Scotland has a longstanding commitment to giving children the best possible start in life, reflected in Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law. Despite strong evidence that the first 1001 days of a child’s life are critical to long-term development, support for families during pregnancy and early childhood can be fragmented, complex and inconsistent.

Within this context, the Scottish Government commissioned CELCIS to map support available in Scotland during pregnancy and a baby's first few months. Alongside this, Nesta commissioned and carried out research to explore what was needed to strengthen early childhood support in Scotland from birth to age three and understand the role of early learning and childcare in supporting integrated family support.

In this session we explored the key findings and recommendations from this research. Bringing together practitioners, managers, local authority children’s planning partnerships, children's services workforce, and strategic leaders from across Scotland, to consider the national and local changes needed to ensure families receive consistent, timely, joined-up support from pregnancy through the early years.

Speakers explored:

• The strengths, gaps and opportunities in Scotland’s current pre-birth and early childhood support landscape, identified through this research.
• What a national policy commitment to pre-birth and early childhood could look like, including opportunities to build on GIRFEC.
• What a consistent core offer of early help might include, and what would be needed to ensure this is delivered equitably across Scotland.
• How clearer, coordinated pathways and assessment processes could better support families who currently fall between services.
• The potential of multi-agency and co-located approaches, including family hubs and early years centres.
• Workforce development priorities and the support needed to strengthen early help.
• The role of data, infrastructure and guidance in improving collaboration and service planning.
• Practical actions that local and national partners could take to progress these recommendations.

Nesta's Getting it right for every baby report is available here: https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/getting-it-right-for-every-baby/

Isos Partnership's Building bridges: integrating early education with family support in England and Scotland report is available here: https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/building-bridges/

 

Download the webinar transcript

Download the slides from CELCIS

Download the slides from Ben Bryant, Director at ISOS Partnership

Download the slides from Linda MacDonald, Mission Manager (A Fairer Start), Nesta

Download the slides from Sharon Grant, South Lanarkshire Council

Download the slides from Gillian Carroll, South Ayrshire Council

Download the slides from Sheena Fraser, East Dunbartonshire Council