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It’s been a school year like no other but for CCGS's littlest students the pandemic has been their first taste of big school.

Around Australia schools have just celebrated Kindergarten’s first big milestone, 100 days of school, but what’s it really like starting school amidst a world health crisis?

Having spent around six weeks of their first 100 days of school learning from home, Mrs Amanda Williamson, Kindergarten Year Leader said the biggest challenge facing Kindergarten students at CCGS was readjusting.

“When the pandemic began Kindy had just gotten used to school, their teachers, classroom and friends, so when all of that was taken away we knew it’d be tough for them to experience, so teachers focused their efforts on finding creative ways to keep students engaged as we went through remote learning,” Williamson said.

Keeping Kindy connected

With much of the Kindergarten program designed to familiarise students with school and to help get them used to routine, keeping Kindy connected to their new community was also a major goal of CCGS’s during lockdown.

“We wanted to give them as close to a typical experience as possible and that meant incorporating a lot of activities that involved the school,” Williamson explained.

Principal among these was the Virtual Easter Hat Parade, an event Williamson said was enjoyed from K-12.

“The Easter Hat Parade is typically Kindy’s first real introduction to the whole school so we really wanted to have some version of the parade to ensure students had that opportunity to build their school spirit and it was great to see so many students and families from all year groups support the parade by sending in their photos,” Williamson said.

Making the transition back to school smooth

When Kindy did return to school there were a few anxious students, mums and dads, but according to Mrs Williamson the transition was relatively smooth.

“We know that every child handles things differently but we found the majority were excited to be back at school and being able to spend time with their teachers and friends again,” Williamson said.

Concerns about the academic impact the lockdown had on Kindergarten have also been nulled, with students seemingly on track with their learning.

“We have benchmarked Kindy and are pleased with their academic progress.

“We are seeing positive academic gains and we’ll be continuing to monitor progress and benchmark each child’s individual learning as needed,” Williamson said.

A milestone in learning - 100 days

With routine restored, Mrs Williamson said the 100 day milestone was a welcome celebration of arguably the most unique Kindy experience the school has ever witnessed.

“We did lots of activities centred around the number 100.

“Students got to join with their Year 6 buddy to make special 100 crowns that they were challenged to decorate with 100 different things and they also had fun doing lots of counting games and spelling out a giant 100 which is a tradition at our school,” Williamson said.

With the COVID-19 situation in Victoria and the worrying resurgence of cases around Sydney what the remainder of this most formative school year will bring for Kindergarten is impossible to predict, but come what may, Mrs Williamson said CCGS will be there every step of the way to guide and support their youngest students through their first year of school.

“At the end of the day everything we do comes back to making sure our Kindy’s feel happy and safe coming to school.

“They have settled back into school life beautifully and we are confident that they’ll continue to excel as the year carries on.

“It is such a unique year to be a Kindergartener and young children are so adaptable and whatever happens we will be here to support them and their parents through whatever 2020 throws at us,” Williamson said.

- Article originally posted in the Coast Community News -