Mid-October, a Tuesday morning. In the small section of the preschool, Giulia is three years and one month old and won't leave the door. The teacher knows she attended two years of nursery, three hundred meters away. She doesn't know anything else: how she used to fall asleep, what comforted her, what words she used to ask for help. The nursery educators knew this very well. However, between the two structures, no one has ever talked.
It's a common scene. For almost ten years, the law has spoken of a single system from birth to six years. In practice, nurseries and preschools often remain two close worlds that do not know each other. In this article, we will see what the integrated system 0-6 really provides, what tools it has implemented, and what concrete gestures make continuity something more than just a word in the educational project.
A Unique System, Two Different Stories
The legislative decree of April 13, 2017, no. 65 established the integrated system of education and instruction from birth to six years. It includes educational services for children (nurseries and micro-nurseries, spring sections, supplementary services) and state and parochial preschools.
The text explicitly uses the word continuity. It states that nurseries "operate in continuity with preschool." Regarding preschool, which assumes a strategic function, it states that it "operates in continuity with educational services for children and with the first cycle of education."
The initial difficulty is well known. The Pedagogical Guidelines for the integrated zero-six system, adopted by ministerial decree on November 22, 2021, no. 334, clearly state this: educational services and preschools have had different histories, different theoretical frameworks, different staff training paths, and different practices. They are often managed by different entities. Therefore, continuity does not arise on its own. It must be built.
What Continuity Means According to the Pedagogical Guidelines
The Pedagogical Guidelines describe the zero-six perspective as a continuum made up of three things: shared theoretical references, coherence of the educational project, shared intentional choices. They do not ask for the nursery to become a small preschool, nor vice versa.
- Continuity is not repetition. The text states that continuity "does not coincide with the stability and repetition of experiences, but with the change and enrichment of situations." The child who arrives at preschool has the right to new things, within a coherent trajectory.
- Each segment remains responsible for its own part. The vertical curriculum must enhance "the full responsibility of each segment" regarding the ways of learning specific to each age. The nursery does not anticipate, and preschool does not start from scratch.
The Guidelines then distinguish between a vertical continuity, between nursery, preschool, and primary school, and a horizontal continuity, with social, health, and psychological services and with local resources such as libraries, playrooms, and museums.
A novelty concerns the 3-6 aspect: from the school year 2026/27, preschool will work with the new National Guidelines for the curriculum, adopted by ministerial decree on December 9, 2025, no. 221. For a nursery that wants to dialogue with the schools in the area, knowing its framework is a good starting point.
Poles for Children and Spring Sections: Where the Connection Takes Shape
Decree 65 has indicated two structures specifically designed to hold together 0-3 and 3-6.
The Poles for Children welcome, in a single building or in nearby buildings, multiple structures for children up to six years old, "within the framework of the same educational path." The decree describes them as permanent laboratories for research, participation, and openness to the territory, sharing general services, collective spaces, and professional resources. The Pedagogical Guidelines add that their value goes beyond the sharing of spaces: a Pole works when educators and teachers know each other, exchange experiences, and train together.
The spring sections welcome children between 24 and 36 months and, according to the decree, "promote the continuity of the educational path from zero to six years." They are usually aggregated to state or parochial preschools or included in the Poles. The Guidelines define them as a laboratory of continuity between the two segments and an educational alternative to early enrollment in preschool, with a smaller group, an environment designed for the third year of life, and a more favorable adult-child ratio.
The spread of Poles and spring sections varies greatly from territory to territory: the planning of the Poles is the responsibility of the Regions, in agreement with the regional school offices and taking into account the proposals of local authorities.
Territorial Pedagogical Coordination: Who Holds the Threads
Among the strategic objectives of decree 65 is the territorial pedagogical coordination. The Pedagogical Guidelines describe it as a stable body that brings together the coordinators of educational services and preschools in a territory, whether state, municipal, private, or parochial.
Its task, regarding continuity, is concrete: to build paths between educational services and preschools, organize exchanges and twinning between public and private structures, and propose common training. The Regions promote it, and the Municipalities, even in an associated form, activate it by involving the managers, who ensure the participation of their coordinators.
Here, realism is needed: not all territories have active coordination, and where it exists, the involvement of private nurseries is not always guaranteed. For a coordinator, it is worth asking their Municipality if it exists and how to participate. We discussed the role of the coordinator within the structure in educational quality and pedagogical coordinator.
The Practices That Make a Difference
The Pedagogical Guidelines precisely indicate what it means to design in continuity. The first step is mutual knowledge among professionals coming from different experiences. Then come the actions:
- Common training between nursery educators and preschool teachers, to share a language and a perspective on children.
- Mutual visits and cross observations: the teacher spending a morning at the nursery, the educator accompanying the group of older children to see the new school.
- Experiences among children of different ages, with the presence of educators and teachers: a workshop, a reading, a shared lunch in spring.
- Passages of descriptive information about the autonomies and skills acquired and being acquired. Descriptive, not evaluative: how the child eats, falls asleep, interacts, what reassures them.
- Involvement of parents, which the Guidelines consider essential for a pact of shared responsibility. The family is the thread that passes from one structure to another.
There is extra attention on the passage of information. When the nursery and school are managed by different entities, the child's data is shared by involving the family and with a clear legal basis. In case of doubt, it is advisable to consult your privacy advisor or DPO before defining the procedure.
Where to Start If Your Nursery Is Not in a Pole
Most nurseries, especially private ones, are not part of a Pole and do not have a preschool next door. Continuity can still be built with a few simple steps.
- Map the destinations. Where do your children go at three years old? Usually, they are two or three preschools. They are your interlocutors.
- Request a meeting in autumn, not in June. An initial contact between the coordinator and the school representative, to understand what information is needed and in what form.
- Prepare a transition narrative for each child, shared first with the family: a few pages, some images, the habits that matter. If the documentation for the year is already collected in one place, preparing it takes much less time.
- Plan a bridging experience in spring: a visit, a party, a book read together in both structures.
- Inquire about the territorial pedagogical coordination of your Municipality and ask how to participate.
For advice to give families in the first days, you can start from this short guide on enrollment in preschool.
In Summary
The integrated system 0-6 was born with decree 65 of 2017 and finds its pedagogical framework in the Guidelines of 2021. Poles for children, spring sections, and territorial pedagogical coordinations are the tools designed to hold together nursery and preschool. But true continuity is played out in small gestures: getting to know each other, observing each other, passing useful information, involving families. Thus, the child entering the new school brings their story with them, and on the other side, someone is ready to listen to it.
If you want the documentation for the year to be ready when the time for the transition comes, you can try Easy.School for free.
