Communication Friendly Home-Based Settings – pilot

As part of the Department for Education’s early years recovery programme, the EEF worked with Stronger Practice Hubs across England to fund early years settings’ access to evidence-informed programmes, as well as investigate their influence on practice and children’s outcomes. This initiative aimed to support education recovery following the pandemic, while also building understanding of effective professional development in the early years. Elklan and the EEF directly worked with the East Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub to fund childminders’ access to CFHBS and evaluate the programme through a pilot study. 

The EEF funded a pilot evaluation of CFHBS because research on continuing professional development for childminders is sparse and a study with this group could start to help close key research gaps. Additionally, interventions for pre-reception children and whole class/​group programmes were identified as a current funding priority for the EEF. The EEF commissioned evaluators from the University of Leeds, the University of York, and the University of Sheffield to conduct a pilot study where the two variants of the CFHBS programme were assessed for feasibility, evidence of promise, and readiness for trial. 

The study found that the CFHBS programme is feasible and acceptable to childminders. 80% of the participating childminders met all levels of compliance, and the programme content was perceived to be of value. There is also evidence that the CFHBS programme leads to the intended changes outlined in the Theories of Change. Childminders reported increased skills, knowledge, and confidence across both variants of the programme, with greater gains among those following the SLS3-5s route compared to the LTU5s. They also reported changes in their practice, particularly in modelling language and adult-child interactions. In particular, childminders perceived positive impacts on children’s speech, language, and communication, especially in expressive vocabulary. 

The findings also suggest that evaluating CFHBS through a randomised controlled trialAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes. with childminders may be feasible. However, it’s important to consider the value of financial incentives, the time commitment for participation, and the types of research activities that childminders are most comfortable with. The pilot also highlighted that while childminders greatly valued the training they received, many expressed concerns about being able to afford the programme without financial support. 

The EEF have decided to commission an efficacy trial of CFHBS which will be delivered in early years settings in the 2026/27 academic year.