What makes a great partnership? It’s not easy to fully breakdown, but there are key components, including a shared goal, willingness to go beyond what is already known, trust, and the ability to keep individual identity that is strengthened by working together. This might sound like the start of a self-help book but, is equally applicable to the partnership between Sheffield Hallam University and Save the Children, working together to improve early years outcomes for children.
It started out in the concept of the Sheffield Early Learning Community where we are working with Sheffield City Council, the NHS Foundation Trust, Watercliffe Meadow Primary School & South Yorkshire Futures, and has grown further through working together at the Early Years Community Research Centre and Meadows Nursery.
Working with parents to co-design learning and support
Since opening last April we have been able to work together towards both our shared vision and individual goals, working together to be nimbler, allow for community innovation, and test concepts that can be used to make changes for children beyond those directly benefitting from the high-quality provision in the nursery. This has included The Meadows supporting Save the Children’s ambitions for co-design opportunities, to understand more deeply what parents want and need to be able to support their young children’s learning at home.
This has led to testing a new ‘Breakfast Club’ concept, which is led by parents and where they choose what they want to find out more about to enable them to be the best parents they can. So far, in addition to learning more about healthy low-cost food options, parents have also found out more about volunteering opportunities, parenting programmes, benefits advice, access to employment, and low-cost/no-cost activities for playing and learning at home.
Extending funding for 2-year-olds
Together Sheffield Hallam and Save the Children have also been able to test, through additional funding, what benefits there are for children, parents, and practitioners, by enabling children to access places in the nursery from their second birthday, rather than having to wait until government funding for places kicks in at the start of the term following their second birthday.
This is already showing promising results, with emerging research into the impact showing positive change for families and for the children directly. Parents can get additional support through a wider partnership with services in the area, which has been of huge importance with increasing complexity through Covid.
Children are settled and learning with each other and with the nursery, and staff where children are going on to are recognising that they are coming in more ready to learn than might have been expected. All of this is incredibly important for the children and families directly, but there is also so much that we are learning that will have an even great effect when research is published and can be applied to both wider practice and policy change.
All of this has been in the first 15 months of the nursery opening. The potential beyond here to make changes for children’s early years outcomes is hugely exciting.
