I am in NZ too and it is quite common for kids to feel like that as they approach 5. The kids they have been playing with are turning 5 and leaving. Sometimes they lose several.friends a week. They then only have younger kids to play with who can't do what they want to do.
Plenty of kids go to school having done none or little preschool and they adapt. If she is starting at the beginning of next year she will have had six weeks off anyway. I know it goes against everything we are told but the preschool years are not just about preparing for school, and the rest of childhood is not about preparing for some job. The things we learn will be useful for school and work but they are mostly intended to grow a good person.
