Laying the stepping-stones towards positive early development
In all the activities and approaches that we develop with communities, we impact five stepping-stones which contribute to the strong foundations children should have in place for life and learning at age five.
Evaluating and refining our approach
We evaluate and refine our approach to maximise our impact directly with children, with parents and carers, and with the system of organisations and professionals around them.
Here are some of our achievements across these areas of work:
Halving of children with severe language delays from 39% to 19%
In 2021, 39% of children in Thrive at Five areas in Stoke-on-Trent had severe delays in their speech and language development when they started school reception.
We introduced the Talking Time intervention in nurseries in 2023, there was a reduction in the number of children starting school with severe language delays from 39% to 19%. Overall, 71% of children from the 6 schools that delivered Talking Time improved their communication and language skills.
1500+ children received support to be ready to start school or nursery
Research indicates that children aren’t starting school with the skills they need. We have supported our partner schools to develop and deliver a school readiness programme since 2022.
In Abbey Hulton and Bentilee, over 1500 children have received extra support to help them be ready for starting school or nursery. In 2024, 91% of parents who attended at least one session felt confident about their child starting school and felt that they knew about helping their child with their learning.
62% increase in children whose language skills were not a cause for concern
We have supported delivery of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) early language programme across our 7 schools in Stoke-on-Trent since 2022.
We measure change for those participating in NELI using the Ox Ed language screening tool. In 2023 we saw a 62% increase in the percentage of children whose language skills were not a cause for concern from 3% to 65%, and overall, 97% (98 children) improved their communication skills.
5x more parent, baby and toddler support groups
With our partners, we have increased the number of parent, baby and toddler support groups in Stoke-on-Trent five-fold. This increases the overall capacity, alongside existing groups, to provide enough sessions spaces per week for more than 50% of parents of zero to twos.
100+ organisations and 600+ professionals working with us to support children in Stoke-on-Trent and Redcar & Cleveland
We are helping to connect and convene a network of early years organisations and professionals in our pathfinder sites, through our events with international experts and information sharing to strengthen practice and knowledge for the long-term.
We're working with Health Visitors in Stoke-on-Trent to gather information about babies and toddlers and their parent relationships. With our support, a dedicated health visitor team member will visit children aged one and two years old, to gather data about the home learning environment using proven academic scales.
This data will help health visitors to focus their resources where the need is greatest. It will also help us to understand what we can do to augment and connect early years support in the home. We will share this data across the early years system.
