Learning at home, learning at school, An action research project

Educational home visits

The third scheme is a home-visiting model, which is mapped to the early years' curriculum. The scheme is based on the Sefton FAST Service, which offers home visits from birth to provide developmentally appropriate literacy and numeracy. The model includes tailored work for schools and children's centres, and progression to Start Right pre-school family learning groups. FAST was originally developed in Sefton with City Challenge funding.

The main success criteria are;

The scheme was selected as an example of early engagement with parents, to support their children's learning at pre-school stage. The scheme uses a 'wealth' model, to build upon parents' own skills and knowledge, and has proven effective with hard to reach families. The research will explore the school angle, for sustaining this early engagement.

The action research stage of the project will entail transferring a scaled-down version of the FAST model from Sefton to Rochdale, with support from the local authorities involved.