This report describes the competencies of 307 children in the Wellington region, just before they started school.

It shows how the children scored for 6 'being' competencies - communication, curiosity, perseverance, social skills with peers, social skills with adults, and individual responsibility - and for 4 'doing' competencies - literacy, mathematics, logical problem-solving, and motor skills.

The results show that low family income is the main factor associated with lower competency scores. Good-quality early childhood education experience clearly benefits all children. But to make a bigger difference for children from low-income families, ECE services need more resources, so that they can provide a higher standard of support.

5 years old and competent is a handy summary to this report.