School Readiness

Five key priorities for action were identified and formed the pillars of a long-term plan:

1. Building better connections between services

2. Facilitating access to support

3. Fostering better relationships between service and families

4. Building  system leadership capability

5. Fostering social cohesion and community resilience

Impact at School

• School Ofsted jumped from Inadequate in 2018 to Good in 2023. School leaders acknowledged the Getting School Ready initiative as a contributing factor
• Key Stage 2 outcomes in reading in 2022 are the highest they’ve ever been, matching the national average for the first time
• Secured funding from the Active Partners Trust, to construct a sensory playground in Oak Tree Primary School that will be used by children during the school day and accessible to the community out of school hours
• There has been a marked increase in parents attending assemblies and parents' evenings
• Improving parent participation in school Governance.

Impact in the broader community 

• Parents and carers established the Warm Welcome Group (WWG), a parent-led, peer support network that provides a safe space for residents to meet and opportunities to talk about early years parenting
• WWG have developed a parent-led ‘stay and play’ session for babies and children due to launch in the local Children’s Centre
• WWG delivering hugely popular community event – a Christmas Fair, Easter Bonnet parade and summer fair
• The initiative supported the recruitment of two community-based, volunteer Health and Wellbeing Champions to deliver support in the community
• Connections developed through the project have led to the re-emergence of adult education opportunities in the Oak Tree community.

Impact with professionals 

This approach has led a better understanding of community needs and better relationships between services and families resulting in:

• There is a cross-sector network of professionals and parents/carers that act as a steering group for the project and guardians of the work
• A clear and accessible ‘theory of school readiness’ which is to be adopted by partners from the local Early Years workforce and community
• Place Matters, an internationally recognised place-based change accelerator, has built systems change capacity among partners and community members
• A newly established project team made up of parents, educational psychologists and school staff who aim to co-create a better system of inclusion
• Successfully bid for £250k of Levelling Up funding to recruit a backbone team to begin scaling the approach across the Mansfield district.