Today, we’ve published new findings from two studies of early years programmes. These reports were produced as part of our increased focus on the early years, and our commitment to building up the evidence base in this crucial phase of our education system.
Reception Jigsaw
This programme, delivered by White Rose Maths, is designed to support reception teachers and teaching assistants in improving mathematics teaching and pupil outcomes. Underpinned by key principles such as learning through play and creating opportunities to explore and investigate, the programme provides participants with twilight training sessions, coaching sessions and gap tasks to support them in adopting the approach.
The first instalment of findings from this evaluation (conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research and co-funded by the Department for Education) was published in October 2023, and suggested that the programme could support reception pupils (four- to five-year-olds) to make one month’s additional progress.
This addendum sets out the findings from longitudinal follow-up analysis, which also showed that Reception Jigsaw could have a positive, long-term impact on children’s progress. Pupils in Reception Jigsaw schools in reception made an average of one month’s additional progress at the end of Year 1 compared to children in other schools.
Read the full report and the new addendum here.
Parents and Children Together (PACT)
The PACT programme, developed by the University of Manchester, aims to support parents and carers to develop their child’s early language skills before they start school. Specifically, it aims to improve pre-school children’s (three- to four-year-olds) language and communication by reading books together, learning new words, and talking about stories. Parents and carers deliver structured activities five days a week, 20 minutes a day, over a period of 30 weeks as part of the approach.
372 children from 43 nurseries took part in this trial, which was evaluated by Durham University. The study found that children who were offered the PACT programme made, on average, no additional progress with their overall language skills compared to children who did not receive the programme. This result has a moderate to high security rating.
Read the full report here.