Is Your Child Ready for School?
This school readiness checklist helps NSW parents see how their child is tracking before Kindergarten. It covers six areas: self-help, social and emotional skills, language, early literacy, early numeracy and physical skills. No child ticks every box, and that is normal; the list shows where a little practice will help most.
NSW lets a child begin Kindergarten once they have turned five by 31 July, and school becomes compulsory at six, as the NSW Department of Education explains. Parents of children with birthdays early in the year often weigh up starting or waiting. This guide will not make that decision for you, but it gives you a clear picture to discuss with your child's educators. For more guides like it, visit our parent resource library.
What school readiness really means
School readiness means a child can manage the day-to-day demands of a Kindergarten classroom: looking after themselves, getting along with others, listening and following instructions, and being curious about learning. A school readiness checklist looks at all of these, because letters and numbers alone do not predict a happy start.
Teachers often say the same thing: they can teach reading, but a child who can open their lunchbox, ask for help and manage a disappointment settles far faster.
Readiness is also shared. Schools prepare to welcome children, and families and early childhood services help children build the skills over time.
Self-help skills
Self-help covers the daily jobs children can handle on their own: using the toilet, washing hands, dressing for play, eating from a lunchbox and keeping track of belongings. In a class of twenty or more, children who can do these alone spend more of the day learning and less waiting for help.
Practise at home with real tasks. Let your child pack their own bag on weekend outings and open their own snacks.
In our preschool room, self-help is part of the School Readiness Program, practised through ordinary routines rather than drills.
Social and emotional skills
Social and emotional skills include joining play, taking turns, coping with small setbacks, naming feelings and separating from a parent at the gate. They underpin everything else at school, because a child who feels secure and can manage their emotions is free to focus on learning.
Board games are a quiet workout for these skills: waiting, losing gracefully and trying again.
Talk about feelings in everyday moments. Naming "frustrated" or "nervous" gives children words to use at school.
Language and communication
Language and communication skills let a child follow instructions, explain what they need, share ideas and understand stories. By Kindergarten, most children can speak in full sentences, ask and answer questions, and follow a direction with two steps, though the range of normal is wide.
Conversation is the best practice. Ask open questions at dinner, such as "what made you laugh today?"
If you have concerns about speech or hearing, raise them early. Our centre works with speech therapists, and early support makes a real difference before school.
Early literacy
Early literacy means the skills that come before reading and writing: enjoying books, hearing sounds and rhymes in words, recognising some letters, and understanding that print carries meaning. Children do not need to read before school; Kindergarten teachers will teach that systematically.
Read together every day, and let your child choose some of the books.
Play with sounds. "I spy something beginning with b" builds the listening skills reading depends on. In our preschool year, children also use Reading Eggs as part of the program.
Early numeracy
Early numeracy covers counting objects, understanding more and fewer, recognising some numerals, noticing patterns and shapes, and using words for size and position. These ideas grow from everyday play, cooking and conversation long before children write numbers down.
Count stairs, set the table for the family, and talk about who has more grapes.
Our preschool program uses Mathseeds alongside hands-on maths in play and cooking.
Physical skills
Physical skills for school include gross motor skills, like running, climbing, balancing and catching, and fine motor skills, like holding a pencil, cutting with scissors and doing up buttons. Strong hands and bodies make writing, playground games and getting dressed after sport much easier.
Playdough, pegs and tongs strengthen small hand muscles before pencil work.
Outdoor play every day builds the balance and coordination children use in class and at recess. Our weekly sport and yoga sessions help too.
Printable checklist
Use this checklist over a few weeks rather than in one sitting, ticking skills you have seen your child do on their own. Print your ticks to share with your child's educators, or download our one-page PDF version to fill in by hand. Areas with fewer ticks are simply the places to practise.
Tick the skills you have seen your child do on their own.
In the preschool year, our School Readiness Program builds these skills day by day, and we work with local schools so the move into Kindergarten feels familiar.
School readiness, answered
Does my child need to read before Kindergarten?+
No, children do not need to read before starting Kindergarten in NSW. Teachers teach reading from the start. What helps most is enjoying books, hearing sounds in words and knowing a few letters, along with the independence and social skills to settle into a busy classroom.
What if my child ticks only half the list?+
Ticking half the list is common, especially a year before school, and it is not a reason to worry. Use the gaps as a guide for playful practice. If you are unsure whether to start school or wait a year, ask your child's educators; they watch your child alongside peers and can offer a second view.
What happens when my child starts school?+
Most NSW public schools run Kindergarten orientation sessions in the term before school starts, and teachers complete the Best Start Kindergarten assessment in the first weeks of Term 1. Early childhood services can also share a Transition to School Statement to help teachers get to know your child.
Find out more about our St Ives preschool and long day care.
See school readiness in action
Visit our preschool room and see how the year before school is spent.