Starting school is an exciting and important milestone in any child and family’s life. We like all our new students and families to feel welcome at St Ambrose, and feel a sense of familiarity and ease with their learning environment and their new teachers and peers, as they step into their classroom on their first school day.

Research suggests that children who have a positive start to school are more likely to engage well in their learning and school life. At St Ambrose, our aim is to nurture this positive start by providing a supportive and structured play environment in preparation for the commencement of Kindergarten. This includes orientation days, to assist them in their transition to school by:

• welcoming our new families to the school and allowing children, parents and staff to get to know each other and the school setting in a positive and relaxed way;
• to develop familiarity and a sense of belonging for children and their families to the school community;
• to enhance children’s social and emotional development by establishing and building positive relationships with teachers, school staff and peers; and
• to enhance children’s learning, social and communicative skills through appropriate play-based experiences.

Our orientation days take place during the October/November period, for children and parents to attend. Parents will receive dates, times and information regarding this.

BEST START ASSESSMENT

Our school takes part in the Best Start Kindergarten Assessment developed by early learning experts in the NSW Department of Education. The Best Start Kindergarten Assessment gives our teachers, and those teaching Kindergarten across all our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Lismore, a common set of high-quality assessment tools. We believe that the Best Start Kindergarten Assessment will build on the strengths of our teachers and give your child an even better start to school.