The evaluation of Thrive at Five’s sites in Stoke and Redcar

This project will investigate and explore a holistic place-based model developed by Thrive at Five to strengthen early years systems, practices, and pathways of support.

Why this project is important

Children’s early development is shaped by a range of interacting environments including their families and home, the services they use and their communities. However, many programmes only focus on supporting families in one area of their lives.

Thrive at Five have developed a holistic, place-based model which aims to support families with young children and strengthen early years systems. It uses evidence-based programmes and draws on learning from other joined up initiatives such as Sure Start. Thrive at Five is implementing this model within Stoke-on-Trent and Redcar and Cleveland, two areas of high deprivation, targeting around 2,500 children aged 0-5 and their families.

The research team will undertake a mixed-methods implementation and impact evaluation of Thrive at Five’s work. The aim is to test the difference it makes to children’s outcomes and help develop a scalable, replicable model. Two primary research questions will be addressed:

• Is Thrive at Five being implemented as intended?
• Is there evidence of impact of Thrive at Five in the short, intermediate, and longer-term?

What the research will involve

The evaluation will involve:

• An Implementation and Process Evaluation.
• An Impact Evaluation, measuring change over time in children’s outcomes in Thrive at Five localities compared with other wards within each local authority.

How the research will make a difference

The goal is to refine the model for replication, influence policy and practice nationally, and make a significant impact on improving early childhood outcomes in disadvantaged communities. The findings will be shared with key stakeholders and disseminated through local learning plans, presentations, workshops, and reports to support expansion of the model to additional communities and advocate for improved support for early childhood at local and national levels.