Abstract:

School success of primary school pupils is one of the most important motives for successful lifelong learning. For this reason, great attention is on the different aspects of school readiness and school maturity among children prior to their enrolment in compulsory education.

In the Czech Republic, children enrol in school in compliance with Act 561/2004 Coll. Children enrol in primary school when they are six years of age. In some European countries, children enrol later, in some earlier. Since 2017, preschool education has been mandatory in the Czech Republic, which should guarantee children’s school readiness for successful enrolment in primary school. In the process of diagnosing school readiness, school attendance may be postponed by one year. School maturity and school readiness are diagnosed in educational and psychological counselling centres on the request of preschool teachers and upon cooperation with the legal guardians. The objective of the research study was to compare school success of pupils after recommended postponement of school attendance with those who were recommended postponement of school attendance but this recommendation was not followed by the legal guardians.

The research was carried out by means of qualitative research methods. The sample included those children who showed learning difficulties in the first grade of primary school caused by early school enrolment with respect to recommended but not realized postponement of school attendance. The other part of the sample included children who enrolled in primary school after postponement of school attendance by one year. During the research, the pupils attended the second grade of primary school in order for them to catch up any developmental differences during the first grade. The diagnosis focused on the pupils’ cognitive skills in the area of written and oral language competences and mathematical skills. The level of reading skills, writing skills and mathematical skills was analysed.

Keywords:

Primary education, school readiness and school maturity, school diagnosis, postponement of school attendance, pedagogical research, qualitative research.