The transition from early childhood education to primary school is a big step for all children, and a step which more and more children are having to take. Quality transitions should be well-prepared and child-centred, managed by trained staff collaborating with one another, and guided by an...

Early equity for disadvantaged children can be achieved through nurturing, high quality early learning environments. However, without deliberate action, disadvantaged children face a 12 month development gap compared to their more advantaged peers in key early learning areas such as emergent...

Construction work is about to begin on a new “intelligent” primary school for 300 students (later to be expanded for 600) in the Municipality of Solaro in the province of Milan. This is the fi rst primary school building in Italy designed according to the principles of the “intelligent...

Describing primary schools in a small city in Portugal is an opportunity for an overall look at the evolution of schools in general as special public buildings. A look at four of the six primary schools in the city of Caldas da Rainha shows how these public buildings have evolved, what they...

This case study looks at the effectiveness of policy instruments aimed at reducing the number of underperforming primary schools in a system with a long tradition of school autonomy. It reviews relevant Dutch policy developments in education since 1998 and provides an in-depth analysis of five...

Parents can play a crucial role in children's learning, particularly when children are out of school or during times of school closures. In this study, we evaluate the impacts of two distance educational interventions, which directly involved parents and were delivered via basic mobile phones,...