2023 Kindy graduations: Meet the Toowoomba kids going to big school

Hundreds of young and curious minds are set to enter the gates of ‘big kid’ school for the first time in 2024. Here’s what they had to say ahead of their final days at kindergarten.

Hundreds of young and curious minds are set to enter the gates of ‘big kid’ school for the first time in 2024, but before they do, we sat down with them to have a chat during their final kindy days.

As the days near closer to their kindergarten graduations, we will be updating this story with photos and stories from various centres across the Toowoomba region.

Mothercraft Childcare Centre

For Oskar McKie and Aayla Claridge, big kid school is a numbers and letters game.

The two kindergarteners who graduated from Mothercraft Childcare Centre, said they were excited to go to prep next year to make new friends and learn about very different things.

While young Oskar said he wanted to learn how to count to 120, Aayla said she wanted to learn how to write her pet cat Ruby’s name.

It seems Oskar is also a flourishing creative and hopes to become a famous artist when he’s older, so he can’t paint pictures of Rosellas, cameras, people and cubby houses.

After learning to ride a horse named Rocky, who is “a giant” and approximately “18 hands wide”, Aayla would like to teach people how to ride horses when she’s older.

While Aayla was excited to dress in a gown and hat and shake the hands of her kindy teachers at her graduation ceremony, Oskar said he was looking forward to going to “the pizza shop” for dinner with his mum afterwards.

Springs Early Education on Donahue

It has been an eventful year for the kindergarteners of Springs Early Education on Donahue St, with dancing, drawing, riding bikes and playing with toys being some of the highlights.

Equally excited to go to “big-kid school” next year, Quinn Moore, Joshua Murphy and Colin Suey said they were most looking forward to climbing new heights on the monkey bars and competing in their respective swimming carnivals.

When she finishes school and is all grown up, Quinn said she planned to become a police officer, catch bad people and also clean her teeth.

Joshua has different ideas in mind and said he would like to go to the gym when he’s older and get money from banks because he wanted to be rich.

A fan of the Queensland Maroons, Colin would like to play rugby league professionally and travel the world.

Not willing to settle for just the one sport, young Colin said he also wanted to be a famous hockey and soccer player one day.

Kath Dickson Education and Care Centre

Whether it’s their love for painting and making slime or that they all want to protect others when they grow up, Ayaan Amith, Eli Wallis and Lincoln Delves share many similarities.

All three boys said they wanted to pursue a career which allows them to save people’s lives with Eli hoping to become a firefighter, Lincoln wanting to be a police officer and Ayaan opting to be The Flash – a superhero from DC Comics.

While Ayaan said he was drawn to the idea of having super speed and shooting lasers, and Eli said he wanted to put out fires with a big hose, Lincoln said he wanted to be a policeman “so I can pull my dad over”.

The trio are also set to graduate from the Kath Dickson kindergarten this year, alongside their friend Israya Matthews who wants nothing more than to be a princess when she’s older.

When asked what this job description would entail, Israya said she would wear a pretty crown and dress, dance and play all day.

Springs Early Education on Jewell

During her time at Springs Early Education on Jewell, Emmerson Bell has learnt numbers, the letters of the alphabet and how to write her name – all skills the kindergartener hopes to pass on to others when she becomes a teacher.

Set to graduate from kindy in the coming weeks, young Emmerson said she wanted to be a teacher so she could “teach people stuff” and put the naughty kids in time-out.

The kindy graduate said she was also looking forward to attending prep next year as there were more classrooms and bigger spaces to explore.

While Darby Williams is still thinking about his future career options, the kindy student said he would help his parents tidy the house and put his toys and puzzles away when he becomes a grown-up.

Excited to go on bear hunts when she attends big kid school, Amelia Menhinnitt said she wanted to learn “how to be good for Santa” and do her homework.

Vera Lacaze Memorial Community Kindergarten

Best friends Edith Fernance and Emilia Nielsen can often be found in the art and craft area of the Vera Lacaze Memorial Community Kindergarten.

Their latest creations involved sticking craft supplies to tissue boxes with Edith making a “flying unicorn” and Emilia making herself a brand new friend named Corbin, complete with a smiley face.

While the two kindy graduates are only heading into prep next year, they already have their future plans lined up with Emilia set to reach for the stars and become a YouTuber.

“It’s my dream to be a YouTuber,” she said.

“I’ll film myself opening a million bath bombs.”

Opting for a different career path, Edith said she wanted to become a vet so she could take care of kittens and puppies.

Fellow graduates Alex McInnerney, who loves to solve puzzles and make pasta necklaces for his mum at kindy, and Jacqui Hegarty, who enjoys painting and looking for silkworms, had other career aspirations in mind.

Problem solver Alex said he wanted to work with his dad when he’s grown up so his dad can lift him up on his shoulders every day.

When asked what his dad does for work, Alex said he “joins pipes together to make water go (different) ways”.

Jacqui said she wanted to work at Bunnings Warehouse so she could make cans of paint “every day but not the weekend” as she would like to go to the beach on Saturdays and Sundays instead.

Oak on Jellicoe

While most kids dream of being doctors and teachers or astronauts and scientists, Fletcher Betts is one of a kind.

The four year old, who is set to graduate from his kindergarten centre Oak on Jellicoe at the end of the year, wants nothing more than to be a dad so he can make breakfast for his children.

Although he was tempted by the notion of being a stay-at-home parent, young Fletcher quickly changed his mind and said he wanted to go to work so he could “show off my muscles” and be a police officer to “get bandits with my race car”.

The kindergartener’s friends had a few different ideas in mind, with Arlee Willis hoping to be a “painting teacher” and Hudson Hammel looking forward to making potions as a scientist.

Future superheroes Blake Cooper, Harry Volz and Teddy Brander plan to save the world as Lava Girl, Batman and Spider-Man.

“I will shoot spider webs made out of chocolate ice-cream so I can eat them,” Teddy said.

“My webs will be so strong that I’ll cut down houses with them.”

Despite young Teddy’s enthusiasm, Harry was quick to tell his friend he would not be cutting his house down.

Learning Pathways

While the 2023 graduating class of the Learning Pathways Kindergarten have enjoyed many moments over the course of the year, the cohort agreed learning about insects had been a highlight.

In fact, Sophia Tracy, 5, hopes she will continue to learn about bees when she attends big kid school next year.

Keen to pursue a career in education, Sophia said she wanted to be a teacher to “show young kids how to write and be good” and because she thought it would mean she “wouldn’t have to do any work” much to her own kindy teacher’s amusement.

Brodie Chisholm, 4, who loves to play with cars and magnets, said he would like work in construction, dig holes with an excavator and drive a dump truck.

While budding creative Evelyn Harris, 5, said she wanted to work two jobs – as an artist and post office employee.

C&K Gabbinbar Community Kindergarten

While cleaning feels like a chore for some people, for Sarah Kwitonda and Adalind Mickelbourgh, it has quickly become their favourite hobby and dream career.

Both children, who attend C&K Gabbinbar Community Kindergarten, said cleaning “was not hard” and they especially loved cleaning floors with a mop and cloth.

“Sometimes my brother says I can’t do it (clean) because I’m too little, but I’m not too little,” Sarah said.

Meanwhile, their friend Mia McCartney said although she was still contemplating the job she would like to do when she’s older, she knew she wanted to make “lots of money”.

“I want to buy lots of toys and a star that’s magical … and I want a desk to put my handwriting on,” Mia said.

Sybil Inskip who likes to serve kindy visitors soup, made from the special ingredients of “things from the garden”, said she would like to cook when she’s older and become a firefighter.

Fully supportive of this career choice was Archie Clarke who also wants to fight fires for a living and said he would purchase his fire truck with 1000 coins, which he had already saved up.

All five kids will graduate from the Middle Ridge kindy in the coming weeks.

Pittsworth Kindergarten

Standing proudly as one of the tallest kids in her kindy class, Sophie Black said she was hoping to have a growth spurt when she attends big kid school next year, with the goal to tower over her 15-year-old brother.

The four year old said she wanted to drive an ice-cream van when she’s older as the job would be “easy” and would mean she could eat the refreshing treat all day.

Sophie attends Pittsworth Kindergarten alongside her friends Pippa Petersen, Chad Klein and Jacob Keeley.

Young Pippa who currently lives on a cattle property with her parents, brother and sister, said she wanted to run her own farm one day so she could ride tractors and chase cows.

Meanwhile, Chad plans to follow in his dad’s footsteps by building houses and sheds for a living, and said he may even build his family a house one day.

Not picky about his future career, Jacob said he would be content working with computers and did not mind in what capacity, as long as he could press all the buttons.

Pittsworth Kindergarten is run by the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools and the Toowoomba Catholic Kindergartens and Care.

Little Miracles Community Kindergarten

Few correlations exist between mermaids, horses, basketballs and fires, but one similarity is they will all feature in the future of the Little Miracles Community Kindergarten graduates.

While Atreyu Miners and Jayden Pratt are keen to become firefighters when they grow up, Lucy Sullivan and Lila Wieden want to ride horses for a living.

L.A. Lakers fan Arley Zellers dreams to play basketball for the NBA one day and Archer Olszewski said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his dad and become an electrician.

Unable to choose between chef and mythical creature, Lola Harrison has her sights set on becoming a mermaid who bakes chocolate cakes with rainbow sprinkles.

The seven youngsters are set to join hundreds of students across the region, as they graduate from kindergarten in the coming weeks to attend big kid school next year.

Rosemont Cottage

He may only be four years old but Mitch Inglis has already considered his future and plans to leave his options open when it comes to career choices.

The kindergartener who is set to graduate from Rosemont Cottage in the coming weeks, said he was tossing up between becoming an “aeroplane or boat driver” and Darth Vader.

Young Mitch plans to recruit a team of “bad guys” to become his Stormtroopers when he inevitably takes over the reigns of the Star Wars character but said he was not sure how he would source their suits right now.

Inspired by a boat trip he once took with his family to Stradbroke Island, Mitch said he fondly remembered eating lots of mint ice-cream.

“I’ll get to eat lots of ice-cream if my job is to drive the boat,” he said.

Meanwhile his friends Imogen Gillam and Zarlia Harriage hope to become veterinarians so they can help make dogs and cats feel better when they are unwell, and Georgia Polatos wants to be a doctor.

While Georgia acknowledges some people are afraid of needles, she already has a strategy in mind to stop them from crying – the tempting offer of lollipops and McDonald’s.

The four young students said they were most looking forward to painting, making pasta necklaces, playing in the sandpit and conducting science experiments at big kid school.

Fairholme College

New adventures await the kids from the Fairholme College kindergarten, with many of the soon-to-be graduates making some surprising admissions.

Little Iona Phil said she was most excited to garden and paint portraits of her family at big kid school, while Charlotte Russell was keen to spend more time colouring-in and perfecting her handstand technique.

Surprisingly, Louie Strickland, Sophie Pascoe and Wesley Duncan said they were most looking forward to doing homework, which they said would help them to learn to read the say the alphabet.

Meanwhile both Charlotte and Louie agreed they felt excited but also “a bit nervous” about heading to big kid school because kindy was “real amazing”.

Cherubs Early Learning and Kindergarten

Nothing lights up the eyes of Jack Dore and Hector Balsilla more than the mention of Batman and dinosaurs.

The two experts of all things superheroes and the Triassic period, plan to tap into their wealth of knowledge in the future, with Hector hoping to become a palaeontologist, while Jack said he wanted to be “Batman’s assistant”.

When asked what that would entail, little Jack said his main duties would be flying through the air, driving around in the Batmobile but definitely “not saving the city” as that was the responsibility of the original protector of Gotham City.

Meanwhile their fellow graduates Matilda Wright hopes to follow in the footsteps of her tennis coaching parents by playing the sport professionally and Eliza Still is looking forward to becoming a lifeguard.

Future Wimbledon star Matilda said her game strategy would be “hitting the ball good” while young Eliza said her career choice was based on a desire to spend every day at the beach.

All four kids will soon graduate from the Cherubs Early Learning and Kindergarten centre and said they were most excited for big kid school to use the playground and library.