An Early Years Evidence Store and an updated Early Years Toolkit have been unveiled.
The “evidence store” has been designed to support the Department for Education’s Stronger Practice Hubs Covid recovery programme, but it can be used by everyone working in the early years.
It comprises a summary of evidence-informed approaches to help educators understand and reflect on their practice. The approaches are illustrated with practices that typically make-up the approach and a range of examples of what these might look like in practice.
It currently includes approaches across two key themes – personal, social, and emotional development and communication and language. The store will carry a particular focus on Covid recovery to begin with given its mission to support the Stronger Practice Hubs Covid recovery programme, but more themes are due to be added in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the EEF’s well-known Early Years Toolkit – which offers research summaries of different approaches to closing the disadvantage gap in the early years – has been updated.
The toolkit offers analyses across 10 types of intervention ranging from social and emotional learning and self-regulation to parental engagement and communication and language.
The toolkit gives you information on average impacts and costs of different strategies, alongside guidance on what to consider when putting a particular approach into practice in your setting.