Increasing emphasis is being placed upon the need to prepare young children for school entry so that they can make the most of the school curriculum. The two articles which follow deal specifically with this subject. Beginning on this page is a description ofan assessment programme to be introduced from this September in the Canadian province of Ontario, and on page 10 begins an article describing a recent field study in Munich, Germany, which explored means ofaiding socially withdrawn children at the pre-school level.