Here at Vantage, we are fully aware that children learn and develop from birth to 5 years more than at any other time in their life. Therefore, investment in providing the best possible start for our littlest children is so important to support them in their education and success in the future.
We know that Early Years is a journey and recognise the significant role that parents and carers play in helping our children thrive and the substantial impact that they can have on their learning.
Following research and discussions with Emma Dilworth, Associate Principal; Nick Settle, our Trust Bid Writer was successful in our grant application for over £42,000 of Shine Trust funding. The aims of Shine perfectly match our Vantage values, to support and improve our Early Year pupil’s prime areas of learning and empower our families to be involved in this process.
The funding has allowed schools to develop content, purchase additional Early Years resources, deliver, and manage a comprehensive and engaging program; encompassing all nine Vantage primary schools. Over the course of our first academic year, we have supported for over 130 families, through 58 early years workshops, attended by 180 pupils and 130 parents. This program will continue to support additional families into 2023/24 and beyond.
Our families have given outstanding feedback so far on the impact of Shine. Supplying knowledge, resources and support for parents/carers has boosted confidence in their abilities to assist their child’s learning at home. Leading to increased confidence in a child’s readiness to learn, parental and wider school engagement.
Emma Dilworth commented, ‘In autumn term, Vantage early years teams were excited to begin delivering the Shine sessions and are now reflecting on the impact they have had in supporting the engagement of families.
Parents have reported real enjoyment of the sessions and found it useful to gain ideas to help their child/children at home. The children have loved having their grown-ups visit their classrooms so they can share all their learning.
At Vantage, we aim to encourage all our parents to talk, play and read with their children. We are so grateful to the Shine Trust for supporting us to provide meaningful opportunities for our Early Years staff to share the EYFS framework with families and provide ideas and resources to support and continue their learning journey at home.
We understand that parents can face barriers, such as time and understanding what more they can do to help their child. Therefore, our parent hub sessions are a fantastic opportunity where we can all learn together and build strong connections with our families and communities.
For more information, please access our project page through our website LINK. You can also find links to resources and videos.