Adorable five-year-old Lilah Van Dijk is so excited about starting kindergarten on Tuesday, January 28 that she has been wearing her uniform to bed in the lead-up.
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"She wanted to wear it to Summerfest too," mum Naomi Van Dijk said.
"But I had to put a stop to that."
Mrs Van Dijk isn't too worried about any first day nerves from Lilah.
"She has done the pre-kinder program so that really prepares them," she said.
Lilah's two older siblings Noah and Ally are already at Port Macquarie Adventist School.
"They love it," Mrs Van Dijk enthuses.
"It is a smaller school and there is a real sense of community.
"All the teachers know all the children."
Rambunctious Noah is looking forward to seeing his friends at school.
"I have two friends," he said precisely.
"I really enjoy playing handball with them."
Eldest child Ally is used to keeping a watchful eye on her siblings.
School has allowed her to develop her passions.
"I really love art and sport," she said.
As well as Ally, Noah and Lilah there are two younger children in the family - three-year-old Brielle and 18-month-old Cohen.
And there are definitely some advantages to a big family according to their parents.
"The older ones look after the younger ones," Mrs Van Dijk said.
Naomi and her husband Matthew both grew up in Port Macquarie and met as teenagers.
They both studied in Coffs Harbour but always thought they would move back to their hometown once they had a family.
"With the beaches and hinterland there is always something outside to do," Mrs Van Dijk said.
"We also have both our families who live in Port Macquarie which helps."
For the school holidays the family have been busy being "tourists" in Port Macquarie.
"We went to Bago Maze and played putt putt golf," Mrs Van Dijk said.
"The kids thought it was awesome."
Schools across NSW will open their doors to the largest cohort of students ever recorded this week.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said 497,000 primary school students and 318,000 high school students are enrolled so far for 2020 in public schools alone, with 71,000 starting kindergarten.
"NSW is facing the first major increase in the school-aged population since the Baby Boom of the 1950s," Ms Mitchell said.
