Sure Start Local Programmes study finds benefits for families

A study by the National Evaluation of Sure Start team at Birkbeck, University of London, compares the experiences of children growing up in the original Sure Start areas with those from areas without Sure Start services.

Mothers in SSLP areas also reported benefits, including a more stimulating home learning environment and greater life satisfaction.

However, the report found no difference in the Foundation Stage Profile scores between children in SSLP areas and other areas.

The report, The impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on five-year-olds and their families, followed 5,000 five-year-olds and their families in 150 programme areas, who initially took part in the research when they were nine months old and three years old, and compared them with children and families from the Millennium Cohort Study.

'No SSLP effects emerged in the case of "school readiness", defined in terms of children's early language, numeracy and social skills needed to succeed in schools, as measured by the Foundation Stage Profile,' the report said.

It suggested that this could be due to high levels of take-up of the free entitlement for three and four-year-olds, which has resulted in many of the MCS study children accessing early years education.

Programmes were strategically situated in areas of high deprivation with services such as childcare and family support universal and open to all families with children under five, thereby aiming to limit any stigma from targeting individuals.

The report said the findings 'provide some support for the view that government efforts to support children via the original area-based approach to Sure Start paid off, at least to some degree, even if some negative effects have arisen as well.'