The 'school-readiness' agenda is becoming increasingly dominant in recent policy discourse, and this article explores how the Bold Beginnings report builds on this agenda. By focusing on the curricular gap between the end of Reception and Year 1, and on the importance of mathematical and literacy outcomes, it is argued that Bold Beginnings clearly establishes the Reception year as a site to 'ready' children for school. Using a rhetorical analysis approach, this article considers how the text is constructed as a persuasive discourse advocating the further formalisation of the early years.