Getting children ready for school
The Getting… Ready programme spans everything from getting ready for early years education right up to transitioning from full time education to the world of work. The first two components are Getting School Ready, which focuses on the social, emotional and physical development and speech and language skills that early years children need for when they go to primary school, and Getting Secondary Ready, which focuses on the transition from primary to secondary school – a key point in ensuring pupils stay on track and setting the foundations for better educational attainment.
The programme uses a place-based approach rooted in systems thinking that enables parents and communities to become the key agents supporting their young people in ‘getting ready’ for the next stage of their educational journey. Parents, schools, early years providers, employers, community leaders, local change makers, third sector bodies, and council officials are all involved in the process to co-produce solutions that build better connections between services; facilitate access to support; and foster trusting relationships between services and families.
Best-ever results
Oaktree Primary School has credited NTU's Getting School Ready programme as a contributing factor to recent successes, including improved outcomes in reading, phonics pass rates and a recent Ofsted inspection rating.
“Through links with NTU, Oaktree Primary School has been able to address one of its main priorities: improving parental engagement. Dialogue between home and school has opened up again, parents are engaging with the school and say they feel listened to,” says Kate Watson, Chief Executive Offcer, ASPIRE Multi-Academy Trust.
“The school can now feel as though it can act confidently in the best interests of its community. Key Stage 2 outcomes in reading in 2022 are the highest they’ve ever been, matching the national average for the first time. The Year 1 phonics pass rate is also the highest it has been, surpassing initial projections."
“Educating parents and equipping them with the tools to support their child must not be underestimated. It is an enormous undertaking, which truly reflects Nottingham Trent University as an institution that is imaginative and inspirational in its attempt to aid the wider community socially and culturally.”
The Getting School Ready programme has been awarded £250,000 in funding to scale up the project as part of a wider £20 million investment in Mansfield through the Levelling Up partnership.