50 Things To Do started with the objective of helping to solve the problem of children reaching their first school experience with low literacy levels, language skills, or just a lack of life experiences. This immediately puts them at a disadvantage against the rest of the class, and research shows that most children never recover from this early disadvantage, affecting not just their attainment, but also their confidence and aspirations.
There is a huge amount of research from the DfE, the Education Foundation and Public Health England expressing that early intervention to support the development of language, literacy and communication skills in the under-fives has a profound impact on achievement in primary and secondary age phases. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged learners. 50 Things is based on the simple notion that access to life-changing, fun, low-cost or no-cost experiences with your family is a great way to support and develop young children’s oracy skills and confidence, so that they enter primary school much more ready to learn.
The 50 Things project is about getting parents involved in a range of activities with their children, along with appropriate guidance that will make an impact. These have been carefully developed by education experts, early years practitioners, and we’ve made sure that we consider children with special education needs and that they reflect our culturally diverse community. Perhaps, more importantly, we understand that this kind of thing needs to be presented and packaged exceptionally well to gain attention in this digital age.
Our project has attracted national attention and was launched in the Houses of Parliament in early June. 50 Things is also currently being considered by the EEF for research evaluation. We are actively looking for forward thinking local authorities to join this initiative. Over time we want our work to be available to every child and family in the country, and we want you to be part of it.
50 Things Before 5 is only our starting point. Following an evidence-based approach, we expect to evolve this process, including covering other age groups, further enhancing both the process and the technology.
We want you to come on this journey with us, and we’ve done all the hard work, so you don’t have to!