A project to develop and evaluate the delivery of the Your Baby and You (YBY) programme, with the aim of improving parents of 0–1-year-olds knowledge, skills, resources, and confidence in supporting their children’s early development.
NCB has received funding from The Nuffield Foundation to develop and evaluate the delivery of the Your Baby and You (YBY) programme.
How it will make a difference
There is already evidence that home learning environments are extremely significant in long-term educational outcomes, but there is a sizeable gap in both research and programmes.
Supporting parents to be able to help their children to develop and learn through sharing stories, chatting during everyday activities and playing is key to creating a successful home learning environment.
Fewer parents are engaging in home learning activities, with just over half playing with their child on one or more days each week.
YBY is an evidence-based intervention developed in the Lambeth Better Start site for families with babies of under one year. Early piloting of YBY showed it was popular with parents and well received.
What it will involve
The research team aim to:
- Train eight local practitioners across four local authorities (beginning with Southwark and Camden in 2026/2027) to deliver the programme using a train-the-trainer model.
- Deliver the YBY programme to 180 families over two years, focusing on improving parental knowledge, confidence, and motivation to create a positive home learning environment.
- Evaluate the programme using qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, and adapted tools to measure outcomes.
- Inform policy developments on how to support the early home learning environment and demonstrate the need for scalable interventions to support parents in creating enriching environments.
How it will make a difference
Findings will be directly shared with key stakeholders, including early years professionals, policymakers, parents, and practitioners.
The research team are looking to inform policy developments on how to support the early home learning environment and demonstrate the need for scalable interventions to support parents in creating enriching environments, ultimately reducing inequalities and fostering better developmental outcomes for children.
For more information about the project, please contact [email protected]
