This paper sets out to develop a conceptual framework for examining the experience of children as they enter primary school. Our recently completed study suggested that it cannot be assumed that children who have had all- day pre-school provision will move to school without settling-in difficulties or longer term problems with the nature of the classroom experience. The children had to negotiate discontinuities between the culture of their pre-school setting and the primary school classroom. There were changes in the way in which they were expected to learn, to behave and relate to others. When children had more enduring difficulties with inclusion in the new environment teachers tended to ascribe this to characteristics of the child rather than features of the educational environment. But this perspective fails to take account of children's past experiences or their preferences for a particular approaches to learning. A conceptual framework that incorporates the expectations of children and the criteria for inclusion used by teachers offers an alternative way of thinking about strategies to include all children as they start school.