the learning experiences essential for a successful start to each

students’ learning journey.

Detailed information about the processes for student attendance,

late arrivals and early emergent departures is available in the

Waraburra State School Parent Handbook.