Prep at St Mary's
What a day in Prep looks like at St Mary's College: routines, rest time, take-home readers, the specialist timetable and practical tips for Prep families.
Prep is the first year of school, and at St Mary's we treat it as a year of settling in, building confidence and falling in love with learning. Our three Prep classes (Prep A, Prep B and Prep C, each capped at 24 students) are located in the Prep Wing beside the Junior playground, with their own toilets, wet area and covered outdoor learning space. The Prep team is led by Ms Bec Lawson.
A day in Prep
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:15am – 8:45am | Arrival. Bags on hooks, readers into the tub, lunch order bag in the basket. Parents are welcome in the room until the 8:45am bell in Term 1 |
| 8:45am | Morning prayer and roll, calendar and "news" circle |
| 9:00am – 10:45am | Literacy block: phonics (synthetic phonics, daily), shared reading, guided reading groups, writing |
| 10:45am – 11:15am | Recess (fruit or vegetable snack, then play in the Prep yard) |
| 11:15am – 12:15pm | Numeracy block: hands-on number, pattern, measurement and counting games |
| 12:15pm – 1:15pm | Religious Education, inquiry or a specialist class |
| 1:15pm – 2:00pm | Lunch (supervised eating 1:15pm – 1:25pm, then play) |
| 2:00pm – 2:20pm | Rest and quiet time (Term 1) or mindfulness and story |
| 2:20pm – 3:10pm | Developmental play, inquiry or a specialist class |
| 3:10pm | Pack up, reflection and prayer |
| 3:20pm | Dismissal from the Prep Wing gate – teachers hand each child to a known adult |
Rest time
Full-time school is tiring for five-year-olds. For the whole of Term 1, Preps have a 20-minute rest time after lunch on a small mat or cushion with a picture book or quiet activity. From Term 2 this becomes a shorter mindfulness and story session. Preps do not attend school on Wednesdays during February (Wednesday 4, 11, 18 and 25 February 2026); teachers use these days for one-to-one literacy and numeracy assessment interviews with each child, booked via the Parent Portal.
Take-home readers
Take-home readers begin in Week 4 of Term 1 once children have learnt their first sound groups. Each child receives a St Mary's reader satchel (included on the booklist) containing:
- a levelled reader, changed daily (Prep A and B) or on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Prep C, from Term 2)
- a set of sound and sight-word cards to practise
- a reading log for you to sign or initial each night
We ask for 10 minutes of reading every school night, which is the whole of the Prep homework expectation (see Homework). Books your child brings home are deliberately "easy" so they can practise fluency; harder books are read together at school. Our reading volunteers help change readers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings – if you would like to help, see Volunteering and WWCC.
Prep specialist timetable 2026
| Day | Specialist class | What to bring or wear |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Visual Arts (Ms Nadia Bassett) | Named art smock |
| Tuesday | Physical Education (Mrs Jo Kaminski) | Sport uniform and runners |
| Wednesday | Italian (Signora Lucia Romano) | – |
| Thursday | Music (Mr Peter Halloran) and Library (Mrs Helen Brooks) | Library bag with last week's book |
| Friday | STEM (Mr Owen Blake, alternate weeks) and Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) | Sport uniform and runners |
Preps wear their sport uniform on Tuesday and Friday, and full school uniform on the other three days. Hats are compulsory in Terms 1 and 4. See the whole-school Specialist Programs page for details of each subject.
Food and drink
Preps eat "brain food" (cut fruit or vegetables) at about 10:00am, a snack at recess and lunch at 1:15pm. Please pack a named drink bottle with water only. We are a nut-aware school – no nut products, please (see Anaphylaxis and Allergy Aware). Canteen lunch orders are available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday via the Parent Portal by 8:30am; we suggest waiting until Term 2 so your child is confident with the routine first. See Canteen Menu and Lunch Orders.
Practical tips from the Prep team
- Label everything – jumpers, hats, drink bottles, lunch boxes and shoes. Unnamed items go to Lost Property.
- Pack a spare set of underwear and socks in a zip-lock bag in the school bag; accidents happen and no fuss is made.
- Choose shoes your child can fasten independently (velcro is fine in Prep).
- Practise opening lunch boxes, yoghurt pouches and drink bottles at home.
- Say a quick, confident goodbye at the door. A teacher or education support officer is always at hand for tearful mornings – and children almost always settle within minutes.
- If your child will be absent, report it before 9:00am – see Absences and Late Arrivals.
Buddies and belonging
Every Prep student is matched with a Year 5 buddy in the first week of school. Buddies meet each fortnight for games, reading and shared lunches, sit together at Friday Assembly and stay paired for two years, so your child's buddy will be a Year 6 leader when they are in Year 1. Preps are also placed in their family's House (MacKillop, Chisholm, Polding or Romero) and take part in the Prep–2 Mini Olympics on Friday 4 September 2026.
Prep 2027
Families starting Prep next year can read about the Prep Transition Program (sessions on Tuesday 1 September, Tuesday 13 October and Tuesday 24 November 2026) and Prep 2027 Enrolment.