Four-year-olds don’t need to sit still to be ‘school ready’

By Lucy Sors, Senior Lecturer, York St John University
Louise Whitfield, Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, York St John University

The UK government’s strategy for early years education in England aims to get children in reception “school-ready”. But what school readiness means is debatable.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has pointed out that half of reception-aged children “can’t sit still”. And recent writing guidance outlines handwriting and spelling lessons for reception-aged children.

As experts in primary education, we take the view that children aged four and five should not be sitting still at tables. Expecting…

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