School Enrolments
New Entrant Enrolments and school visits
We encourage parents and caregivers to enrol their new entrant at four and a half years of age. This gives us time to make contact with their Early Childhood Education Centre (ECE), so that we can make the transition as smooth & successful as possible. When you come in to enrol your child, our Principal will talk about the school, answer any questions, give you a copy of the enrolment documents and give you and your child a guided tour of the school.
Once you have decided to enrol your child here at Wallacetown School, our New Entrant teacher will contact you to arrange some school visits for your child. These “typically” start about a month before your child starts school and usually happen on a Wednesday, but can be any day except Friday.
The three visit times are as follows:
1st - 9am to 11am (till end of morning tea)
2nd - 9am to 12:30pm (till end of lunch)
3rd - 9am to 3pm (full day)
There is no right number of visits. Some children are happy with three. Some need a few more. You can discuss that with the teacher when they contact you, and it will be based on what is best for your child.
Our priority is to make your child familiar with their new environment so they can settle more easily into school. Children will participate in a variety of activities during these visits, have an opportunity to play with their classmates, and get used to classroom routines. We want all children to feel welcome and secure in their new learning environment and we see these school visits as an opportunity for us to get to know your child.
Preparing your child for school
All children are unique and begin school with different skills and interests, which we will foster. Here are some things that can help make the transition into school easier:
Take responsibility for their belongings.
Go to the toilet and wash their hands independently.
Dress themselves.
Tidy up and follow instructions.
Open packets in their lunch boxes.
Blow their nose and recognise the need to do so.
Starting school is a big step and school life is busy and full of routines. Expect your child to be very tired at the end of the day, so lots of sleep and encouragement will help them cope with these changes.
If your child needs additional supports (eg: they are not toilet trained, have speech difficulties, behaviour, learning difficulties, other physical needs etc) then please contact us as soon as possible. From here we can work with you and their ECE to organise the supports, systems and overall transition ahead of time.
If your child has special needs (eg: ORS funded, High Health needs) then please let us know immediately on enrolment so we can work with their centre and specialist teams to set up their transition to school. This is so we can ensure we have the correct funding and support in place for them in time for them to start school.