Matt Buttery

Hundreds of thousands of four-year-olds will next week begin their school life, but many parents have reported concerns that their child just isn’t ‘ready’.While it is simple to tick off some preparations like buying a uniform, shoes, backpack and a lunchbox, developmental and behavioural milestones are perhaps harder to be confident on.For this year’s starters, they have spent two crucial years of development in lockdown and missed out on key opportunities to socialise and prepare for school in nursery settings, playgroups, and even playgrounds.Although starting school is such a big milestone for both parents and children, nearly half (49%) of mums and dads are not confident that they know what their child should be doing developmentally and when.27% of parents are unsure whether their child is ready to start school and 18% have real concerns about their readiness, according to a new report by positive parenting programme Triple P.Sadly, three-quarters (75%) believe there is a stigma around asking for help with parenting issues and 20% do not have any friends or family (15%) to help them with parenting concerns.Some of the skills parents believe their children starting school lack include having no bedtime routine (18%), not being able to hold a pencil correctly (17%), being unable to zip up their coat (17%) and not being able to look after their belongings (12%).Around 23% turn online to places like Mumsnet/Netmums for parenting advice and 17% go to Facebook support groups.Matt Buttery, CEO of Triple P and father, understands how our children starting school is a big moment in life and something all parents would like them to be ready for. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.