Girgarre Primary School has welcomed 10 new preps to its halls, making up a third of the school’s entire population, and the largest injection of students since 2017.
The school is considered small compared to schools in neighbouring towns, and depends on transitioning the children at the Girgarre Kindergarten to choose locally for their schooling as well.
The injection of 10 fresh, bright-eyed kids into the school almost doubles 2024’s school population of 16 to 30 students in 2025.
With around six teachers and 30 students in total for 2025, the school’s principal, Ashleigh Buckland, has her hands full this year.
“We had to buy new tables and other things this year to account for how many new kids we got,” she said.
“It’s been really nice to see (the preps) out in the yard, and they're settling in really quickly.”
And while it seems like the preps may overrun the school, Ms Buckland said the older kids are still helping out where they can.
“(The older kids) are a great support for the younger ones with helping them learn the rules and learn what primary school is like,” she said.
Seven out of the 10 preps coming into this year are siblings of an older student at Girgarre Primary, and Ms Buckland said it was “positive talk” from families at the school that contributed to the cohort increase.
“We’ve got a really supportive parent community, and they’re really fantastic advocates for our school,” she said.
“I guess the families know this is a great place to be... it’s great we’ve got them supporting the future of our school.”
Read more about the new students on the block in the 2025 Prep feature pull out in the March 19 edition of the Free Press.
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