Parents say children are school-ready as teachers see a growing independence gap

A survey by Kindred finds that 88% of parents believe their children are ready for school, compared with just 37% of teachers, as concerns grow over self-care, classroom behaviour and separation anxiety.

A new survey from the early-years charity Kindred has exposed a widening gap between what parents believe and what teachers see in the classroom. While 88% of parents said their child was ready to start school, teachers judged only 37% of first-year pupils to be truly prepared, suggesting that many families and schools are working to very different definitions of readiness.

The problem, according to the survey, is not just academic. Teachers said many children were arriving without basic self-care and classroom habits that are now taken for granted. In the latest findings, 26% of pupils were not fully toilet trained, 28% could not eat or drink independently, 35% were unable to dress or redress themselves, and 44% struggled to sit still. A third were described as becoming overly distressed when separated from their parents.

The concern is not limited to one country. The Guardian reported earlier this year that 49% of teachers believed school readiness had worsened over the previous 12 months, with some children unable even to manage stairs and others arriving with speech and language difficulties linked by teachers to heavy screen use. Separate coverage in the same paper said a group of early-years educators in England had drawn up a school-readiness checklist that placed toilet training and cutlery use among the key skills children should have before starting school.

Part of the tension lies in the way school expectations have changed. Research cited by The Independent found that school readiness is about far more than letters and numbers; it also includes social and emotional development, self-regulation and the ability to function independently in a classroom. Another Independent report said about two-thirds of children aged three to five are on track to enter kindergarten, but experts stressed that the measure goes beyond academic ability and should include wider developmental markers.

Kindred’s survey suggests that many parents are not being given enough notice about what schools expect. About 18% of parents said they had never heard of the term “school readiness”, and another 14% said they only learned about it shortly before the start of Reception, the first year of formal schooling in England. Teachers and parents alike pointed to rising family pressures, including longer working hours and the cost of living, as part of the problem. The broader picture, as the charity and other education groups imply, is that children cannot be expected to master independence, toilet training or separation anxiety in the final days before term begins. Better communication, earlier guidance and more realistic expectations may be the most practical way to narrow the gap.