BETH HAS PREP ALL TO HERSELF
WHEN prep pupil Beth Miller packed her bag for the first day of school this year, she didn’t have to worry about not knowing anybody.
Beth and siblings Audrey, 7, and twins John and Charlie, both 8, make up 40 per cent of tiny Shelford Primary School which has just 10 pupils.
Beth may be the only prep, but the teachers didn’t scare her.
The eager five-year-old had visited her new school many times with her older brothers and sister, and her mum Sharon sometimes leads the classroom as a relief teacher.
So when school holidays broke early this week due to the coronavirus, the Miller pupils didn’t notice much difference.
“They said they were very excited about going to Miller school,” Sharon said.
While some schools have pupil populations in the hundreds, Sharon said she loved the one-on-one attention her children received.
“There are two teachers — so in the mornings there are two grades, a prep to two class and a three to six class,” Sharon said.
Twins John and Charlie make up half of the senior class and when Sharon fills in the Miller children still call her Mum.
Sharon said Beth had been visiting the school for most of her life and was already reading at an advanced level.
“Some of the activities she is doing are aimed at pupils when they reach into the end of grade prep,” Sharon said.
“Beth came in with basic skills and because she is the only prep they can really cater for the individual.”
When Beth was preparing for school she was even allowed to negotiate her own transition.
Sharon said there are no arguments in the Miller household when the alarm sounds at the start of the school day.
“She just loves it and never struggles to get out of the car,” Sharon said.
Beth is just one of thousands of children to feature in the 2020 edition of My First Year.
My First Year features a collection of prep pupil photos taken across primary schools in the Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula, Surf Coast and Golden Plains Shire areas.
In its fourth year of running, the liftout is a memento for the families right across the region.
The Addy visited 81 schools, more than 190 grades and took photos of thousands of preps in their first year of school over a two-month period.
Three schools contributed their own photographs.
Photographer Alison Wynd shot as far south as Aireys Inlet, St Leonards in the east, Shelford in the west and Anakie in the north. All schools in the region were invited to participate.