Bags of fun for this year’s Preps

Thousands of new Prep students are set to receive library bags packed with useful items to help them thrive at school

The department has begun shipping out more than 60,000 Prep bags to welcome our newest students to schools across the state.

Every Prep student starting at a Victorian government school will get a library bag filled with fun and engaging resources to celebrate this exciting milestone in their education journey.

This year's Prep bags include 15 specially designed items to help students and their families transition into primary school.

If you're too old to get a bag yourself (!), you can check out the video below to see all the items in this year's Prep bags.

The design on the front of this year's Prep bag- 'a new chapter' recognises and celebrates the transition from kindergarten to Prep.

What's in the bag?

To help build literacy skills and encourage a love of reading from an early age, Prep students will receive 5 quality children's books: 

• The Unwilling Twin by Freya Blackwood      
• I Spy Victoria by Jeannette Rowe 
• Hark, It's Me, Ruby Lee! by Lisa Shanahan 
• I saw Pete and Pete saw me by Maggie Hutchings 
• Pink! by Margaret Wild.
  

The Statewide Vision Resource Centre produced these books in braille with tactile illustrations for students who are blind.

Other goodies in the bag include:

Learning

• Ardoch adhesive book labels to personalise every child's free Prep bag books. The multi-language sticker sheet contains 'This book belongs to' in 12 of the most popular languages spoken in Victoria. 
• A Mathscots ruler featuring characters from the Mathscots Animation Series to help Preps have fun while exploring maths and numeracy at school and at home.
• A Literacy and Numeracy Tips booklet with handy tips to help parents and carers develop their child's literacy and numeracy skills.
  

Sport

• A NAB AFL Auskick activity booklet from the Australian Football League with a range of fun football-themed activities.
• A Melbourne Stars or Melbourne Renegades activity booklet from Cricket Victoria. The booklet includes activities to learn more about cricket and information about getting involved in Cricket Victoria's entry-level program.
  

Health and wellbeing

A foldable frisbee for families to enjoy. Parents and carers can visit Get Your Move On  to find fun ways to get kids moving for 15 minutes, four times a day.  

• A Respectful Behaviours within the School Community poster outlining the shared roles of parents, carers and school staff in creating a positive environment for learning. 
• Be a Soapy Hero! colour-in activities and a factsheet to help Prep students learn more about good hand hygiene practices. 
• A Parentline Victoria magnet with contact details for telephone counselling and support service for parents and carers.
• SunSmart stickers to remind the whole family to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide to reduce UV exposure. 
  

Find out more

For more information about transition and starting school, visit Information for parents

Images of books in braille with tactile illustrations