ERO publishes new report: Starting School Together: What do we know?
This new report from the Education Review Office (ERO) looks at the impact of cohort entry on learners, schools, whānau, and early childhood education services.
The report has found that for schools who have adopted cohort entry, there were benefits to children’s learning and transition into school. Most new entrant teachers and principals said that starting children in groups meant they settled better into class and eight out of 10 principals considered that group entry improved new entrants’ engagement with learning.
There were also benefits for the schools using this approach. Schools reported that scheduled group entry helped with planning for transitions and gave teachers more time to teach.
Overall, the report found that cohort entry could be something for schools to consider depending on their individual school and community contexts.
Along with the report and short summary, ERO has produced a set of short guides for boards or school leaders considering cohort entry, and for early childhood services and whānau with cohort entry schools in their area.
This report and short summary are available at the following links:
Report here: Starting School Together: What Do We Know?
Summary here: Starting School Together: What Do We Know About Cohort Entry? Summary