Reframing Readiness: How ‘School Readiness Matters’ and Starting Strong Are Shaping a Child-Centred Approach

Blog Post:

There is a quiet revolution happening in early childhood education, one that is placing children, not checklists, at the heart of what it means to be “school ready.” At the forefront of this movement are two powerful and complementary texts: School Readiness Matters (2025), published by TACTYC, ECSDN and RCTN edited by Dr Viki Veale and Kerrie Lee, and my own recently released book Starting Strong: Nurturing School Readiness the Child-Centred Way. Together, they shine a light on how we can redefine readiness in a way that honours children’s unique pathways, voices, and lived experiences.

A Shared Vision: Moving Beyond the Checklist

Both books begin with a simple but urgent question: What does it truly mean for a child to be ready for school?

School Readiness Matters, edited by Kerrie Lee and Dr. Viki Veale, challenges the dominant narrative that has long equated readiness with a narrow set of academic skills. It invites us to see transition as a process, not a single event, and to acknowledge that “readiness” must include the physical, social, emotional, and cultural contexts of every child. This echoes the central premise of Starting Strong: that true readiness is not about reciting the alphabet or holding a pencil “correctly,” even though they may seem important,  but about fostering confidence, curiosity, safety, and joy.

In Starting Strong, I argue that school readiness should be viewed through a relational, responsive lens, one that includes the needs of families and recognises that schools must also be ready for children. The TACTYC, ECSDN and RCTN text reaffirms this view by grounding its chapters in the key EYFS principles, particularly “Unique Child” and “Positive Relationships,” which are foundational to developmentally appropriate practice.

Threads That Bind: Transition as a Holistic Process

A particularly powerful synergy between both books is how they frame transition. In School Readiness Matters, transition is positioned as a slow, ongoing process requiring careful attention to a child’s sense of belonging, emotional wellbeing, and identity. This aligns directly with the model I share in Starting Strong, particularly in Chapter 5 where I introduce the “Child in the Now” model, emphasising the need to meet children where they are before focusing on where they “should” be.

Both texts resist the imposition of rigid academic targets and instead celebrate play, exploration, and connection as critical tools for readiness. As TACTYC contributors rightly argue, Reception should not be seen as a place to begin formal instruction, but as a continuation of early childhood pedagogy, where children are given space to thrive through meaningful relationships and enabling environments.

Amplifying the Characteristics of Effective Learning

In Starting Strong, I dedicate early chapters to play and the importance of creating environments where children can actively explore, question, and build knowledge in their own time. Similarly, the TACTYC, ECSDN and RCTN text devotes an entire chapter to the Characteristics of Effective Learning (CofEL), exploring how these learning dispositions, playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically, are central to children’s transitions.

Both books challenge practitioners and policy makers to shift focus from “what” children know to “how” they learn and who they are becoming. In my book, I write: “School readiness is not a destination, it’s a journey filled with joy, discovery, and the boundless potential of every child.” The CofEL provide the compass for that journey.

Valuing Voice, Relationships, and Rights

Children’s rights and voice are woven throughout both texts. School Readiness Matters incorporates insights from researchers and practitioners who advocate for inclusive practice, the celebration of diversity, and the need for co-constructed transitions that actively involve families and children.

In Starting Strong, these themes are crystallised in Chapter 7, where I explore children’s rights as outlined in the UNCRC, and urge educators to listen deeply to children, not just through spoken word, but through play, behaviour, and relationships. The shared commitment across both books to relational pedagogy is more than philosophical; it’s political. It’s a call to action to push back against performative measures of readiness and instead embed love, nurture, and care at the centre of early years practice.

A Complementary Call to Action

School Readiness Matters is a collective, practitioner-led text brimming with practical strategies, research-informed insights, and sector-wide expertise. It provides a broad toolkit for educators and families, touching on every area of learning from mathematics to physical development.

Starting Strong offers a companion voice, personal, passionate, and provocatively reflective. It doesn’t shy away from critiquing policy but always returns to the child as the guiding light. I invite readers to challenge outdated narratives, to reimagine readiness not as a tick-box but as a deep, relational journey grounded in trust and care.

Together, these books form a powerful partnership. They are not competing visions, they are chapters of the same story. A story that says: we can do better. We are doing better. And we owe it to our youngest children to continue doing better, every single day.

Let’s Start Strong, Together

If you’re an early years educator, parent, student, policymaker, or advocate, I urge you to read School Readiness Matters and consider it alongside Starting Strong. Let’s take the best of what we know, the truth of what we see, and the courage of what we believe, and build an early years system that is ready for every child.

📚 Available now:

• School Readiness Matters by TACTYC, ECSDN and RCTN: TACTYC Website

• Starting Strong: Nurturing School Readiness the Child Centred Way: Early Years Reviews Store