They’ve been inseparable from birth and there is “no way” five-year-old twins Giselle and Valencia Pollicina were going to be apart in kindergarten at St Joseph’s Primary School in Enfield.
Together they joined one of the three kindy classrooms on offer at the school where their mum Natalie also attended as a girl.
Their dad, Frank attended just down the road at Holy Innocents Primary School, Croydon. The couple also married at St Joseph’s.
“They’re extremely excited about starting school and can’t wait to make new friends,” Natalie said.
“Giselle is also keen to learn her letters and numbers, while Valencia wants to learn to read and spell.”
The fraternal twins are among 6000 students—including three sets of twins—starting kindergarten at Sydney Catholic Schools this year.
“I’m feel pretty emotional to be honest, and it’s exciting as well,” said Frank.
“It’s quite a weird feeling but I think they’re ready, so you’ve just got to let go and let them start this next stage of life.”
St Joseph’s principal Mary Colagrossi offers a 10-week “getting ready for school” program every Monday morning for pre-schoolers and their parents, to help the children have a sense of belonging to the community.
“This partnership helped create strong connections between home and school, laying the foundation for a supportive, collaborative relationship to be formed between home and school,” she said.
“As our little ones step into their classrooms on their first day, we continue to pray that this marks the beginning of a wonderful year of growth, learning, and faith, where each child is nurtured with love and the support of the parish, school and families.”
Frank said it was important to the couple that their daughters receive a Catholic education.
“We try to practice [our faith] and teach them as much as we can, which is harder as we get busier but it’s definitely a big deal for us.”