Is My Child Ready for Nursery? School Readiness Explained

Parents often ask me some version of the same question: how will I know when my child is ready? Sometimes they mean ready for nursery. Sometimes they mean ready for school. Often, they mean both at once, wrapped up in a perfectly reasonable worry about getting the timing right.

I have been working in early years for long enough to know that there is no single answer, and that is not me being evasive. It is just the truth. But I can share what school readiness actually looks like from the inside, and why so much of what families worry about turns out to matter less than they think.

What school readiness actually means

School readiness is one of those phrases that sounds official but rarely gets explained properly. In my experience, it does not mean being able to write your name or recite the alphabet. It means arriving at school with enough independence, confidence and curiosity to settle in, take part and start learning alongside other children.

The skills that actually make a difference tend to be things like:

• Being able to communicate a need, whether that is asking for help, saying they are not feeling well, or telling a grown-up they need the toilet
• Managing some basic self-care, getting dressed, washing hands, using cutlery
• Being able to listen in a group, even briefly, without needing one-to-one adult attention throughout
• Having some experience of being away from their main carer and knowing that the adult comes back
• A general willingness to have a go at things, even when something feels new or uncertain

Notice what is not on that list. Reading. Writing. Numbers. Those things matter eventually, but a child who cannot yet hold a pencil and arrives at school knowing how to ask for help and manage their own coat peg is, in the ways that count most, very well prepared.

When does nursery help build these skills?

This is where nursery earns its place, and it starts earlier than most families expect.

At Blossoming Minds Daycare in Greenwich, we work with children from three months old, and the foundations of school readiness begin in those earliest months. Learning to trust a key person who is not your parent. Discovering that the world is interesting and safe. Beginning to communicate before you have the words to do it properly. These are not abstract developmental targets. They are things I see happening every day in our rooms.

By the time children are in their pre-school years with us, we are building on all of that quietly and consistently. Our mornings are unhurried. Children eat together, sit together, listen in small groups and make choices about what they want to explore. They go outside every day, whatever the weather, and they take part in cooking activities, from making pizzas and smoothies to helping with salads. These things are not extras. They are the curriculum.

Independence grows when children are given the chance to practise it in a setting that feels safe and familiar. Confidence grows when adults notice what a child can do and build on it, rather than rushing them toward the next thing.

What about children who take longer to settle?

Some children settle into nursery quickly. Others need more time, and both are completely normal. In my experience, the children who find transitions hardest are often the ones who have had fewer opportunities to be away from their carer, not because anything has gone wrong, but simply because life has not given them that yet.

This is one of the reasons we take settling in seriously. We offer free Stay and Play sessions every Wednesday, where families can explore the nursery space with their child before any commitment is made. From there, settling visits are gradual and paced around the individual child. Some families start with one or two sessions a week and build up slowly. Some children need a little longer and that is completely fine.

The key person relationship is central to all of this. Your child's key person gets to know them properly before you step back. That familiarity makes an enormous difference.

A note on funded hours

One thing worth knowing is that funded childcare hours can now start much earlier than many families realise. Since September 2025, eligible working parents can access funded hours from when their child is nine months old, with 15 funded hours available from nine months to age two, and 30 hours available from age two for those who qualify. All three and four year olds receive 15 hours of universal entitlement regardless of household income.

We accept both 15 and 30 funded hours at Blossoming Minds. If you want to understand what you might be entitled to, the clearest place to check is childcarechoices.gov.uk, and you are welcome to look at our fees and funding page for more on how it works here.

Ready when they are ready

If there is one thing I would want families in Greenwich and the surrounding areas to take away from this, it is that readiness is not a fixed point you either reach or miss. It is something that develops gradually, through play, through relationships, through small moments of independence practised over and over.

Nursery is where much of that happens, in a way that is led by the child rather than pushed from the outside.

If you would like to see how we work and get a feel for the nursery, I would encourage you to book a show-around at a time that suits you. If you would prefer something a little more relaxed first, our free Stay and Play sessions every Wednesday are a lovely way to explore the space and meet the team with your child alongside you.