Information use project goal
The aim of the project in Rochdale is to assist early years services in the development of a comprehensive and informative measurement framework that supports a timely identification of the needs of families and children, and enables the team to provide well-rounded support in order to improve their outcomes. In doing so, the project will review current uses of information to support delivery and assess progress in the early years strategy. The project will also enhance alignment with key local and national policy initiatives that aim to improve access to support services to children from birth to adulthood, such as Family Hubs, Family Help (Independent Review of Children’s Social Care) and the Supporting Families programmes with Department for Education (DfE), Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The project will map and draw on available infrastructure for data and information (linked to the DLUHC Data Accelerator programme) and make sure this is used to support delivery in the interests of children and families. Central to these initiatives is working closely with the families and incorporating their voice so that we identify the needs of children and families and provide appropriate support in a timely and more holistic manner. This is particularly important today; more children are entering school without having reached necessary developmental levels required to start school, as they had little or no access to social interaction or support services crucial for their development due to repeated lockdown measures during the pandemic. There is an increased sense of urgency nationally to catch up on educational and developmental outcomes. The pandemic has affected children and families in various ways, which require a policy response that is more holistic and comprehensive.
At the strategic level, Rochdale early years team is partnering with the Local Government Association (LGA) to develop an integrated approach to provide support to children based on a whole-family, multi-agency approach, working closely across different parts of early years services. At a strategy level this involves ensuring that early years remains at the heart of the whole family strategy and policy and at the practice level, this involves developing good data practices working with Dingley's promise that help to follow children’s development closely from an early stage and provides sufficient information about children and families' household circumstances. An initial step towards this direction is a collaboration between the Rochdale early years services and NESTA, which aims to suggest useful analyses that fully utilise existing data. The Information Use Project builds on the learnings and take it to the next step; it aims to develop an early years measurement, outcome and information framework so that early years services can provide well-rounded support that helps to improve children’s development more effectively.
This project also builds on existing data management initiatives, such as the Data Accelerator Programme, in which Rochdale takes part as a Greater Manchester Combined Authority in this Supporting Families national data-sharing programme. This project aims to enable an integrated approach to providing support to families across multiple service areas, and includes use of the Greater Manchester Early Years App. The app enables a digitised collection of Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and WellComm data on children’s early development that was previously paper-based.
Next steps
The next steps for the project in Rochdale over the next year are mapping early years services and work alongside the data-mapping exercise to be conducted by NESTA to review current uses of information in order to assess gaps in current data practice. The project team will also engage with local policy makers, practitioners and children and families, and discuss different uses of information and priorities. Doing so, we will consider ways in which ‘voice’ information adds to and can better augment the available statistical information.
Future plans
Learning from Oldham and Rochdale projects will inform ongoing development of the Greater Manchester whole system approach to identifying needs and supporting children and families. This project will specifically inform the development of a Greater Manchester holistic framework for measuring school readiness that supports integrated working and shared accountability.
The team
The research team work flexibly across sites however Prof. Leon Feinstein, Dr Ellie Suh, Dr Katharina Ereky-Stevens and Dr Priya Tah are key members of the team working with Rochdale. In the site, key members include and Amanda Highland-Partington, Julia Henry and several others from the Rochdale early years services. Engaged in the project from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority are Miriam Loxham and David Ottiwell.
