Project details: Evaluation of the effectiveness of play provision in Sure Start Central
Research Team
1. Prof Jill Bourne
2. Dr Felix Maringe
3. Keith Smith
Funding Body
Duration
January 2005 - October 2005
Grant
£12,975
Description
The overall aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of play provision in the Round 4 programme in Sure Start Central, in order to provide information for service development. Within this broad framework, the University of Southampton team, based in the School of Education, was commissioned to undertake a small scale evaluation of the ‘Let’s Play Together’ (LPT) provision within Sure Start Central (SSC). In order to operationalise the project, the team in consultation with management at SSC addressed the following three key objectives:
- To gather data from a variety of sources including management of the provision, parents of children utilising the play provision, play workers, and the wider Sure Start team and Partner Agencies working within the SSC –in order to provide an evidence base for considering the effectiveness of the LPT provision
- To undertake direct observation of LPT sessions, including videotaping sequences of sessions, in order to collect qualitative data on the observable environment, processes and practices, and to identify benefits to participating children and to parents
- To document the evidence in a report to SSC on the achievements and potential of the LPT provision.
