Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement. This research sought to explore levels of physical development in young children in the term that they started school. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) was used to assess 115…

The transition to school is a critical period for children and families. Successful transition predicts later school achievement and socio-emotional outcomes with sustained long-term benefits. Educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that support for the transition of children from nursery to school was limited. The study…

Transition has long been acknowledged to have an impact upon the academic, social and emotional development of learners, which can be long lasting in effect. Using an interpretive methodology, the voices of the three key stakeholders involved in primary education transition -- learners, practitioners and parents/caregivers -- were sought and…

The purpose of this research is to analyse the nature of mothers' perspectives and engagements in supporting children's readiness and transition to primary school. This research considers how mothers in Indonesia prioritise certain aspects of school readiness and implement these in practice. This study was conducted using a qualitative approach.…

The experience of transition into school has been shown to correlate with later school outcomes, with a successful experience resulting in later positive academic and social outcomes. Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) face more challenging transitions. Teacher attitudes and expectations of children with SEN play a key role in…

School readiness performance measures, such as the Good Level of Development (GLD), are increasingly associated with children's readiness to start formal learning, presenting challenges for supporting the transition to compulsory school. This research focuses on how an English primary school extended play-based pedagogy into Year One for children…

A successful start to school correlates with positive later educational outcomes, both social and academic. Transitioning experience differs according to social context and this study was conducted in the UAE. Expatriate teachers, UAE national parents and expatriate parents were asked to complete a questionnaire of 20 child behaviours indicating…

The enigma of the Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) policy directive in England, alongside the conspicuous 'school readiness' agenda appears to be inducing detrimental incongruities in graduate early years educators' teaching of phonics to two-year olds. This paper outlines the findings of a contemporary research study highlighting that graduate…

Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement. This research sought to explore whether a physical intervention programme (Movement for Learning) can improve children's physical development. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition,…

Transition from early childhood education to primary school is a complex phenomenon. This situation, moving from one educational system to another, is exciting, but can also be stressful for the child, her family and preschool teachers. Smooth transition to primary school helps children feel secure, relaxed and comfortable in their new…

Internationally, school readiness is increasingly the rationale for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This is the case in England, yet the statutory English Early Years Foundation Stage framework for children 0-5 years also requires practitioners to listen to children's voices: discourse indicates dissonance between school readiness and…

This study examined a 13-item instrument measuring approaches to learning (AtL) as a component of school readiness in the context of early childhood socio-emotional development. Few instruments, limited to preschool teacher ratings, measure AtL among kindergarteners with short easy-to-use questionnaires. We investigated psychometric properties of…

High quality early years' education is associated with providing a child-centred curriculum based on a knowledge of how young children learn. The global 'schoolification epidemic' has led to an increasing focus on prescribed curricula and presents as a serious threat to the quality of children's early years' experiences. Findings from research in…

Year after year, the interest in early learning of the state language by non-Estonian children has increased. In Estonia, the course has been directed that non-Estonian learners have to reach functional bilingualism by the time they leave basic school and thus to become competitive in labour and education markets in Estonia. The objective of the…

In a democratic education system, it is important to provide equal opportunity to every child. Both educators and researchers acknowledge a gap between students who attend school ready to learn and those who do not. School readiness prepares students for this learning. The purpose of the study was to ascertain Turkish classroom teachers'…