A study was made of children beginning school, to learn more about their response to school and how to help them adapt to it. Participants in the study's year-long first phase were 36 teachers from two very different local education authorities (LEA) and 92 children who started school in 1985-86. Teachers identified activities and organization in their classrooms and observed children's responses in the first month of each term. The second phase consisted of a case study of one class of beginning students, who were observed in play groups and nurseries for a month before starting school and during the first 4 weeks of school. This summary report discusses what skills children need to function in a classroom, the formation of a class in the first 4 weeks of school, classroom expectations, teachers' recognition of patterns in individual children's responses, the nature of children's involvement, and topics explored in an inter-professional workshop seminar. A table summarizes areas of experience which affect children's responses to classroom expectations. In conclusion, recommendations are offered with specific attention given to helping teachers recognize the structures they create in classrooms, the thinking upon which the structures are based, and the significance of classroom structures for pupils' learning. (RH)