The first day of school signalled a shift for thousands of families who left their little ones in the hands of teachers for the first time across Canberra yesterday.
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It also prompted a stern warning from the ACT's police chief as he urged motorists to slow down and heed school zone speed limits as holidays ended.
Around 42,700 children started back at public schools across the capital this week, including 100 youngsters who spent their first day of pre-school or kindergarten at Fraser Primary School.
Principal Sue Norton said the first day was often hardest on parents, and the school held a "tea, tissues and Tim Tams" therapy session to calm frazzled nerves after the initial drop-off.
"We haven't had any tears and I think that's because the pre-school is an integral part of our school."
Mother Evina Castle admitted she was more nervous than her son James, 4, who was her first child to start pre-school.
"I was frantically reading the pre-school pack last night, better late than never.
"We've been talking a lot and driving past the school."
Kindergarten pupil Thomas Kelly, 5, began his school career with one big ambition.
"I want to save the world when I grow up."
His mother, Corinne Kelly, admitted he was a bit sad in the morning, "but he's ready to go".
"He's my little boy, five-years have gone so fast…it was an emotional morning, but I didn't shed any tears."
Chief police officer Rudi Lammers reminded drivers 40 km/hr school zone speed limits were in place between 8am and 4pm from Monday.
"Children are our most vulnerable road users, they'll quite often walk out unexpectedly into traffic so motorists need to be much more cautious when passing in front of schools.
"Forty kilometres is the upper limit, if motorists need to drive slower, please drive slower."
Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers said there had been a drop of more than 15 per cent in the number traffic infringement notices police handed to ACT motorists in school zones last year.
"That was quite significant, so the message is getting across, motorists are slowing down, but it only takes one incident to change all that."
Chief police officer Lammers said one of the most serious cases was a Chapman man, 22, nabbed driving 102 km/hr in a 40km/hr school zone on College Street in Bruce in term one last year.
He said at that speed, the man's car was travelling at 27 metres per second and would have taken 130 metres to come to a standstill if he tried to stop suddenly.
"Had a child walked out in front of his car, it could have even been a fatality," he said.
Four drivers were allegedly nabbed at speeds of 85 km/hr or faster in 40km/hr school zones in 2014.
Police issued 827 traffic infringement notices in school zones last year, which was down from 996 in 2013 and 918 in 2012.
Parents of children who walked to and from school should know where they were at all times and speak to them about who to go to if they felt unsafe, police warned.
