We agree with current research that many children are not ready to start school when they first enter a classroom. We feel that the issues that are causing concern are children’s speech, language and communication; personal, social and emotional development; behavior issues and physical development. We believe the main reasons for this is that there is a failure to identify and support children’s additional needs, parents having fewer resources, and pressure on family life. We understand school readiness is best defined as ‘the broad range of skills, knowledge and attitudes children need as foundations for good future progress.’ (Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage) It is also defined as children ‘being curious about the world, having the desire to learn, coping   emotionally from being separated from their main career and are relatively independent in their personal care.’ (Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years)

We acknowledge that there are four key areas of school readiness: language and literacy, thinking skills, self-control, and self-confidence. Parents have a major role to play in encouraging the development of these four areas so that children are able to ‘listen and ask questions, express their thoughts, communicate with others, think before performing actions, possessing curious eagerness to learn, being experienced with books, knowing how to share and take turns, being able to work alone and with others, and understanding written words and how they are put together to make a sentence.’

We believe that children attending our nursery setting where the Early Years Foundation Stage is implemented in an environment for identifying any potential issues, are well prepared emotionally, socially and academically to transfer into the school setting.