If your child was born in the second half of the year, you have probably already had the conversation: do we send them next year, or wait? For Moorebank families, it is one of the biggest calls of the early years — and one of the most common questions we hear on tours.

The NSW rules, in plain terms

In NSW, children can start kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn five on or before 31 July that year. They must be at school by their sixth birthday. That gives many families a genuine choice — and having a choice means it is worth knowing what actually matters.

What readiness really looks like

Kindergarten teachers rarely worry about whether a child can read. They notice whether a child can separate from a parent without distress, follow a two-step instruction, manage their lunchbox and belongings, ask an adult for help, take turns, and recover from small setbacks. Those skills predict a happy first term far better than early academics.

A simple checklist

Can your child: say how they are feeling in words, most of the time? Follow simple instructions from an adult who is not their parent? Open containers, manage their hat and bag, and go to the toilet independently? Sit and focus on one activity for ten minutes or so? Play cooperatively — sharing, turn-taking, negotiating? Hold a pencil comfortably and recognise their own name? If most answers are yes or nearly, they are tracking well.

If the answer is ‘not yet’

None of these are pass-or-fail. They are exactly the skills a good preschool year builds deliberately. Our School Readiness Program practises them daily — group times, belongings routines, lunchbox practice and early literacy woven through play — so ‘not yet’ usually becomes ‘yes’ well before orientation day.

Talk it through with someone who knows your child

The best readiness advice comes from the educators who see your child in a group every week. If you are weighing up next year, ask us — we will give you an honest view, and if waiting is the right call, we will make that extra year count.