Pakenham Primary School – Transition

What is PPS JOEYs?

PPS JOEYs is a transition into school program. JOEY stands for Junior Orientation Education Year. The PPS JOEYs program focuses is on social, emotional and academic learning development. It allows children to develop and practise some of the pre-learning skills necessary for success at school. Oral Language, fine motor skills, pre-literacy and pre-numeracy readiness are a focus of the program. Children will participate in directed activities, which will extend their learning skills, strategies and behaviours having them well prepared to begin formal schooling at the beginning of their foundation year.

The PPS JOEYs program along with a range of organised formal and informal transition sessions are offered to make sure your child is well supported on their journey into school. We aim to have your child feeling safe and secure in the school environment before they begin school. The additional school readiness skills will help to ensure that they have a positive start at school.

Starting school marks an important milestone in the lives of young children. Recent studies suggest that children’s adjustment to their first year of school is strongly influenced by their familiarity with the school setting. Students will become familiar with school environment, staff, students and routines.

Getting Started

Pakenham Primary School prioritises families from within our designated neighbourhood boundary (DNB).
Head to https://www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au/ to check which school zone your address sits in.
Prior to enrolling, families are required to attend a pre-enrolment meeting and are encouraged to book in to one of our group tours of the school. Our pre enrolment process helps you to learn about our curriculum and expectations and discuss your child’s needs. Your child can begin attending PPS JOEYs at any point in Term 3 or 4, once enrolment paperwork has been completed and submitted to our school office. Enrolment forms will be provided at pre-enrolment meetings.

When will PPS JOEYs run?

PPS JOEYs will run on Tuesdays in Terms 3 and 4. There will be 4 sessions throughout the day, each session limited to 25 students. Students must be enrolled into a session and remain in the session for all of transition. Once places in each session are full, students will need to be placed into another session time.

When will PPS JOEYs start?

The PPS JOEYs program will begin in Week 2 of Term 3 2024.

Who can attend?

Any student who has returned enrolment paperwork and will be attending Foundation at Pakenham Primary School the following year is invited to join the PPS JOEYs transition program.

Where will it be held?

The program will be held at Pakenham Primary School in the PPS JOEYs space – LC1 Classroom. The program will also make use of our whole school facilities at different times during the semester.

Who will be running the program?

The staff involved in running the PPS JOEYs program will be Foundation teachers and various support staff.