Transition to Prep for students with disability:
Ideas for parents/carers to prepare for Prep routines
The following ideas are designed to help your child feel confident in managing everyday
routines.
Organisation of personal possessions, personal-care needs and lunchtime routines can be
challenging, and practising these with your child can alleviate potential sources for worry.
Practise the skills that will help your child to manage everyday routines at school. Encourage
your child to work independently toward completing one or more of the range of skills below.

Opening snack packets, lifting the lid off the yoghurt container, screwing open and close
the lid on the drink bottle container;

Lunch box lids and plastic wrap covering sandwiches can be difficult to remove. Practice
doing this on the floor, on a bench and in the park. Children at school generally have to
manage this task on their lap;

Getting dressed in their school uniform with minimal support and trying to put socks and
shoes on;

Taking socks off and tucking them into school shoes to avoid lost socks;

Wearing their hat when outside;

Carrying their own school bag and recognising their personal possessions.
Discuss “what will I do” scenarios:

My yogurt tipped and went into my sock. What will I do?

My drink has leaked into my lunchbox. What will I do?

I dropped my sandwich on the ground. What will I do?
(Tip: a face washer or a sheet of kitchen towel placed in the lunchbox will help your child
to clean up spills)

I can’t find the lid for my snack box. What will I do?

I feel sick. What will I do?

I need to go to the toilet. What will I do?

I wet my pants. What will I do?

I’ve got no one to play with. What will I do?
Plan ahead:

School bags and school hats all look the same. Choose a bag tag with your child that
they like and will remember.

Label your child’s clothing and hat with clearly printed fabric name tags. Make sure your
child knows where the tag is located on their clothes.

Wash your child’s uniform a few times as they often feel scratchy at first.

Place a spare set of clothing in a plastic bag with your child’s name marked clearly on it.
This is kept at the bottom of the school bag.

At the beginning of the year check the school policy with regard to snacks containing nuts
or other food items in case your child has a class member with an allergy.

If your child attends an outside school hours care (OSHC) program on an infrequent
basis, laminate a picture of the OSHC building and place it in your child’s lunch box on
the day they are attending. This will help remind your child of what is to happen at the
end of the day.

If your school has a drop off and pick up zone, discuss what will happen with your child.
For example, a designated staff member or parent helper will accompany children from
Prep classrooms and escort them to the pickup zone. You will need to check the
specifics of your school’s routine.