Parents will benefit from interactive learning tools and
text message tips to support children’s early language and
literacy at home, as part of a society-wide push to make
sure children start school ready to learn.
Families from disadvantaged backgrounds will be given free
access to some of the best children’s educational apps for
smart phones and tablets, the Education Secretary has announced today (20
February), encouraging parents to think about how to use
children’s screen time constructively, rather than as an
easy distraction.
On average, disadvantaged children are 4 months behind in
their overall development at age 5. It grows by an
additional 6 months by the age of 11 and by the time they
take their GCSEs they are, on average, 19 months behind
their peers in overall attainment.
There are hundreds of educational apps for phones or
tablets on the market that parents can choose from to
support their child’s early learning, but there is little
reliable information about which are the best or most
effective. So the Department for Education will buy
subscriptions to high-quality early learning apps and
provide access to some of these free of charge to
disadvantaged families with children aged two to four, in
up to 12 pilot areas across the country.
Education Secretary said:
No parent has all of the answers. Being a parent is like
learning to drive: wonderful, full of new discovery, but
at times challenging, with plenty of obstacles to swerve.
Our children are growing up in a constantly changing
world and it is hard to keep up.
And when it comes to children and technology – that’s
where a manual can be helpful. Not all screen time is
created equal: on one side there are the pressures that
come with social media and the time spent looking at a
screen, which is a key worry for parents – but on the
other, the power of technology and the internet can open
up a whole new world when embraced properly.
But it’s also difficult to navigate, and often expensive,
so I want to support parents of all backgrounds to feel
able to embrace its benefits and use it in a measured,
sensible way that helps improve children’s early
development at home.
Screens can be an easy distraction for children, but
harnessing the power of technology to support early
communication and development means that we have another
tool in our arsenal to help young kids develop those
skills.
Mr Hinds also confirmed today that nearly 6,000 families in
the north of England will also take part in four new
programmes that provide practical tools and advice, such as
parenting group sessions, educational toys and books or
text message tips sent directly to their mobile phones.
Up to 375 schools and nurseries will be recruited for the
projects, run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)
and Leeds-based education charity SHINE – building on the
Education Secretary’s 10-year ambition to halve the
proportion of children leaving Reception without the
communication skills needed to thrive.
The trials will include:
-
Making-it-REAL: 960 families in 120 schools in Greater
Manchester and Yorkshire will trial a successful
National Children’s Bureau programme that trains early
years professionals to visit families at home, getting
parents more involved in drawing, singing songs and
counting with their children, as well as encouraging
them to use everyday activities to boost learning;
-
Group Triple P (Positive Parenting Program): Trained
experts will show parents how to improve their
children’s language, and social and emotional
development through role play, homework exercises and
video clips of positive parenting techniques. 1,800
families in the north west will benefit across 150
schools and nurseries;
-
Parent Child Home Programme: Trained experts will visit
families in Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield and
Barnsley at home twice a week for 15 months,
demonstrating different reading, conversation and play
activities, and providing books and educational toys to
enrich the home learning environment. The programme
will be run by Family Lives and 320 families with
two-year-olds will benefit;
-
Tips by Text: Parents of four and five-year-olds will
be sent three texts each week to encourage activities
that help develop literacy, numeracy and
socio-emotional skills, such as counting the number of
plates on the table. More than 2,700 families from 105
schools in the north east will trial an eight-month
study run by the Behavioural Insights Team, who have
run other successful text message ‘nudge’ trials like
this.
Education Secretary continued:
There is more support for childcare and early learning
than ever before, with more than 700,000 two-year-olds
from disadvantaged backgrounds having benefited from 15
hours of free childcare a week since 2013. But the vast
majority of a child’s time is spent at home and what
happens here is critical to their development.
The Home Learning Environment can have a huge impact on a
child’s ability to succeed in life, so I want to support
families with hints and tips to propel their child’s
learning so they are not behind on their first day of
school and they can go on to reach their full potential,
whatever their background.
The plans set out today build on the Government’s work,
announced last month, to appoint a new
advisory panel to
assess existing apps and produce tips and guidance for all
parents to help them make informed decisions about which
apps to choose for their children.
The expert panel, chaired by Professor Jackie Marsh of the
University of Sheffield, will draw up a set of criteria for
assessing an app’s quality, which will also help decide
which apps the Department will provide to families free of
charge.
Local areas will be chosen based on factors including the
proportion of children achieving below the expected level
of development in communication, language and literacy at
age five, as well as a focus on some of the most deprived
communities.
Sir , Chief Executive
of the EEF, said:
Parents want the best for their children, whatever their
background or wherever they come from. But it can
sometimes be difficult to get parents involved in their
child’s learning in practical ways which make a
difference and we know little about how to do this well.
By testing different ways of improving the home learning
environment – from texts to parents to home visits -
these new trials will give us much needed information
about how we can give mums and dads the tools they need
to give their child the very best start in life.
I’m delighted that we’re able to partner with SHINE on
this project. They have excellent networks in the north
of England and will help us to make sure we reach those
schools, nurseries and families most in need of support.
Fiona Spellman, Chief Executive of SHINE, said:
We’re delighted to be partnering with the EEF to deliver
the Home Learning Environment Fund. Research consistently
shows that communication and language difficulties in the
early years can hold back children for the rest of their
time in education.
These programmes are a great way of seeing how we can
make a real difference at an early stage and support all
children to achieve their potential.
