Being ‘school ready’ with headteacher Jenni Downes

Today’s podcast is all about being school ready. A recent report has shown that many children are not what it calls ‘school ready' by the time they reach reception. The Kindred Squared survey revealed big gaps in communication and focus, with children not being able to listen, respond to instructions, sit still or play with classmates together with issues around toilet training, being able to dress and to eat independently. The government has pledged to boost the proportion of children achieving a 'good' level of development from the current 67% to 75% by 2028. Today we're talking to Jenni Downes, principal at Erdington Hall Primary School, about her experiences of kids being school ready, and whether she thinks the government pledge is both necessary and achievable. She also has lots of tips on what we can do, as parents, to help our kids to be school ready. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can listen to Being ‘school ready’ with headteacher Jenni Downes online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Being ‘school ready’ with headteacher Jenni Downes is an episode from Brummie Mummies by Laudable.

This episode is 40:46 long.

This episode was published on May 19, 2025.

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