Early manifestations of anxiety in childhood confer significant distress and life interference. This study reports on the first controlled trial of the "Get Lost Mr. Scary" programme, a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy group intervention for children with anxiety aged 5-7 years. Participants were 134 children (65 males and 69 females) drawn from 23 public schools located in Western Sydney, Australia. A non-randomised control group design was used to assign schools to an intervention group or wait-time control group. Post-intervention results obtained from parent and teacher measures indicated that children who received the intervention showed significant reductions in their anxiety and behaviour symptoms compared to children in the wait-time group who showed no significant change. After receiving the intervention, the wait-time group showed a similar pattern of improvement. At 12-month follow-up, the intervention gains for anxiety were maintained. Clinical implications for the school setting and future directions for research are discussed.