Early Years Development Programme

Thanks to a generous grant from Kavli Trust, we are thrilled to be able to offer early years practitioners fully funded training and resources to support their children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) skills through our Early Years Development programme. This programme was initially developed in 2023 and tested for feasibility with 12 early years settings in Sunderland. We have now recruited a further 20 settings to take part in a pilot of this programme.

This programme will help all children, but especially vulnerable children, develop social and emotional skills (coping mechanisms, self-awareness, communication skills, self-regulation, and emotional resilience) using play-based activities and stories. It will give early years practitioners the knowledge, confidence, skills and resources to support the personal, social and emotional development of the children in their care as they continue to support children post pandemic.

Through a manualised play-based programme grounded in early years pedagogy and evidence, we will train and support early years practitioners to enhance and build on their PSED provision. There will be a focus on ‘ambition for all’, including how to narrow the attainment gap for the most vulnerable children of 3-5 year olds in early years settings.

We have recruited early years settings in these areas to take part in this programme:

• Greater Manchester
• Liverpool/Merseyside
• NE England
• Lincolnshire

You might also be interested in:

• We have developed a selection of play-based activities to promote young children's social and emotional development for parents, carers and family members of children aged 3-5 years. The activities support with children's transition to nursery/childcare or starting school and are FREE to download
• Our Co-CEO, Hannah Baker, in partnership with Anna Freud, has developed a guide of how to effectively support young children’s self-regulation skills - read more and access the resource