ABSTRACT
Most children in Britain, and in many other countries, have experience in at least one preschool unit before starting primary or elementary school, with many experiencing more than one preschool setting consecutively or even concurrently. There are many points of transition in early education where conflict in expectations can occur: between home and school, between different stages within the same setting and from one type of provision to another. In the report entitled The First Transition: home to preschool, the authors' stress the importance of considering a continual interplay between experiences at home and school. Young Children at School in the Inner City from 1982 to 1985 compared the educational experiences and attainment of boys and girls from indigenous white and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds in a number of primary schools in the Inner London Education Authority from the time of their entry to reception class through their infant schooling to about 7 years of age.
