I held our monthly PTA meeting with our very active, very vocal committee this week. Over tea and biscuits I was once again challenged to explain why our children, when leaving us for school, were not as able to perform as our competitors'. When those ones leave for school, apparently they are all able to write their name, the letters of the alphabet, numbers up to 20 - my parents know this as they have seen all the worksheets!
As I sat there emphatically defending the development of the child from within, to become a confident learner ready and eager to embrace the experiences school will bring, I began to get the feeling I was the only sane person in an insane world.
In the cool light of day, I decided there was one way to solve this issue - I needed reinforcements! Clearly parents have concerns with their child's readiness for school, just as with the 'correct' time to walk, to talk or any other of the developmental milestones. And they will compare, and judge and worry. They do not have the benefits of years of training to give them the sense of security that comes from knowing there are more important things than these mental tick lists of milestones achieved.
So I have decided to hold an evening for the parents with reception heads from all of our feeder schools. They will be invited to detail the areas of development they are looking to see in their new September intake, helping us to demonstrate that from the time children enter the nursery as tiny babies we are preparing them for this important phase in their lives.
The time for conforming will come soon enough to these children. We are so privileged, working in the early years, to have the opportunity of working with their imaginations as they discover the world around them.
In such an emotive sector where everyone has an opinion, it is easy to have moments of doubt.
But when all the research points you in one direction, stay true to what you know to be right.