Dressed in a crisp new uniform and with an over-size school bag in tow, Robbie Bourke is ready for his first day of kindergarten.
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The six-year-old starts his first day of kindergarten at Orange Anglican Grammar School on Friday and is eager to learn to read and join his older brother Toby in the playground.
Robbie will be one of 55 kindergarten students at the school, where there will be three kindergarten classes this year.
His mother Nikita Bourke said he is the youngest of two children, and his older brother Toby will be in year 3 this year.
"I'm nervous, I don't know how he will go," Mrs Bourke said while also expressing her excitement for him.
"I think he's very ready.
"It's just going to be interesting to see how he goes for five days. He said, 'Mum, I only get two days off now'."
Last year Robbie attended the school three days a week as part of its transition program, which familiarised him with the school but in more of a preschool setting.
"I'm really glad he did that," Mrs Bourke said explaining that thanks to the transition program he knows the environment and what is expected of him.
"That makes it a bit easier.
"He knows what he has got to do, [he] has friends there."
The experience has also boosted Robbie's confidence and he already knows his kindergarten teacher Michelle Pearson.
"He's been telling me all the time that he needs to learn to read," Mrs Bourke said.
"He loves reading, he's chomping at the bit to learn how to read.
"I think he will be excited to have his brother there too. In transition they had their own yard."
Mrs Bourke works full-time and runs a business giving her flexibility. However, she said the school's before and after school care programs, as well as the school holiday programs offer convenience if something comes up with work.
"We also really liked the facilities and the growth that the school is offering," she said of the decision to enrol the boys at the Orange Anglican Grammar School.
"To have kids go from transition to year 12, to have that [continuity] and stability instead of having to change schools and preschools."
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
