In Victoria, children must be five years of age or older by the 30th of April in the year they start school. Often parents question why the 30th of April is the cut off date and there is clear explanation why. Children develop at different rates and the decision to begin school often only based on age.

Is my child ready for school?

How do you know if your child is ready for school?
Preschool field officers may visit your child’s preschool to assess your child. They may use a check list to assess your child in the following areas:

• Play skills
• Social development
• Cognitive development
• Fine motor skills
• Language and communication skills
• Emotional development
• Self care skills
• Gross motor skills

Is my child ready for school?
If you have doubts about your child being able to begin school and cope academically, it might be a good idea to have them assessed with a standardised intelligence test. This gives parents a clear indication of where their child fits or stands compared with children of a similar age.

You should also talk with your child’s preschool teacher. They are experts in this area as they see large numbers of children and can offer a professional opinion based on a child’s developmental stage.

Preschool teachers may also recommend a cognitive assessment to test intellectual capacity. There are also many other reasons to conduct a cognitive assessment.

Can my child start school early?
The answer is yes – but it is often a lengthy process! Parents will need to provide evidence that their child is emotionally ready for school and that they are academically ready for school.

• Evidence that a child is emotionally ready can be gained from a child’s preschool teacher.
• Evidence that a child is academically ready needs to be assessed by a qualified psychologist.

School Psychology Services offers an assessment that tests the intellectual capacity of young people. This assessment is called the Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI – pronounced “WHIP SEE”). This test assesses intelligence. For a psychologist to support an early entry to school, a child must be in the gifted range on this test. The gifted range means that they are exceptional, not just above average.

More information about early entry to school in Victoria is available from the Department of Education.

I have always liked the poem, Don’t Quit. When things are not going our way it is important to persevere and move forward in the best way we can.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victors cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!
- ANONYMOUS

The secret of raising smart kids is to promote the “don’t quit” attitude. Teaching young people the value of perseverance is a quality not often promoted in schools or in society.

Those moments when a young person struggles with a new concept is the only time that they are learning!

Great he is learning something new!

When they find something hard or difficult that is when they are able to learn new things. We need to promote effort, rather than success – then we can raise really smart kids. We need to focus on not quitting and perservering when things get tough, that way young people can learn the value of hard work and experience real success.