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Don’t return to Sure Start, use it as a reminder of designing family support around outcomes

3 mins read Guest Blog
The early years are an essential window to act in a child’s life.The experiences a child has before school provide the building blocks for their development and their later life outcomes. Parents and primary carers play a unique role during these years and their impact cannot be overstated.
Family programmes should be designed around measurable outcomes, Wilson says. Picture: Adobe Stock
Family programmes should be designed around measurable outcomes, Wilson says. Picture: Adobe Stock

Getting the early years right can have a huge impact. We know that in Britain, some children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds start school 4.5 months behind all others and leave school 18.1 months behind their more advantaged peers.

To support families, the government has commissioned a number of family and parenting programmes over the years with mixed success.

At the Social Mobility Commission, we have reviewed the late 1990s/early 2000s flagship government programme, Sure Start, and 47 other programmes across 23 countries. We have recently published this research in our Family and Parenting Programmes Rapid Evidence Review as well as covering it in two related podcast episodes. First, on the rise and fall of Sure Start – available now – and second, on the design of Family Hubs aired November 30.

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