The Big Hopes Big Future programme, developed by children's charity Home-Start, is to be expanded thanks to £380,000 in funding from the Department for Education.
It follows a pilot of the programme involving more than 220 families, including 540 children, in 12 Home-Start centres in England, which was found to improve children's 'school readiness' by 25-33 per cent.
The pilot specifically targeted the most disadvantaged families. Many had chaotic lifestyles, were disabled, suffered from poor health or did not have English as their first language.
Home-Start developed the Big Hopes Big Future programme in response to findings from the Marmot Review, which revealed almost 300,000 five-year-olds do not posess the skills they need to start learning, such as being toilet trained or able to hold a pencil.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Unlimited access to news and opinion
-
Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news
Already have an account? Sign in here
