Double trouble for twin Kindies as parents push for right to decide if siblings are in separated classes

Exhausted mums and dads will soon enjoy the relief of shipping the kids off to start the new school year, but for parents of twins and triplets starting Kindy can be a lot more complicated.

The Australian Multiple Births Association’s Silje Andersen-Cooke and her triplets. AMBA is calling for a statewide approach to class placement of Kindergarten twins. Picture: Ricardo Figueredo Ocho

Thousands of exhausted mums and dads will this week enjoy the relief of shipping the kids off to start the new school year, with staggered returns to the classroom from Tuesday.

While some of Sydney’s private schools welcome students back on Tuesday or Wednesday, public school kids start back on Thursday.

Across the state, 63,000 four and five-year-olds will start kindergarten in government schools alone.

For the parents of the approximately 1500 twins due to start school this year, getting ready for that first big day is double the trouble and costs twice the price, and at Trinity Catholic Primary School in Kemps Creek two families are doing just that.

St Clair mum Annette Nunes and husband Jordan have spent “easily over $500” getting shoes, uniforms and equipment for five-year-old twins Eleanor and Oliver, who will join older brother Harry, 7, at the school.

Two sets of twins are starting Kindy at Trinity Catholic Primary School in Kemps Creek this year. From left are Jacob and Noah Pajak, and Eleanor and Oliver Nunes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“This time around I actually bought a lot of second-hand uniforms from the school office which has been a massive help,” Mrs Nunes said.

The Nunes have become fast friends with fellow Trinity parents Cynthia and Daniel Pajak, who also happen to have twins, Jacob and Noah, and an older child, Imogen, in Year 2.

The Pajak and Nunes families were relieved to find their school’s principal supported their ability to choice their twins’ class placement. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mrs Pajak said the family has spent up to $1000 per twin on back-to-school supplies, purchased throughout the year “to stagger the cost” and avoid the post-Christmas pain points.

“I feel like I need a big, giant gold star when they start school,” she said.

“When you have twins people celebrate the first 12 months … but for me, I feel like getting them to school is a real celebration – the early years (are) really difficult.”

Both mums have joined the Australian Multiple Births Association (AMBA) in calling for all NSW schools – private and public – to allow parents to have input into whether their twins are separated or kept together in their Kindergarten class.

AMBA director and mum of triplets Silje Andersen-Cooke said forced separation, without consultation, can be hugely stressful for families, and the absence of a department-wide policy “allows for ambiguity”.

AMBA director and mum of triplets Silje Andersen-Cooke. Picture: Supplied

“Every twin is different, they have different needs, and so we should be treating them as such – and that means giving agency back to the parents as to what’s going to be best for them,” she said.

“We would like to like talk to the department and the state government around having a … statewide policy around this kind of thing.”

Mrs Nunes was grateful that Trinity’s principal, Cathy Hey, was “nothing but helpful” and allowed both mums to make the final call, but Mrs Pajak said “negative stigma” about keeping twins together means multiple-birth parents at other schools often aren’t so lucky.

“It needs to be a collaborative decision between the educators, teachers, and the parents,” she said.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said government schools “work with parents on the best class placement for their children”.