Mountain Creek State School

When Can My Child Start Prep?

• Children must turn 5 before 30 June in the year they start Prep to be eligible to att Delaying Entry to Year 1
• If a parent/carer thinks their child may not be ready to start Year 1 in the year they turn 6 years by 30 June, the parent should discuss their child’s needs with the school principal. Where a child will turn the compulsory school age during the calendar year, parents/carers can enrol in either the Preparatory Year or Year 1 giving consideration to the child’s aptitude and ability, social and emotional competence and physical development.
• If a child has already turned the compulsory school age on or before the beginning of the school year and has not previously been enrolled in the Preparatory Year, parents/carers should discuss placement options with the school principal.
• In determining the most appropriate year level placement for the child consideration should be given to the child’s aptitude and ability, social and emotional competence and physical development.
• Early entry to prep is only allowed for children on transfer from interstate or overseas and who have been enrolled in a similar pre-Year 1 program.

If you are unsure when your child is eligible to start their Prep year a ready reckoner is is available on the following site http://education.qld.gov.au/etrf/prep.html

The Preparatory Year in Queensland schools DVD

To download the video click here.

Please note the wmv file has a size of 8.60 MB. The file can be played with Windows Media Player.

What Does Play at MCSS Look Like? Play is an important part of our Prep year. Follow the links to see what some aspects of 'play' looks like at our school. The Fun Run Snake Doctors

What About Before Prep?

Pre-Prep Services For more information about kindergartens and other child care service options for children prior to Prep contact: Department of Communities Website: www.communities.qld.gov.au/childcare Child Care Information Service (CCIS) Phone: (07) 3224 4225 or for callers outside of Brisbane 1800 637 711 Crèche and Kindergarten Association Website: www.candk.asn.au/ Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Phone: (07) 3552 5333

We also have a regular playgroup that meets at school. Details are available from our Website under the Grapevine Section under the School Community heading.

What will the Children Learn?

The Early Years Curriculum Guidelines have been designed for use in all prep classes.

Prep is play-based and child-centred. It clearly identifies enquiry-based learning and investigations as key elements.

Teachers plan for children’s learning using five Early Learning Areas. These are:

• Social and personal learning
• Health and physical learning
• Language learning and communication
• Early mathematical understandings
• Active learning processes

These five Early Learning Areas are linked to the curriculum that is used in other primary school year levels (eg The Arts, English, Mathematics Key Learning Areas).

Children will learn through:

• Play
• Investigations
• Real life situations
• Routines and transitions
• Focused learning and teaching

The teacher’s planning responds to children’s needs and interests. Teachers monitor, assess and reflect on children’s learning by:

• Understanding children
• Building partnerships
• Establishing flexible learning environments
• Creating contexts for learning
• Exploring what children learn
• Classrooms and resources for prep are designed to support active learning.