Why "School Readiness" Shouldn’t Be the Goal for Our Five Year Olds

In early childhood education, the term "school readiness" is often used as a benchmark for success. The idea is simple: ensure that children develop the skills needed to seamlessly transition into formal schooling. But while I believe it is well intentioned from government around school readiness is positive about the best start in life, its execution can be problematic especially for our youngest learners.

Rather than focusing on preparing children to fit into the structures of school, we should be shaping schools to meet the needs of young children. We are now seeing a push for 2 year olds to conform to some of this rhetoric too. Five year olds are not miniature 8 year olds; they are curious explorers, natural problem solvers, and deeply social beings who thrive in environments that honour their developmental stage.

I want to express my deep concern regarding the recent focus from the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson on ensuring that 5 year olds or even those that are younger are "school ready." While I fully support efforts to provide children with strong educational foundations, I believe this emphasis on readiness misplaces the priorities of early childhood education and risks placing unnecessary pressure on young children, educators, and parents alike. This has been a Conservative push for the past 14 years. It has not worked for the past 14 years so why on earth are we pushing this agenda now.

At the age of five, children are still in a crucial phase of development where play, exploration, and social interaction are the most effective learning tools. Research consistently shows that play focused learning fosters creativity, problem-solving skills, and emotional resilience, all of which are fundamental to later academic success. A rigid focus on "readiness" risks pushing young children into a structured, formal learning environment too early, potentially leading to anxiety and disengagement rather than fostering a love for learning.

Moreover, every child develops at their own pace. Expecting all 5 year olds to meet standardised benchmarks disregards the natural variations in development and could disproportionately affect children from different backgrounds, particularly those with additional learning needs or those who have had fewer early learning opportunities due to socioeconomic factors. I do believe having high expectations for children does no harm but it needs to be done with the child in mind. Instead of focusing on whether children are "school ready," we should be asking whether schools are "child ready" and equipped to support diversity, uniqueness and emotional needs. Many are, and fortunately many head teachers I have spoken to nationally and locally are in agreement that we should be focusing on Personal, Social and Emotional Development alongside the focus on mathematics and literacies.

The Problem With the "School Readiness" Approach

It Pushes Academia far too Soon....and let's be honest it features in play anyway: Many school readiness frameworks emphasise literacy and numeracy skills, often at the expense of play, exploration, and creativity. Research consistently shows that children learn best through play, yet the pressure to ensure they can read, write, and sit still and share for long periods forces them into a rigid structure before they are developmentally ready.

It Undermines the Importance of Play: Play isn’t just a pastime for young children; it is how they develop social, emotional, cognitive, and motor skills. When the emphasis shifts toward structured learning too early, we risk depriving them of the very experiences that builds the foundation for lifelong learning.

It Creates Unnecessary Pressure on Children and Families The expectation that five year olds should be “ready” for school implies that those who don’t meet certain benchmarks are behind. This can create anxiety for parents, who may feel pressured to push their child into tasks when they are not ready rather than focusing on what truly matters at this age: emotional security, curiosity, and a love for learning.

It Ignores Development for a Child In the Now: Child development is not a race. Some five year olds are naturally inclined toward early reading and writing, while others are still mastering social interactions and self-regulation. A one size fits all approach to readiness ignores the wide variation in development and forces children into expectations that may not align with their needs.

What Should We Focus on Instead?

Instead of asking, "Is this child ready for school?" we should be asking, "Is this school ready for children?" Schools should adapt to young children, not the other way around. Here’s what a developmentally appropriate approach looks like:

✅ Emphasising Play as a means to Learning – Research shows that play leads to better long term outcomes in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills. Countries with strong play based early years education, like Finland, consistently outperform those that push academic focuses much too early.

✅ Focusing on Emotional and Social Development – The ability to self-regulate, manage emotions, communicate needs, and work with others is far more important at five years old than a more rigid formal focus. These skills lay the groundwork for future learning success.

✅ Respecting Each Child’s Developmental Pace, you know that thing called the UNIQUE CHILD – Children learn in different ways and at different speeds. Education systems should be flexible and child centred rather than rigidly focused on benchmarks that don’t reflect the realities of early development.

✅ Creating Schools That Support the Child – Instead of preparing children to meet school expectations, we should be designing schools that support exploration, movement, curiosity, and joy in learning.

Rather than seeing school readiness as a checklist of academic skills, we should redefine it as a child's ability to enter a learning environment feeling safe, curious, and supported. The goal should not be to rush childhood but to nurture it.

If we want to set our five-year-olds up for success, we need to rethink the way we approach early education. The best preparation for learning is not drilling letters and numbers but building confidence, resilience, and a love for discovery. That is the kind of readiness that lasts a lifetime.