news

Find out about Susannah's presentation on singing across the generations at the University of Portsmouth's Organisational Storytelling seminar - including the benefits of singing for people with dementia, and how Peep groups with older people can be a win-win for everyone.

We've recently started work, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and NCB, on this project to help narrow the attainment gap by supporting the home learning environment (HLE). Peeple will be working with the Foundation Years Trust in Oxfordshire and the Wirral, to train and support both Home Start volunteers and staff in settings working with eligible two year olds, to use the Learning Together Programme with families. We will also work in partnership with health visitors in child health clinics.

Link to press release : click to download

A very warm welcome to our new Chair of Trustees, Mark Harris, appointed in March 2017 - and huge thanks to Teresa Smith for all her work and support in that post - and who'll happily continue as a Peeple trustee. Read more about our trustees...

The Learning Together Study is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and it is led by Peeple. It will train practitioners from nursery settings in schools and academies in England to deliver the Peep Learning Together Programme to groups of children and their parents, and will evaluate its effects. The evaluation will be carried out by Queen’s University Belfast. The aim is to find out how successful the Learning Together Programme is in improving the learning environment at home, and whether this improves children’s vocabulary, early literacy skills and social skills.

All places on the Study are now filled, but to find out more about how it is progressing please check the Learning Together Study page

The Learning Together Study features in the Schools Weekly newsletter to Cooperative Schools.

In January 2017, Mark McDonald, Minister for Early Learning and Childcare, and MSP for Aberdeen Donside, and Councillor Angela Taylor met with the Aberdeen Peep team and Peep parents, carers and children. Both visitors enjoyed joining in with a Peep Babies group, and learning about the Peep Learning Together Programme. In Aberdeen, the Peep Programme is part of Children and Families Social Work. Examples of local practice include: Peep delivery with parents/carers of care-experienced children; Peep with parents/carers experiencing low mood; and Learning Together Programme training for all Contact Centre staff.

The first Review of Family Learning in Scotland assessed research evidence, case studies and consulted with partners, to see what works well in Scotland, and internationally. The Peep Learning Together Programme and Peep Progression Pathway are included as a case study in the section 'What Excellent Family Learning Looks Like'. 

The Review's Executive Summary defines the significance of Family Learning as 'supporting, equipping and building capacity amongst Scotland’s parents - to capitalise on children’s opportunities for learning is key in raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap. A family learning approach can also be a catalyst in helping adults take up adult learning and training opportunities, gain employment or attain new skills. This in turn positively impacts on children’s individual attainment, their aspirations and personal learning journey.'  This focus on both the child's learning opportunities and those of the parent - in their own right, as an adult learner - is one which Peeple advocates and demonstrates in Peep delivery.

In February 2017, Sally Smith our CEO, and Peep trainers Marie and Lisa went to Melbourne, Australia to work with the Brotherhood of St Lawrence, an Australian not-for-profit organisation. The Brotherhood are about to pilot a new project called Growing Learners which brings together a number of evidence-based programmes to support some of the most disadvantaged families in the state of Victoria. They conducted an international search for an early intervention programme focusing on the home learning environment which incorporates adult qualifications and employability routes. They reported that only the Peep Learning Together Programme fitted the bill!

Marie takes being 'Down Under' a touch too literally!

Please let us know, by contacting info@peeple.org.uk, if we can provide any supporting information for your funding application

1.Scotrail Community Grants

Deadline: 25th Sept 2017 or 26th March 2018

Focus:     Targeting improvements in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing in primary schools

Amount:  £500 – £2000

Who: Constituted groups with annual income of less than £100,000 per annum. Please see weblink for other criteria

2. National Lottery Awards for All Scotland

Deadline: Ongoing

Focus: 

• bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

Amount:  £300 - £10,000

Who: 

• voluntary or community organisation
  • registered charity
  • constituted group or club
  • not-for-profit company or Community Interest Company
  • social enterprise
• school
• statutory body (including town, parish and community council).

The Family and Childcare Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published their report: Creating an anti-poverty childcare system. The report contrasts the research evidence and policies - which say that high quality childcare improves outcomes for children - with the reality of our current system which is failing to deliver for the poorest families. The report highlights that:

• only half of eligible two-year olds receive their entitlement to free childcare in a graduate-led setting (an important indicator of quality)
• families in the poorest areas are the least likely to have access to flexible childcare, which restricts opportunities for parents to work or access training
• the system of support for the cost of childcare is complicated for parents and fails to incentivise those on low incomes to work.

The report recommends:

• investment in a more qualified early years workforce, paid in line with staff in schools who currently earn up to 68 per cent more
• investment in local services to deliver an entitlement to flexible daycare
• more of the state subsidies directed at service providers, as the most effective way to deliver access to high quality childcare.

Dr. Sally Smith, Chief Executive of Peeple, welcomes the report. She says:

“There is no question that better quality and more accessible and affordable childcare will directly improve child outcomes and provide the means to allow families to work their way out of poverty. Quality settings also engage effectively with parents to support them with ideas and information about how they can encourage their children’s learning and development as part of everyday life at home – because the home learning environment makes a big difference to how well children do.”

“However quality doesn’t come cheap – early years professionals need excellent training, not just in working with children but also with parents – and they need to be paid fairly. This is simply impossible with the current level of funding for childcare. If the recommendations in this excellent report are to be met, then the Government needs to move beyond its rhetoric about the importance of early years and make a serious investment in our sector.” 

We are working in partnership with The Oxford Academy in our plans to build a day nursery within the Academy's grounds, near where the Peeple Centre is already located. There is an urgent demand for nursery places for 2 year olds in our area (Blackbird Leys, Northfield Brook, Littlemore and Rose Hill in south Oxford), with a 58% shortfall. You can read more in an Oxford Mail article.

The nursery will provide places for 44 children, from babies to three year olds, from local families and school staff. It will welcome local families into the heart of the local secondary school grounds, with plenty of outdoor space for the children to play. According to the Academy's head teacher, Niall McWilliams, "We have got a real belief in the community here and we want to make sure that high-quality education is provided from pre-school all the way up to 16." It will also complement and extend our Peep work with local families in this area over the past twenty years, including our Peep Pre-school that opened in Greater Leys in January 2015.