The Foundation Years Trust’s objective is that all children start school on an equal footing, no matter what their family's income or social background.
The first five years are the most crucial period in a child’s life and because parents and carers are their child’s first and most enduring educator, we put parents at the heart of our programme.
We believe that every parent can benefit from support to better understand and actively encourage their child’s early development and that every parent wants the best for their children.
The Foundation Years Trust works with early years settings across the Wirral, and with parents directly, to help parents provide a positive learning environment at home.
Our ultimate goal is to narrow the attainment gap between children who grow up in areas of poverty and their richer peers.
We train and support Early Years professionals in nurseries and schools to run Little Explorer groups for children and parents together, strengthening the link between settings and parents.
We also run Early and Mini Explorer groups with parents and their babies/toddlers up to age 2 before they start nursery, to help parents realise how important they are to their child's development and wellbeing at an early stage and are also running some Early Readers groups in nurseries too.
We have recently trained volunteer parents to run Story Explorer shared reading sessions with parents and their children at home.
Since October 2019 we have coordinated a national place-based campaign in Wirral, funded by the DfE, called #Hungrylittleminds, alongside our local campaign #Parentsmakethedifference. This has allowed us to develop local partnerships with other charities, Wirral Council and Tranmere Rovers Football Club, as well as working with Arriva buses to decorate the ceilings of two very special buses with things to do with your little ones, during everyday journeys, with covings in all 90 Wirral buses. Last year we launched a Story Trail in Birkenhead Park, a big hit with families and the Park, who have asked us to run another event this year.
