The Ready or Not Study: Connecting Viewpoints on Child and Family Wellbeing and Identifying Commonalities Across Diverse Groups, 2021-2023.

The over-arching aim of this multi-method study was to investigate the relations between children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’. There were four specific objectives:

1. To enrich understanding of the overlap between ‘school readiness’ and child wellbeing.
2. To examine characteristics that shape children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’.
3. To examine how family characteristics shape children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’.
4. To examine how children’s wellbeing and school readiness impact on caregiver wellbeing.

Children and their caregivers in England were recruited to participate in a 12-month longitudinal study while the children were enrolled in Reception Year (i.e., the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England) in Spring/Summer 2021. Children and their primary caregivers were seen on two occasions approximately 12 months apart (Mean Interval = 12.36 months, SD = 1.08 months) using a remote assessment protocol to mitigate the spread of Covid 19. Data collection was timed to take place when children had completed at least one term in Reception Year and then again after completing at least one term in Year 1. At both timepoints, following written consent, caregivers participated in a remote interview lasting approximately 20 minutes and then completed an online questionnaire pack. Children then participated in a remote testing session using videoconference software with a caregiver present. These sessions lasted approximately 45 – 60 minutes. Families received a voucher for participating in each wave of the study. Teachers were invited to complete a short questionnaire about each study child.