Helping you and your child feel more confident about starting school

Starting Prep is a big milestone — for children and for the people who love them.

Your child might be counting down the days, feeling nervous about what's ahead, or moving between excitement and uncertainty. You might be wondering what you can do now to make the transition a little easier.

Whether this is your first child starting school or your fourth, every child will experience this transition in their own way.

Ready, Set, Prep! is a practical 45-minute pre-recorded webinar designed to help caregivers understand what can be happening for children as they prepare to start school — and the everyday things we can do to help them feel safe, connected and ready for this next chapter.

45-minute pre-recorded webinar | Watch online, in your own time

Starting school is about more than being "ready"

Starting school asks a lot of little people.

They are learning to separate from caregivers, navigate new relationships and routines, cope with sensory and social demands, follow instructions, manage big feelings and find their place within an entirely new environment.

Even children who are genuinely excited about starting school can find parts of the transition hard.

You might notice more clinginess, irritability, tiredness or big emotions. Your child might suddenly struggle with things they usually manage. Mornings or separation might become difficult. Or they may appear to cope beautifully at school, only to completely unravel once they get home.

Behaviour gives us information.

Ready, Set, Prep! helps you look beyond the behaviour and understand what might be happening in your child's developing brain and nervous system — and what they may need from you.

What will you learn?

Ready, Set, Prep! combines an understanding of child development with practical strategies you can use before school begins and throughout those important first weeks and months.

You'll explore:

• The brain, nervous system and behaviour — understanding what happens when children feel safe, stressed or overwhelmed and how this can influence behaviour, learning and connection.

• Regulation and co-regulation — why young children still need our help to manage big feelings and how connection can support them through overwhelm.

• Preparing before school starts — practical ways to make the unknown more known and build familiarity, predictability and confidence.

• Relationships and belonging — why connection with teachers, peers and the wider school community can make such a difference.

• Communicating with your child's school — what information can be helpful to share and how to build a collaborative relationship with educators.

• School morning routines — reducing pressure, creating predictability and supporting children through the many demands of getting out the door.

• Separation and drop-off — helping children navigate difficult goodbyes with connection, consistency and confidence.

• After-school regulation — understanding why some children fall apart once they get home and supporting reconnection, decompression and recovery.

Throughout the webinar, you'll hear practical examples and strategies that you can adapt to your own child — because there is no single "right" way for a child to transition to school.

Practical support you can actually use

This isn't about creating a perfect transition or adding another long list of things your child needs to master before Prep.

It's about understanding your child a little more deeply and identifying the small things that can make school feel more familiar, predictable and manageable.

You'll come away with practical ideas for preparing for school, creating supportive routines, responding to big feelings, navigating separation, supporting regulation, building connection and communicating with your child's school.

Most importantly, you'll have a framework for looking beyond behaviour and asking:

What might my child's brain and body be communicating — and what support might they need from me right now?

Who is Ready, Set, Prep! for?

Ready, Set, Prep! is for parents and caregivers of children preparing to start Prep who simply want a thoughtful, child-centred approach to preparing for this important milestone. It is for those who would like to feel more informed and confident about supporting the transition.

It may be particularly helpful if your child:

• is feeling worried or uncertain about starting school

• finds separation or new environments challenging

• experiences big emotions or becomes easily overwhelmed

• has sensory or regulation needs

• is neurodivergent or may need additional support

• appears excited and confident, but you'd still like practical ways to prepare them.

Resources to support you along the way

Learning is much easier to put into practice when you have something useful to take away.

You'll also have access to practical Ready, Set, Prep! resources and templates from Lemon Drops Kids Therapy to support you and your child through the transition.

These include tools such as our All About Me Profile, School Transition Social Story, routine supports and other practical resources designed to help make school feel more familiar and help caregivers communicate their child's individual needs.

Meet your presenter

Sarah has worked alongside children and families for more than 20 years and brings both professional expertise and lived parenting experience to Ready, Set, Prep!

Her work is grounded in understanding the whole child — their development, nervous system, relationships, environment, individual strengths and support needs.

Sarah is also an ADHD mum of two, including an ADHD daughter, and understands personally that school experiences, support needs and the way children move through big milestones can look very different from one child to another.

Ready, Set, Prep! brings these perspectives together to provide families with information that is practical, compassionate and able to be adapted to the child in front of them.

Sarah Stevenson

Accredited Mental Health Social Worker

Child & Family Therapist

Feel more prepared for the transition to school

Help your child move into this new stage with connection, predictability, understanding and support — while building their confidence that they can navigate new and sometimes difficult experiences with trusted adults alongside them.

Our hope is that Ready, Set, Prep! leaves you feeling more informed, more reassured and more confident in supporting your child as you move through this next chapter together.

Ready, Set, Prep! available to purchase from October 2026

45-minute pre-recorded webinar | Watch online at a time that suits you

Webinar available to purchase here from October 2026

Need more?

Individual support for your child and family

Sometimes families need a little more support than a webinar can provide.

If your child is finding the transition to school particularly challenging, Lemon Drops Kids Therapy can provide individualised support to help you better understand what's happening for your child and what they may need.

Caregiver sessions provide space to explore your child's individual strengths, regulation needs, behaviour, relationships and challenges, and develop practical strategies tailored to your child and family.

Support can also continue as the experience of starting school unfolds, helping you respond to new needs or challenges that emerge along the way.