This book presents an exploration of the beliefs held by parents, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners and teachers and their relationships during children’s transition to school. This exploration was prompted by the author’s observations that the relationships between ECEC practitioners and teachers became increasingly strained when the term school readiness was introduced to the EYFS.

Drawing on the findings of empirical research, the book presents the four qualities of relationships between parents, ECEC practitioners and teachers during children’s transition to school. Unlike many current texts, this book extends the transition to include the phases of preparation and adjustment and explores how the qualities of relationships between parents, ECEC practitioners and teachers can change throughout thephases of the transition. The conceptual framework, ‘The Relational Transition to School’ is developed and is a useful tool for researchers and those working together to explore the qualities of relationships between those supporting children during a transition.

An Empirical Approach to Preparing Children for Starting School will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the field of early childhood education, as well as those training to be early years practitioners.