Tears are a guaranteed starter for any child's first day at ''big school''. But what happens when you arrive to find just as many teachers crying as parents?
It's a situation those at St Clare of Assisi Primary might have to prepare for, after six of the Conder school's teachers enrolled their own children in kindergarten. The excited youngsters will join more than 4500 children across the capital in kicking off their first year of school today before 66,000 students in Years 1 to 12 return tomorrow.
St Clare's principal Greg Walker said his staff realised they would have a unique start to the year around enrolment time last May and it had been a topic of interest ever since.
''We've had four or five teachers' children enrolled here in the past but it's always been scattered across year levels, not six at one time and certainly not all in the same year level,'' he said.
''We've split the kids across four strands of kindergarten classes, mainly to ease nerves on their teachers, who might feel a little pressure teaching their colleagues' kids.
''It will be nice for them [the parents] though, because they'll have a special opportunity to watch their children grow from an arm's length, without smothering them.''
The Catholic sector has recorded a boost in enrolments this year, though mainly in the primary and early learning areas.
The Catholic Education Office's head of finance and planning John Barker said the number of children in its five early learning centres had jumped from 230 last year to 340. ''We opened three of the centres last year and their reputation has obviously grown over the past 12 months, leading to more enrolments there this year,'' he said. ''Our secondary sector is unlikely to grow because we've reached capacity.''
The total number of enrolments across Canberra is not expected to grow significantly from last year, but at least five schools will take on an extra year level.
Harrison School will expand to Year 7, with students moving into a brand new secondary centre large enough to cater for 800 extra students. Further year levels will also be added to Namadgi School (Year 8), Gungahlin College (Year 12), Kingsford Smith School (Year 10) and Mother Teresa School (Year 4).
Independent sector schools have also hinted at an injection of new blood, with several new teachers and a new principal.
Trinity Christian School will now be headed by principal Andrew Clayton, who has moved from South Australia, while Canberra Girls Grammar welcomes Jason Corbet Jones as its head of senior school. Mr Corbet Jones has moved to the capital after working in schools across Sydney.
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