School can be an exciting place where anything is possible!
We look forward to welcoming new families to our St John’s Narraweena community.
As your child prepares to start Kindergarten (or a later grade) at St John’s Narraweena, we know there is a lot of information parents need to know about this exciting event.
Starting school is a very exciting time for your child and for you as parents. However, it is not uncommon for children and parents to be anxious about the process. Our transition program focuses on helping you and your child feel comfortable in the school. By the time your child has completed transition, our aim is that he/she will feel very settled and happy to just walk into the classroom and get on with their learning.
The Transition Program sessions for 2024 Kindergarten children will be held on:
- Monday 6th November OR Thursday 9th November at 9.15am to 10.30am
- Monday 27th November OR Wednesday 29th November at 3.30pm to 4.30pm.
Parents will need to book their children in for these sessions via https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/6cmjf
Best Start
Best Start is an initiative of the NSW Department of Education to assess children for literacy and numeracy early on entry to Kindergarten. All the details about this process are outlined in the two documents below.
There is no need to prepare your child for this assessment; it is designed for the teacher to understand your child’s current ability and for them to prepare for your child coming to school.
MAI – Maths Assessment Interview
Every year when children return to school after the summer break, they have an MAI so that their teacher can assess where each child is as they start the new academic year. This helps teachers to assess and manage each child’s progress throughout their education journey.
Best Start and MAI will be held in the days leading up to starting school – Dates TBC.
Students will only be required to attend on one of these days and for a 45 minute to 1 hour appointment.
The school office will email you when bookings open for these dates.
We asked the Kinder 2023 parents for some feedback about the transition process and starting Kindergarten at St John’s, here are some of the things that they said:
“We are so happy with St John’s. The communication, the teachers and most of all the little buddies are just wonderful. What a beautiful school.”
“Thank you for making the transition to school such an easy process. We felt very informed and comfortable the whole way from enquiring to the first day of school”
“We felt welcome at St John’s from our first visit and we are so happy we chose this school for our children.”
Comments from previous years:
“As a first time school parent, the consistent and clear communication has made the transition so much easier.”
“The positive experiences and attitudes that have been inherited. I felt that as a school you really do get those foundations right which work alongside parents in what we are doing with our children at home. The perfect partnership in my eyes.”
“Friendly staff and community feeling.”
“The welcoming feel and the lovely Kindy teachers.”
“The access and continual communication.”
“The staff have been so nurturing and supportive of my daughter. We appreciate that Mr Bateman knows all the children by name and is such a welcoming presence in the school.”
“The quality of the teaching staff and welcoming school community.”
“The nurturing environment for the children.”