Background: Preparing children for mainstream school occurs in systems that act as an overarching context. The perspectives of stakeholders influence how they prepare children for mainstream education. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the contextual factors that affect school readiness as identified by stakeholders. School readiness was conceptualised as a function of contextual influences and connections between individual and systemic factors enabling the child to benefit from the curriculum. Setting: This exploratory study was conducted in the Metro North Education District in Cape Town. Methods: Five focus group interviews were conducted with a snowball sample of 35 stakeholders including parents ( n = 9) and professionals from education ( n = 17) and health ( n = 9) systems. Transcriptions were thematically analysed. Resultant themes were summarised to reflect stakeholders’ perceptions. Results: The results showed four major groups of factors that affect school readiness: community, adverse experiences, educational and familial factors. Firstly, community factors thematically identified were unemployment, socio-economic status (SES) and culture as impacting school readiness. Secondly, adverse experiences included violence, trauma and substance abuse that affect school readiness. Thirdly, educational factors identified are lack of stimulation, barriers to learning, teacher support and cooperation between stakeholders that influence readiness. Fourthly, familial factors such as parental support, variation in child-rearing practices and caregiver literacy exert influence on school readiness. Conclusion: Acknowledgement of and engagement with the above-mentioned four factors could result in a nuanced and contextual understanding of school readiness and might foster cooperation between stakeholders.

中文翻译：

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南非的入学准备与背景相关：利益相关者的观点

背景：为主流学校做准备的孩子发生在作为总体背景的系统中。利益相关者的观点影响着他们如何准备孩子接受主流教育。目的：本研究的目的是加深对由利益相关者确定的影响入学准备的背景因素的理解。入学准备的概念是根据上下文的影响以及个体和系统因素之间的联系而确定的，使孩子能够从课程中受益。地点：这项探索性研究是在开普敦的Metro North教育区进行的。方法：进行了五个焦点小组访谈，对来自35个利益相关者的滚雪球样本进行了调查，包括父母（n = 9）和来自教育（n = 17）和卫生（n = 9）系统的专业人员。转录被专题分析。总结了最终的主题以反映利益相关者的看法。结果：结果显示影响学校准备的主要因素有四类：社区，不良经历，教育和家庭因素。首先，主题确定的社区因素是失业，社会经济地位（SES）和文化，这些因素影响入学准备。其次，不良经历包括暴力，创伤和滥用药物，这些因素会影响入学准备。第三，确定的教育因素是缺乏激励，学习障碍，教师的支持以及利益相关者之间的合作关系会影响准备状态。第四，家庭因素，例如父母的支持，抚养子女的方式的变化以及照顾者的素养，对入学准备产生了影响。结论：