Children come to school with attitudes, expectations and values that are char­ acteristic of their own family structures (Curtis 1986: 155). They then begin a process of acculturation where they gain an understanding of the school culture and society through learning the rules, routines and language of the classroom. Those children with older siblings may have acquired some under­ standing of the expected school values, mores and systems vicariously. Within role-play they may have developed 'script knowledge' (Gura 1996: 37) while they explored 'make-believe' school with others who have had experience of real school. They may have accompanied an older sibling each day to and from school. However, for many, and usually for the first child in the family, school will be a completely new experience. For some children the values and customs of the classroom may be different from those encountered at home, in a preschool setting or from any role-play situation. This mismatch may produce conflict and uncertainty within the child.