Growing Minds is a collaborative project, bringing together established local service providers from education, health and family support to deliver tried-and-tested interventions to improve school readiness and support young children’s life chances. Oxfordshire Community Foundation developed the project, launching the pilot in two south Oxfordshire communities in January 2020.
In April 2022, the leadership of Growing Minds was taken on by a partnership of third sector organisations who were involved from the start: Peeple, HomeStart Oxford and the Berin Centre. Growing Minds was made possible by Our Common Good and is supported by a consortium of donors.
> Find out more about the pilot, and about how it could be rolled out in other areas
CBeebies’ The Toddler Club is on TV every weekday morning at 10.20 during April, and you can also catch up on the BBC iPlayer. 
We welcome the government’s commitment to 
As we all know, mealtimes with young children - at home or in a setting - can be stressful but also have many social and learning opportunities.
Our 
Liz Ersoy on how the Peep Learning Together Programme Training has adapted in response to Covid, and Peep-trained practitioners have worked creatively to value and build on the brilliant ways that parents and carers support their babies and children's development. 
We're pleased to be working with 
We were very sad to hear about the death of our former Chair of Trustees, friend and educational visionary, Martin Roberts. Martin joined the Peep Advisory Board in 2005, becoming a trustee the following year. He was chair of trustees from 2009 to 2013, before retiring from the board in 2016.
'In Martin’s role as Head of Cherwell School he developed a sound belief in the importance of supporting learning from the earliest age. He loved the Peep Learning Together Programme and the resources, which he enjoyed doing with his own grandchildren. A very positive thinker and wise counsel, he was completely discrete, trustworthy and loyal as a valued fellow trustee, helping to guide the board in a thoroughly consultative way.' Dr Alison Street, Trustee, Peeple
Children’s early STEM development grows from their natural curiosity and engagement in real-world experiences and play. We are thrilled to have received the support of the charity of Sir Richard Whittington as part of the Mercer’s Company Early Years Special Initiative, to work on this, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) and Sheringham Nursery (who lead the East London Research School).
We are delighted to welcome Professor Mary Wild to our board of Trustees. Mary is Head of the School of Education at Oxford Brookes University. She has a depth of experience in the Early Years as both educator and researcher. It is a privilege to have her on our board and we look forward to working with her over the next three years.
There is no doubt that we are all experiencing challenging times, and local authorities, early learning and childcare settings across Scotland have worked incredibly hard to ensure a safe return for their staff, children and families.
Families Count – and every family should be able to count on help - now more than ever. We've launched a #FamiliesCount campaign - both to raise awareness that it really is the little things that families do with their babies and children that make a big difference to their learning, and to raise funds to help us reach more families during the Covid-19 crisis, and still be there for them when it's over.
This week our CEO, Sally Smith and Project Manager, Helen Stroudley are interviewed on 
It's full of lots simple, everyday activities that have great benefits for babies and young children – just like Peep!
During this period of the Coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, we at Peeple are doing the following:
Children's Minister Maree Todd was given a warm welcome by Peep families, practitioners and CEO Sally Smith at the official launch of 
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) funded a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of a bespoke 20-week version of the Peep Learning Together Programme for three-year-olds in Nursery settings. It is known as the Learning Together Study, and the results are published today, 25 February 2020. The large-scale, independent evaluation was carried out by Queen's University Belfast and involved 1,447 families from 139 settings across England.
We're also proud of our CEO Sally Smith's contribution as Consultant Editor on The Baby Club's new book for parents: 'Play and learn with your baby - simple activities with amazing benefits'. It's full of bite-sized activities for exploring everyday objects, songs, stories and conversations with babies. There are lots of ideas from the Peep Learning Together Programme, including short explanations of why the activities are so helpful for babies' development. The book is released on 6 February 2020, published by Dorling Kindersley. 
Nuzhat Abbas is a Peep Practitioner who works for Peeple in Oxford. She is also an internationally recognised poet and musician.
The inspector was very positive about the warm relationships and learning through play within the nursery, during our first Ofsted inspection.
We are joining 140+ organisations in a call to all political parties to put children and young people at the heart of this General Election. We need to re-balance spending so that more can be done to support families early, before crisis point is reached. 
Benalla, a city in Victoria, has been using Peep and a strong collaborative, multi-agency approach over the past few years to make a significant difference to young children's outcomes, espcially their communication skills and their physical health. 
On Saturday 8 June 2019, our CEO Sally Smith and her 3 children will be swimming across Lake Windermere to help raise money for our 
Our Little Peeple Nursery in Littlemore, Oxford was officially opened by our local MP Anneliese Dodds, on Saturday 11 May. In her words: "I am delighted to have been invited to the official opening of Little Peeple Nursery. I'm pleased to see that Peeple works collaboratively with other agencies, including childminders and the local children and family centres, to provide much-needed support for young families in Littlemore and the Leys."
Little Peeple is a 44-place day nursery and pre-school providing early education and care for babies and young children from 6 months to four years. It's a new, purpose-built setting on the site of The Oxford Academy, built as a joint project between the school, the County Council and Peeple. It is run by Peeple, a charity which has been providing support for families with young children in The Leys, Rose Hill and Littlemore since 1995.
Dr Sally Smith, Peeple CEO: “We want Little Peeple to offer children a home from home. We are open to all families from the community and to staff at the Oxford Academy. We are particularly pleased to provide opportunities for the students to gain work experience with us – they are the parents of the future!”
The Baby Club
Peep practitioners and families in Midlothian welcomed Maree Todd, the Minister for Children and Young People, and two of her colleagues to their Peep group this week. The session focus was on ‘helping children to feel good about themselves’. Parents' achievements were also celebrated - one of the parents was moving on to paid work as a Peep leader with Midlothian Council. Thanks to all the staff and families at Newtongrange Nursery who were involved, and to the visitors for taking time to come along and join in with the singing and discussions.
If you or families you work with are Urdu-speakers, then do download or share our new 
On Wednesday 21st March, The Duchess of Cambridge will convene a symposium on the importance of early intervention to provide solid social and emotional platforms for children in their early years, helping them to become healthier and more resilient later in life. It's great that this important issue is receiving high-profile recognition.