Early Learning Communities Toolkit
Strategy development | Evidence review
We have worked with Save the Children UK and partners to create an evidence-informed Toolkit to support local system change activities aimed at improving children’s early learning outcomes. This is underpinned by an evidence review and extensive co-design with local partners.
The need
The early years are a critical period for children, yet those growing up in poverty are much less likely than their more affluent peers to benefit from experiences that support positive development. Local communities and partnerships can help create systems and conditions to support early learning, but often lack the tools and approaches to design evidence-informed and locally relevant system change efforts.
Our response
We will undertake a comprehensive review of the evidence about ‘what matters’ in promoting early learning outcomes and ‘what works’ to improve these outcomes. This evidence, alongside reconnaissance and co-design with communities in Feltham, Margate, Newport and Sheffield, will inform the design of an engaging, practical Toolkit to help inform the design, implementation and ongoing refinement of local system change activities in those communities that Save the Children are working with.
This work is commissioned by Save the Children UK. The Toolkit was developed by the Lab, and the supporting Evidence Review was led by Dr Nick Axford at the University of Plymouth. Collaborators included Professor Kathy Sylva at the University of Oxford; Professor Jonathan Sharples from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and Bianca Albers from the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI).
For more information, contact:
Resources
You can access the Early Learning Communities Toolkit by clicking on the link below and providing a little information.
Early Learning Communities Toolkit
You can also access the Rapid Evidence Review we conducted to inform the Toolkit development by clicking on the link below.