Early Years

Web resource including video on parent champions for childcare.

Resource that covers 47 topics related to the development of the child, from conception to the age of five, and presents the most up-to-date scientific knowledge.

Report that explores the feasibility of and rationale for the design of an outcome evaluation framework aimed at assessing the impact of the play@home scheme on the scheme’s four main objectives: physical activity, movement skills, cognitive/language development, and parent-child bonding. The project was conducted in two interlocking phases.

Review based on a wide-ranging examination of international research and other literature, which considers the concept of family wellbeing and various tools that can be used to measure and understand it. Interest in wellbeing issues in the UK has tended to focus on the welfare of children rather than families.

Paper that reviews the major perspectives in research on early childhood transitions. Assessing concepts in developmental theory that preceded transitions research, as well as more recent approaches including systems theories and the role of children as active participants in transitions, the paper reveals the predominant areas of focus in both academic and professional studies.

Review to gather together, describe and comment on international evidence on the educational experiences offered to young children. It was commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department at a time when the existing curriculum guidance (A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5, SCCC, 1999) was under review and a national process of educational reform for children aged 3-18 was under way.

Report that presents findings from the evaluation of the You First pilot programme, undertaken by Ipsos MORI Scotland, in collaboration with Professor Sarah Cunningham-Burley. The study was commissioned by Communities Analytical Services on behalf of the Children and Families Directorate and the Directorate for Employment, Skills and Lifelong Learning.

Report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child that summarises in clear language the most recent scientific advances in understanding the importance of sensitive periods on brain development, and the implications of those findings for policy.

Report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child that summarises the most current and reliable scientific research on the impact of relationships on all aspects of a child's development, and identifies ways to strengthen policies that affect those relationships in the early childhood years.