Since I founded EasyPeasy, teachers have asked me if we are having an impact on children’s ‘Good Level of Development’ (GLD) at the end of reception. This is an important measure for teachers and parents and I knew that when I gave an answer to this question, I wanted it to be based on strong evidence. I’m therefore delighted that we have our first piece of evidence of EasyPeasy’s impact on GLD!
This year, reception classes that have been learning through play with EasyPeasy have substantially increased the percentage of children in their classes achieving GLD compared with the two previous years, when EasyPeasy was not used.
Children achieving GLD are those achieving at least the expected level within the following areas of learning:
* Language and Communication
* Physical Development
* Personal, Social and Emotional Development
* Literacy
* Mathematics
This project is part of the education charity SHINE’s fantastic Ready for School initiative. The charity’s mission is to equip children across the Northern Powerhouse with the skills they need to fulfil their potential.
Our first-year findings from this project show that the percentage of children achieving GLD at the end of reception class increased by 2.2%, a substantial increase compared with the previous year’s 0.4% increase, and a huge achievement for our partner schools. The 2.2% increase equates to an additional 15 children achieving GLD out of the sample of 686 children in the study. To put this in context, if the number of children achieving GLD across schools increased by the same rate as the previous year then this would only equate to an additional 2 children achieving GLD. If this increase was in line with the national average, which saw a 0.8% increase between 2016-17 and 2017-18, this would equate to only an additional 5 children achieving GLD.
Moreover, our schools saw gains across all three Language and Communication Early Learning Goals: Listening and attention, Understanding and Speaking compared to the previous year. This report presents key findings after the first round of delivery. A second round of EasyPeasy will be delivered in January 2020. Read more in our research briefing.
At EasyPeasy, we believe in the power of learning through play to give every child the best possible start in life, and we know that parents are the key to unlocking it. The importance of play for early years is widely understood by academics and this month the Department for Education launched its own campaign that highlighted its role in supporting early child development. These amazing GLD results continue to prove that the playful interactions coming about through EasyPeasy are having a genuine impact on areas that are crucial to setting up children to learn and succeed at school, and in life.
Jen Lexmond, CEO & Founder EasyPeasy
