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early years and parenting research

The Learning Together Programme is based on research. This tells us that the most important things which make a difference to children’s outcomes are:

  • the quality of the Home Learning Environment (HLE)
  • the quality of relationships with their parents/ carers
  • attending a quality pre-school.

Research also tells us that becoming a parent is a ‘golden moment’ for engaging with learning as an adult.

Here are links to some of the research studies from across the early years and parenting sectors that influence the development and delivery of Peep programmes. If you are a Peep-trained practitioner you can log-in to find more research links relating to specific Peep Learning Together and Antenatal topics.

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that have influenced the development and delivery of peep programmes

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early years and parenting research

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Girl and mum

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Significant impact of the EY Home Learning Environment (HLE) from age 3 - 18: EPPSE study of 3000 children

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The Effective Provision of Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPE) study investigated the effects of children's home life (known as the Home Learning Environment or HLE) and pre-school experiences on 3,000 children in England from the age of 3 through to 18. The children were from a range of family backgrounds, with a variety of pre-school/ Early Years setting experiences, including day nurseries, nursery classes, pre-schools/playgroups and no pre-school-setting experience.

When the study reported at the end of Key Stage 1, when the children were 7, it found that attending some kind of pre-school setting, particularly of a higher quality (though it didn't matter if full or part-time), had a positive effect on children's development. The study also found that: 

'What parents and carers do makes a real difference to young children’s development. The EPPE project developed an index to measure the quality of the home learning environment (HLE). There are a range of activities that parents undertake with pre-school children which have a positive effect on their development. For example, reading with the child, teaching songs and nursery rhymes, painting and drawing, playing with letters and numbers, visiting the library, teaching the alphabet and numbers, taking children on visits and creating regular opportunities for them to play with their friends at home, were all associated with higher intellectual and social/behavioural scores. [This became known as the EY-HLE index.] These activities could also be viewed as ‘protective’ factors in reducing the incidence of SEN because children whose parents engaged regularly in home learning activities were less likely to be at risk for special educational needs. The home learning environment was only moderately associated with parents’ educational or occupational level and was more strongly associated with children’s intellectual and social development than either parental education or occupation. In other words what parents do with their children is more important than who parents are. Poor mothers with few qualifications can improve their children’s progress and give them a better start at school by engaging in activities at home that engage and stretch the child’s mind.' (Sylva et al, 2004, p. v)  'For this reason pre-school and school settings that do not include parent support and education are missing an important element in raising achievement and enhancing social and behavioural development.' (ibid p57)

A parallel study took place with 850 3 - 8 year old children in Northern Ireland (Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland: EPPNI), and showed similar results.

By the end of Year 6 in Key Stage 2 (age 11) EPPE found that:

'The Early years home learning environment (HLE) is still one of the most important predictors of later attainment in English and Mathematics in Year 6 as well as ‘Self-regulation’. Experiencing a better early years HLE shows a significant positive long term impact after controlling for other influences such as parents’ qualification levels, family socio-economic status and income.' (p4, Sammons et al, 2008) 

The study found that when students were 16 years old, two of the main influences on their GCSE attainment were: having attended pre-school and their early years Home Learning Environment (Sylva et al, 2014).  Even when the students were 18 years old, 'the early years Home Learning Environment shows a continued effect on overall A-level attainment'.  (Sammons et al, 2015) 

References

Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2004) Technical Paper 12, The final Report: effective pre-school education. London, DfES Publications and Institute of Education

Sammons P, Sylva K, Melhuish E, Siraj-Blatchford I, Taggart B, Hunt S, Jelicic H (2008) Influences on children's cognitive and social development in year 6 , DCSF-RB048-049

Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2014) Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE 3–16), Influences on student’s development at age 16.  Ref: ISBN 978-1-78105-402-4, DFE-RR354

Sammons P, Katalin T, Sylva K, Melhuish E, Siraj I & Taggart B (2015)  Pre-school and home learning effects on A-level outcomes: Effective Pre-school, Primary & Secondary Education Project (EPPSE)  University of Oxford, DfE RR472A

Sure Start - Children's Centres in England in 2018

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We are proud that one of our Trustees, Teresa Smith, co-authored this research. Sure Start, survival, decline or closure - Children's Centres in England in 2018. Undertaken by the University of Oxford, it paints a picture of what has happened with Children's Centres in England. It shows decline, both in numbers and services, but also adaptation and a struggle to survive. Recommendations include:

  • The central purpose of Children's Centres to promote positive child and family development primarily for 0-5 age group should be stressed and;
  • Children's Centres should reconnect with their original purpose. They warn against open access being lost, or minimised, in favour of referral only services, highlighting that a good mix of children is important for children's social mobility and social development.

'Children's Centres: their impact on children and families' (ECCE)

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> Children's Centres: their impact on children and families (Dec 2015) - part of the DfE-funded Evaluation of Children's Centres in England (ECCE) study.

The study concluded that children's centres benefitted families in a range of ways, and that there were three particular characteristics of children's centres that promoted better child, mother and family outcomes:

  1. Offering more named programmes for families predicted better outcomes for certain child behaviours and family outcomes, including the early home learning environment. 
  2. Centres that were maintaining or increasing services (rather than cutting or re-structuring) had better outcomes for mothers and family.
  3. Multi-agency working seemed to be beneficial for some child and family outcomes.

'The best start at home' (EIF)

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'The best start at home' review (June 2015) - Dartington Social Research Unit, University of Warwick, University of Coventry for Early Intervention Foundation

What works to improve parent-child interactions from conception to age five? A rapid review of interventions.

Includes reference to Peep Learning Together Programme group delivery. 

The impact of parental involvement and aspirations on their children's attainment

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> 'Dispelling the myth of parents' 'poverty of aspiration' for their children'  Analysis of the 'Growing up in Scotland' birth cohort study of 3,500 children, indicates that all parents, including those living in poverty, want the best for their children, but that lower income parents are less likely to know how to support their child's education. It also found that: "Teachers too cite low aspirations on the part of parents for children’s poorer educational attainment. This has an effect on how teachers and school staff engage with children and parents living in poverty."  (2017, Treanor, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships)

> 'Educational Aspirations: how English schools can work with parents to keep them on track' (Menzies, 2013, Joseph Rowntree Foundation) - One of the report's key points: "Disadvantaged parents and their social networks can lack the experience and knowledge to help their children. Engaging parents to help them understand what their children’s aspirations involve and what will help achieve them is an effective way of raising attainment. Engagement is most effective when:

  • It is collaborative, builds strong relationships and focuses on learning.
  • Schools meet parents on their own terms by tapping into their needs and interests, creating environments that feel comfortable to them and involving other members of their community." 

> 'The impact of attitudes and aspirations on educational attainment and participation' (Gorard et al, 2012, JRF) - "Parental involvement in their child's learning is the only area showing robust evidence as a cause of attainment"

things to try at home

Here are a few ideas or activities to try at home or in your Peep group. They're all about having fun together, while supporting your baby or child's learning. They're mainly things that lots of people have looked at on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/peeplecentre/ - do join us there if you haven't already!) - so we thought we'd make it a bit easier to find them on here too!

If you're a parent or carer and would like to find out about Peep groups in your area then do contact your local children's centre or council. If you're a practitioner and you attend our Learning Together Programme training, then you'll gain access to our log-in members area with lots more ideas and info to share.

 

 

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Peeple Centre-led Peep in Oxford

There are Peep-trained practitioners in many parts of Oxfordshire, working in education, health and social care, family support and the voluntary sector. South Oxford is the only part of the country where Peeple as an organisation employs our own practitioners, based at our Peeple Centre and our Little Peeple Nursery. 

Here's a snapshot of Peep group delivery over a range of sessions, from our Peeple Centre practitioners:

Playing 'What's in the bag?', exploring schemas (play patterns) and Peep parent qualification unit

It was lovely to see how excited our Little Peep group was, to get back to finding out 'What’s in the bag?'!  The red bus and the rowing boat still seem to be their favourite finds, and we sang a rousing version of ‘Wheels on the bus’. 

In this group we’ve been talking about schemas - play patterns that children like to repeat again and again.  We set up a variety of play stations – rolling balls (Rotation); tucking up dolls (Enveloping); cars (Positioning); building bricks (Connection); pegs and pine cones with little bags to put them in (Transporting) - and enjoyed watching to see what the children were drawn to. And Bartholomew Bear’s antics in John Prater’s Again! is a story we can all relate to, and fits really well when thinking about schemas… 

Other groups have been getting started on the Peep Progression Pathway in Supporting Early Learning at Home. The chance to make a keepsake book which records a child’s learning and development is a really special reminder of those precious early years.

Early mark making

We enjoyed a great session making marks: we taped black and white paper to the floor and let the children explore coloured chalks on black paper and paint dobbers on white paper. The results were wonderfully expressive, lively and colourful. We were surprised how long they spent swirling, scribbling, writing and drawing.  Some of our younger children spent a long time making dots and curves, while one or two of our three year olds made a mixture of straight lines and curves which begin to mimic first letters.

By coincidence this week we were asking parents and carers for feedback on our sessions. The power of modelling was clear to see, as the little people were very happy to be copying their important adults, who were also busy writing away on the feedback forms.

As usual our songs included actions with a mixture of gross and fine motor skills (large and small movements). These are really helpful for developing muscles in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands and fingers which are needed for mark making and later writing. We sang Ready and up and down… while we were sitting around the paper, and used the chalks and inks to mimic the words as we did the actions: up and down, side to side, around and around, backwards and forwards.

Counting, shapes, patterns, routines and everyday maths language

We’ve been counting in our Peep groups: fingers, toes, shoes – you name it, we’ve counted it!  Our 3 little ducks have been busy, and we’ve also been thinking about shapes, patterns, sequences, distance and space.  There are lots of lovely stories with numbers, but we’ve also been thinking about ‘all gone’ and singing Peepo! 

From their earliest days, babies seem fascinated by black and white high-contrast patterns. We talked about how routines of the day such as meal times, nappy changes and bedtime can introduce and extend the idea of patterns and sequence. 

All the maths activities are great for supporting language development too:

This teddy is small but that one’s enormous! 

Parents liked the Peep activity sheets which have great ideas to take home (Clapping Games and finger rhymes and Building a chimney pot/ tower together).

Treasure hunt and ORIM

It’s a great time of year for picking up apples and spotting squirrels.  We have been taking advantage of the late summer sun to be outside on a treasure hunt looking for squirrels, hedgehogs, autumn leaves and conkers.  ‘Pick up a conker and put it in the basket’ is a great song to make tidying up fun – you can substitute conkers for anything else!

Apples have been a big inspiration.  As well as encouraging us all to eat more fruit they have inspired one Stay and Play group who painted giant apple cores.

 As usual all our Peep sessions have used the ORIM framework:

  • Talking about what Opportunities the children have had over the summer break as well as what might be in store for the new term. 
  • Practitioners and parents/carers have been working hard Recognising what sort of activities would suit their children and groups while we plan for the weeks ahead, as well as offering lots of encouragement to our enthusiastic young learners. 
  • Interaction: it’s useful to think about the ways we can encourage our babies and children – songs, stories and sharing books feature in all our Peep sessions.  What better way to Model to our little ones – doing things together is a great way to show them new things, help them reach their next steps, and build on their instinct to copy what’s going on around them.

Preparing and eating food together (mixed age group) and balance and co-ordination (babies)

In our mixed age Peep group we’ve had a healthy start to the year, exploring fruit and vegetables and talking about where they come from. We also chatted about how buying, preparing, cooking and eating food together supports children’s learning and development. While whizzing up bananas and milk to make delicious milkshakes we were able to talk about cleaning our teeth and handwashing; ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’ is great for modelling the actions. 

There are lots of songs to support this topic: ‘Pick up a fruit and put it in the basket’ and ‘Bouncing up and down on my little green tractor’ can both be sung to the tune of ‘Bobby Shaftoe’. 

Our handwashing song is sung to the tune of ‘Frere Jacques’/’I hear thunder’, and parents were impressed (and sometimes surprised) at their children’s enthusiasm for washing while they sang…

Soap and water, soap and water
Wash your hands, wash your hands
Rub them both together, rub them both together
Wash them well, wash them well

In Baby Peep we’ve been thinking about balance and co-ordination.  The babies have been bouncing, stretching, clapping and grasping and we’ve had fun playing with beanbags and balls.  We have been singing ‘Row, row, row your boat’, ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ and the old favourite ‘This is the way the ladies ride’. It’s such fun (and not just for the babies!) when they get to know a song, and you can see them waiting for you to touch their toes (or trying to touch their own), or getting excited before they go down in the ditch!

A simple but fun activity to try at home that helps develop co-ordination is playing roll the ball.

Visiting the library and sharing books with babies

Our baby groups visited their local library this month.  Not only can babies and children borrow up to 20 books, there are regular events for little ones to enjoy.  It’s a great outing, there's an enormous range of books out there to be enjoyed, and it’s free! 

Books are great for encouraging lots of things:

  • babies reaching out for books helps their gross motor skills
  • turning pages supports the development of fine motor skills
  • sharing books with babies helps nurture early language
  • from the earliest moments, black and white books will capture the interest of a newborn
  • focusing on the pictures helps concentration too.  

Parents in the groups talked about when and where is a good time for book sharing: books for quiet times, books in the bath, books before bed.  Listening to stories is a great way for young children to hear all the sounds that make up spoken language. Stories introduce young babies and children to these sounds, as well as to the rhythms and patterns of language.  There’s nothing better than settling down for a cuddle and a good book!

Exploring ORIM, routines and autumn sensory play

This term we have been enjoying using the updated Peep Learning Together Programme.  It’s made it really easy to follow any themes and topics that parents have raised in my baby group.  In the first weeks I introduced parents to ORIM, and in subsequent weeks we’ve talked about baby watching and Routines: using the Peep group to discuss why the routine helps babies to know what to expect, and to feel secure. Parents spent a lot of time thinking about the question ‘How did you feel before you came to your first Peep group?’. They could then relate that to how their babies  might feel about new experiences.

In other Peep groups Autumn has been a big inspiration. ‘Pick up a Conker and Put it in the Basket’ (sung to any well-known tune that fits, such as Bonnie Bobby Shaftoe)  reminds us all of the benefits of getting out and about.  Children have had opportunities to explore gourds – delighting in their interesting colours and shapes and feeling their knobbly  skins.  Autumn sensory play with felt leaves, real leaves, pine cones and pasta not only looked (and felt!) a treat, but kept children interested, and supported our autumn songs.

Early mark making:  Our mixed age Peep Group loved using fabric paint... Parents enjoyed getting involved too.  This session was supported by singing ‘Ready and… up and down’ which introduces young children to the hand and arm motions needed for making letters.

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programme and website contributors

peep learning together programme

The Peep Learning Together Programme is the result of 20 years of research, practice and reflection.  It has been created from the original programme written by Rosemary Roberts, Alison Street and others. The Programme is underpinned by the ORIM framework which was developed by Peter Hannon and Cathy Nutbrown at the University of Sheffield. Other contributors include (in alphabetical order):

Peeple:

  • Katy Baker; practitioner and trainer, and lead author of the programme
  • Carly Glover; accreditation coordinator
  • Charlotte Holmes; communications manager
  • Marie Mackenzie; training manager
  • Louise Radford; practitioner and trainer
  • Debbie Rudman; practitioner and trainer
  • Sally Smith; chief executive officer

Consultants:

  • Kathy Brodie; early years consultant
  • Julie Cigman; early years consultant
  • Franks and Franks; designers
  • Debi Maskell-Graham; training consultant

Thank you also to other Peeple staff, trustees and members of our network of trainers, practitioners and managers (past and current) who have all contributed in different, but highly valuable, ways to the development of the programme, accreditation and training.  These include: Nuzhat Abbas, Jo Aitkenhead, Jacqui Bain, Allison Collier, Sharon Clarke, Lisa Clissett, Sharyn Crombie, Moyna de Sélincourt, Amanda Godsell, Carol Gotheridge, Helen Griffiths, Jo Hammick, Lindsey Hart, Elina Helinius, Lisse Honeyman, Emma Hrubiak, Emma Jamieson, Alison Laing, Zoe Maré, Jill Mennie, Sue Prosser, Collette Pye, Soozin Rogers, Julia Shay, Ronnie Sinclair, Janet Sly, Paula Stallard, Christine Steer, Helen Stroudley, Catherine Thomas, Alison Wales

We are particularly grateful to all the parents, carers and children who we have worked with over the last 20 years – and from whom we have learnt so much.

website

Our website shares ideas and information that all of the above folk have contributed to, which have been written and shaped in a (hopefully!) helpful way by us here at Peeple.

As well as the above we'd like to thank:

  • our website designer Franks and Franks, verbal identity/writing consultant John Simmons and website developer Olamalu
  • photographer David Fisher and all the Peep families who gave up their time and allowed us to use their photos, either attending a photoshoot at David's studio and/or being photographed by him at our pre-school, along with the Sutton Trust photographer and Peep families who were photographed at a Peep group. (Occasionally other photos have been used, which have been credited to Getty Images, Bigstock or Cartoonstock as applicable.)

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tracer study

This small scale Tracer Study was to find out if mothers felt that attending Peep sessions as a baby had made a difference to children and their families as they entered secondary school. Five mothers (selected at random from families that had attended at least ten sessions of Baby Peep in 2001, and who had the same contact details) were interviewed at home in 2013, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher and coded for themes. 

The interviewer asked about the mothers' experience of Peep and the effects they thought it had had on their own and their child’s development, learning and socialisation. Seven main themes emerged about how Peep had made a difference:

  1. parents' understanding about the importance of singing and rhyme for language and maths development
      “The singing was the main thing I remember, ....songs with the alphabet and numbers, and I remember that distinctly, ‘cos the kids used to really enjoy it”
  2. parents' understanding about the importance of books - and passing this enjoyment on to their child
      “It’s made a lot of difference… they just read books nearly all the time, and I’m sure that’s because they started off when they were babies, getting an interest in books”
  3. parents' understanding about the importance of relationships: learning and doing things together with your child can be fun
      “I learned to sort of look at them in a different way at Peep, you know I tried to sort of enjoy them, and watch them play.…and it also helped me to relax a bit more with my children. I was quite stressed, and quite highly strung…” 
  4. socialisation – children interacting and making friends
      “I liked teaching her to make friends with other children although she was so young. It was making her sociable from an early age”
  5. parents supporting each other -  both in terms of sharing parenting ideas and experiences (and realising that other parents were 'in the same boat'), and in 'getting out' and enjoying some adult company
      “It was just nice to give me a break for an hour as well, and to help me to feel less sort of cut off and isolated …..I met other parents and you could sort of share each others’ sort of parenting skills and stuff. That was quite helpful.”
  6. children settling well into nursery or school, as they were confident and familiar with doing activities with groups of children and adults
      "She was quite quickly settled in to nursery because I think she’d already had the practice…with Peep"
  7. on-going confidence and involvement with both their own learning and their children's - a couple of parents had gone on to do early years training and work, and all felt more confident
     “I think ‘cos you’ve…been able to take her to a Peep session and been able to talk to other mums and the people who are running it, it gives you more confidence when they go into school, ...so... you will go and ask a question... whereas with the others I didn’t, so when you would go to like parents’ evening you’d just sit there and not say nothing but with her…I always ask questions…” 

This study indicates that attending Peep sessions as a baby and toddler directly encourages and enables children’s early learning, facilitates their socialisation and develops parents’ active interest in their child’s learning; together these three elements make up 'school readiness'. Other comments made by the parents also suggest that: 

  • belonging to a Peep group, with a defined membership and programme, provided support and encouraged attendance
  • a community intervention that employed the same people in the same area over several years was at an advantage in recruiting and engaging reluctant parents. 

You can download the Tracer Study here.

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Privacy policy and Cookie Statement

We are committed to protecting your privacy and security.

This page explains our privacy policy and contains separate advice on each of our different charitable activities (how and why we use your personal data) and the use of cookies to help you remain informed and in control of your information.

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About us

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Peeple is a charity, whose main purpose is to support parents/carers, babies and children to learn together, by valuing and building on what families already do. Peep practitioners and families share information and ideas from the Peep Learning Together Programme about how to make the most of the learning opportunities that surround us in everyday life and play. Research shows that this - known as the home learning environment - makes the biggest contribution to narrowing the gap in children's outcomes. So, as well as working directly with families in Oxfordshire, we train practitioners around the UK and beyond, to share the messages as widely as possible. All our work is underpinned by the Peeple principles and the ORIM framework.

“The objects of the Charity [i.e. Peeple's aims registered with the Charity Commission] are for the benefit of the public:

To advance education, in particular (but not limited to) the early learning and development of children; and

To promote, commission, carry out and disseminate research in the field of early years and other education.”

Peeple is a registered charity no. 1144975 in England / Wales and no. SCO44031 in Scotland, and a company limited by guarantee no. 7514469. Peeple has a trading subsidiary company called Peep Learning Ltd which exists to process sales of training and learning resources on behalf of Peeple.

Policy last updated: July 2021

Data protection principles

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By 'personal data' we mean any information which identifies you, or which can be identified as relating to you personally, for example name, address and email address.

There are a number of different grounds for keeping your personal data, known as the ‘lawful basis’ for data processing. These are:

  • Your consent, freely given
  • To enter into, or perform, a contract with you;
  • To comply with a legal duty;
  • To protect your vital interests;
  • For our own (or a third party’s) lawful interests, provided your rights don’t override these (otherwise known as ‘legitimate interests’).

In any event, we’ll only use your information for the purpose or purposes it was collected for (or else for closely related purposes) and we will not keep your data longer than is necessary for those purposes.

For more information on your rights to see your data and to correct, update or erase it see the section ‘Your Rights’ below.

Work with families by Peeple Centre practitioners in Oxfordshire (including Peep groups)

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At the Peeple Centre in Oxford we employ a few practitioners who work directly with local families. This section relates only to these families; we do not collect any data about families who attend Peep sessions delivered by Peep-trained practitioners in other parts of the country.

Contact details - what we collect and why: We collect information including your name, address, e-mail and contact phone number when you register to come to a Peep group.  The lawful basis for collecting this information is legitimate interests.  We use the information to contact you while we are providing services to you and your family. 

Sensitive data - what we collect and why: We also collect some sensitive data from you such as ethnicity and employment status which is only used for monitoring and evaluation purposes. The lawful basis for this is legitimate interests. We use the information to provide funders with statistics that help them evaluate the benefits of funding Peep groups and to improve our services. Funders require this information as part of their contract with us to provide funding for groups. This data is given to funders as anonymous statistics.  Your name is never given with it.

Occasionally we may collect sensitive data from you that helps our practitioners to support you better, or that is necessary for us to know medically, for example if your child has a nut allergy or is autistic.  This data is collected on the lawful basis of consent.  The practitioner will fill in a form, usually after a discussion with you, which you will get to see and sign. 

How we store your data, and your rights regarding it: All the information we collect from you is stored on our secure electronic database and in locked filing cabinets. 

We will keep this information until your child is five years old and then it will be deleted from our database and any paper records destroyed.

We will never pass your information on to a third party without your permission unless it is a matter of safety for you or your child.

Child protection: If we have any concerns about the safety of you or your child we have a legal duty to pass on our worries to someone who can help.  We will not ask your permission if we are worried but will always tell you what we have done, unless doing so would cause further risk.

Receiving information from another organisation: If you and your family are referred to us by another organisation, that organisation passes information about you, including sensitive data, to us in order that we can provide a service.  That organisation has your consent to give us this information and we hold it on the lawful basis of legal obligation.  This means that because there are safeguarding concerns we are legally required to keep your data in accordance with safeguarding laws.

Dolly Parton Imagination Library: We collect information including your name, address and e-mail address on behalf of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  This data is collected in order that the Imagination Library can send your child free books.  The data is stored on the Imagination Library database and Peeple is the data processor not the data keeper.  This data is therefore covered by the Imagination Library Privacy Notice.

Photos and video footage: Sometimes in our groups we take photographs or videos for the purposes of using in Peeple materials, leaflets, on the website or for professional evaluation of our work or staff.  We do this using the lawful basis of consent.  They are stored electronically on our server.  Your pictures or videos will never be used without your permission and you can ask to see them or remove them at any time.  We will keep them indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise.

Little Peeple Nursery

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Please see our Peeple Early Education and childcare policies page.

Practitioner training, support and membership (log-in website access)

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When you book a place on Peep Training we collect information including your name, role and contact details (address, phone number, and your and your manager’s email). This is usually your work rather than home contact details. If you opt for us to post your training pack to your home address, this address is deleted from our system at the end of the course. We record the information you have provided on our internal contacts database for use in administration of training. We share your information (not home address) with the freelance trainers who deliver training under contract from us, but no-one else. We cross-shred printed personal data at the end of the course.

Post-course contact: Some of our courses include access to log-in areas on our website, to support your delivery of the programme(s). This is known as membership, for which there is currently no charge. We hold the information that you complete in the Practitioner Declaration during the training and on the online registration form (work contact and training details) for as long as you renew your membership. Each year we also ask you to complete an online membership renewal questionnaire. This enables us to:

  • share good practice with practitioners and organisations;
  • learn more about what post-course support you do/don't find helpful;
  • update our awareness of what Peep is happening where - enabling us to let practitioners and families know if Peep is happening near them
  • report to [potential] funders, who are interested in funding work that supports the home learning environment and early intervention.

Annual log-in renewal: If you decide not to renew your annual membership or there is no response within 18 months of the renewal date, then we will remove your personal details and therefore your access to the log-in area of the website. We will keep basic information about individuals who have attended Peeple training on our contacts database for five years from the date of the training to enable us to grant you membership or other services related to the training, such as refresher training, as practitioners' roles often change. You can ask us to remove your data from our system at any time.

We do not share information about our members or training delegates with any other third parties without your prior permission. We will never sell your information or give our mailing list to a commercial organisation.

Post-course newsletter: Practitioners/members and their managers will be sent Peeple newsletters by email, approximately monthly, as part of our post-training support. We include managers as it raises the quality of delivery when managers understand more about Peep programmes and how they can be used. The newsletters contain news, information and updates that support Peep delivery. There is always an Unsubscribe link in the e-newsletter, so you can opt out at any time.

We may analyse our membership data to determine common characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including behaviour (e.g. previous responses) or demographic information (e.g. location). We may compile statistical data from time to time; this will never include any references to any individual.

Under GDPR, the lawful basis for the above (regarding training and membership) is our legitimate interests.

Practitioner Accreditation (AIM)

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As part of the registration, assessment and certification processes for the AIM Unit: Supporting Parents and Children to Learn Together, we collect information including your name, date of birth, gender, address, e-mail, contact telephone number(s), completed portfolio and records of internal quality assurance activities.  This data is collected on the lawful basis of the contract we have with you to accredit your learning.  We use the information to provide you with services to support the completion of your accreditation.  

As indicated on the Learner Registration Form, the course is accredited through Peeple (approved by AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group).  We use your name, gender, date of birth and qualification information to enrol you on the course with AIM.  AIM assign you a unique learner number (ULN) which is used in relation to your learning, assessment and certification. 

In exceptional circumstances we may also collect and transfer to AIM sensitive personal data, such as: 

  • information about your physical or mental health condition – to comply with our duty under the Equality Act 2010 and enable us to administer requests for reasonable adjustments to support your learning and assessment.
  • information relating to an investigation, complaint or appeal – to allow us and/or AIM to make an informed response.

This additional sensitive data is collected on the lawful basis of consent.  As such, you will need to complete a form following a discussion with a Peeple trainer/ staff member.  The form will require you to give your explicit consent for the sensitive personal data you have shared to be held by us and transferred to AIM for the purposes outlined above.

All the information we collect from you is stored on our secure electronic database and in locked filing cabinets to which only authorised staff have access.  Hardcopy portfolios are scanned and stored electronically for quality assurance activities. 

We pass your information to freelance assessors who assess portfolios under contract from us as necessary to enable us to provide accreditation services to you.  Completed learner portfolios are shared securely with an allocated assessor either electronically, or sent and returned by post using the Royal Mail Signed For® service.  Assessors are required to store all off-site learner and assessment data securely and within a locked location throughout the assessment process; password protected equipment must be used for electronic assessment.  Once assessment is complete, assessors are required to return, delete and/ or destroy all learner and assessment data.   

We acknowledge that the content of your portfolio, whether it be hardcopy, scanned or an e-portfolio, is your property and remains so after certification.  Hardcopy portfolios will be returned to you along with your certificate of achievement on successful completion of internal quality assurance activities.  At this point we may contact you to seek your permission to retain an anonymised copy of your portfolio for training and marketing purposes.  Scans of hardcopy portfolios, e-portfolios and additional evidence received as a result of remediation will be retained until the annual External Quality Assurance (EQA) visit from AIM has taken place following certification, after which it will be deleted.

All other information will be kept for 3 years following certification in case any issues arise and for regulatory compliance purposes.

All personal data and sensitive personal data transferred to AIM will be processed in accordance with their Record Keeping Policy (available at www.aim-group.org.uk/privacy/ )

We will never pass your information on to a third party without your permission.  

Reviewed/ updated: November 2022

Parent/carer qualifications: Peep Progression Pathway (SQA)

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Learners Your delivery centre collects information including your name, date of birth, home address, email/mobile/landline number, course title and course level, your child's name (if in keepsake book/portfolio) and photos and/or drawings provided.  This data is shared Peeple under the lawful basis of the contract you have with us.  Some of this data is also collected under the lawful basis of legitimate interests.  This allows us to register you as a learner for the Peep Progression Pathway and certificate your achievements.  We also keep a copy of your keepsake book/portfolio on our database for quality assurance purposes.

We record the information you have provided on Peeple’s database for:

  • use in administration of Peep Progression Pathway units
  • anonymously reporting to our funders 
  • adhering to quality assurance procedures required by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)

The data is stored on Peeple's database, which is owned by Peeple and hosted by Lamplight Database Systems.  Lamplight is an online database system that helps charities across the UK to manage their services.  The database is password protected - only accessible to authorised staff Lamplight provides occasional technical support to assure the efficiency of the database.)

You will receive no communication directly from Peeple, unless you have submitted an appeals complaint to us, or if you have contacted us directly.

Your keepsake book will be kept for  15 months to allow time for the annual external quality assurance visit.  

All data except your email/mobile/landline number will be kept for 20 years to allow us to re-issue your certificate in the future should you need it, and in case you decide to return to a Peep course in the future with children or grandchildren.  Your email/mobile/landline number will be kept for 15 months.

We will not share information about our learners with any other third parties without their prior permission.

We may analyse our learners to determine common characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including learning level or demographic information (e.g. location). We may compile statistical data from time to time; this will never include any references to any individual.

We will never sell your information or give our mailing list to a commercial organisation.

If you have given permission, we may share your keepsake book with other organisations who might offer the Peep Progression Pathway in their area.  Your keepsake book may be used to help us to train more staff in how to deliver the Peep Progression Pathway.  Your keepsake book may be taken to conferences and events and be displayed to promote Peep programmes.  Your portfolio would be used under the lawful basis of legitimate interests.  You can withdraw permission at any time by emailing pathway@peeple.org.uk.

Assessors, Peep Practitioners and Internal Quality Assurance Officers Your name, work address, email, mobile/landline number, qualifications and experience and training event details will be held on the Peeple server and Peeple database (password protected - only accessible to authorised staff).  Training event details will be kept for three years.  All other data will be deleted when you are no longer involved in the delivery of the Peep Progression Pathway.  Your data is held under the lawful basis of legitimate interests.

Research and sharing our learning

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Peeple will never collect or use data for research purposes without the specific written opt-in consent from participants in advance of research commencing. Data collected as part of research will be kept on file at Peeple until the scheduled end date of the piece of research as agreed with the funder. Additional privacy information will be provided as necessary based on the nature of the specific piece of research.

If the research involves attending Peep training and participants register for a website login and sign up as members, the advice (above) regarding ‘Practitioner training and membership' also applies.

Independent evaluation of the Peep Exploring Together Programme - supporting the foundations of science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM)

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Introduction

The Peep Exploring Together Programme - supporting the foundations of Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) provides a package of training and resources to early years practitioners and families. The programme encourages parents to identify and make the most of STEM opportunities that are part of their everyday life – and then to explore these with their children in fun and engaging ways.

Peeple have received funding to develop and evaluate the Exploring Together Programme from a grant issued by the Mercers’ Company, as part of their philanthropic special initiative in Early Years, Literacy and Transitions. In this Privacy Notice, Peeple are referred to as the ‘Delivery Team’.  The independent evaluation is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). Together, these parties are referred to as the ‘Research Team’ in this Privacy Notice.

The roles of each party named above are as follows:

  • Mercers’ are the funders of the evaluation project.
  • Peeple are responsible for designing the programme and providing training to the practitioners and parents/carers so that they each can implement it within their practice (in settings and homes).
  • IES and the University of Oxford will evaluate the programme; focusing on practitioners and their views of the training/resources and of children’s engagement with the intervention and parents/carers and the home learning environment, particularly in maths and science.
    The evaluation will enable an assessment of whether the programme could be implemented at a larger scale.

In line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this privacy notice sets out how the Delivery Team and Research Team will collect and use your personal data, and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

We promise to respect any of your personal information which is under our control and to keep it safe. We aim to be clear when we collect your information about what we will do with it and let you know of any material changes to this notice.

What is the legal basis for processing my data?

Peeple and the University of Oxford are data controllers. IES are data processors.
Peeple’s legal basis for processing personal data is legitimate interests’ under Article 6 (1) (f) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The evaluation of the Exploring Together Programme fulfils one of Peeple’s core business purposes (undertaking training, research, evaluation and information activities) and is therefore in our legitimate interest, that processing personal information is necessary for the conduct of the evaluation. The legal basis for the University of Oxford collecting personal data is ‘public interest task’ under GDPR Article 6(1)(e). This research will build on existing work by the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford finding out about what might support learning and development in the Early years.

What kind of information do we collect?

The research will involve:

  • Online questionnaires being sent to all parents to complete and return electronically (paper copies will be made available to parents but all data transferred will be electronic)
  • Interviews with key staff (e.g., settings managers and practitioners) in case study settings
  • Interviews with parents/carers in case study settings, who have consented to take part
  • Review of training programme and materials provided online by Peeple
  • Analysis of data from the Delivery Team.

What data are being collected, by who and why?

The Delivery Team will collect the following personal data from settings for the three groups below.

  1. Parents/carers - name, email address, telephone number(s)

These data, given by consent, will be passed securely to the Research Team via a secure data transfer system. The reason why these data are being collected is:

  1. to confirm parents/guardians’ agreement to take part in the independent evaluation and facilitate their participation in the Exploring Together Programme.
  2. to send parents/guardians a questionnaire at the beginning of the study which will include questions on the home learning environment, particularly relating to maths and science, and optional questions about family background.
  3. to send parents/guardians a questionnaire at the end of the study, again including questions on the home learning environment, particularly relating to maths and science and
  4. to contact the parents/guardians to arrange a telephone interview to gather their views and opinions of the training.
  1. Key staff and practitioners - name, email address, telephone number(s), consent.

These data, with explicit consent, will be passed securely to the Research Team via a secure data transfer system. Personal data of key staff and practitioners will only be collected where it is necessary: either to send invitations to participate in the research or where it is relevant to the interview to contextualise their responses.

The reason why these data are being collected is to gather staff views and opinions of the training.

  1. Children – name, age in months, gender.

The child’s name will be collected, stored securely and held solely by the Delivery Team for the purpose of analysing data and creating named certificates.  This data will NOT be passed to the Research Team.

The child’s age in months and gender will be passed securely to the Research Team via a secure data transfer system. Personal data of children will only be collected where it is necessary: to analyse their data.
Data shared with the Research Team will be stored in de-identified form (i.e., using a numerical unique identifier). A key file with the participants’ names, setting name and parents details will be kept securely and separate from the data file.

How will my data be treated?

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information and follow procedures designed to prevent unauthorised access, alteration, loss or disclosure of your information. Where personal information is collected, these details will be stored on an encrypted server with access restricted solely to Peeple staff who are part of the project team.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

If you are invited by IES, and choose to take part in an interview, survey, assessment or case study for this project, the data you give will be used for research purposes only. In reporting, no individuals or settings will be named, nor will any information be included that could reveal your identity, except with your explicit permission.

IES will produce a report that summarises the main findings from all these research activities.
The University of Oxford will prepare data for submission to a peer reviewed academic journal.
The Research Team may decide to disseminate more widely.

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. Personal information, interview and survey responses will be securely deleted:

  • Peeple and the University of Oxford retain data for 3 years after primary and secondary data analyses (impacts of the intervention on the Home Learning Environment with regard to maths and science) have been published (deletion currently estimated to take place in March 2027)
  • IES retain data for six months after the research project is complete (deletion currently estimated to take place in September 2024)

Who else has access to your information?

The Research Team may disclose your information to third parties in connection with the purposes of processing your personal data set out in this notice. These third parties may include suppliers, research assistants, trusted academic partners and subcontractors who may process information on behalf of the Research Team to carry out such work as undertaking interviews, analysing data, or transcribing interviews. In all cases, the Research Team will ensure that these third parties enter into appropriate data processing agreements with us and that they keep your personal data secure and confidential.

We may disclose your personal information if required by law, or to protect or defend ourselves or others against illegal or harmful activities, or as part of a reorganisation or restructuring of our organisations.

Your legal rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data, including the rights to:

  • Request access to your personal data: this enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check we are lawfully processing it.
  • Withdraw the information you have provided as part of the interviews or survey up to two weeks after you have submitted your response.

Please see the Information Commissioner’s Office website for a full description of your legal rights.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above in connection with this research project, please contact Janet Sly, Finance and HR Manager at Peeple at

Janet.sly@peeple.org.uk

Alternatively, further information about your rights with respect to your personal data is available from the University of Oxford:

https://compliance.web.ox.ac.uk/individual-rights

Who can I contact with a query about how my data will be used?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact the Research or delivery team:

Who can I contact with a complaint?

Under GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact Peeple in the first instance.

Company details for the Delivery and Research Teams

Peeple is a charity registered and a company limited by guarantee in England & Wales.

  • Charity registration number: 1144975
  • Company number: 07514469.
  • Registered office: The Peeple Centre, Littlemore, Oxford OX4 6JZ
  • Email: info@peeple.org.uk

The Institute for Employment Studies is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England.

  • Registration number: 931547
  • Charity registration number: 258930
  • Registered office: Institute for Employment Studies, City Gate, 185 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN3 1 TL6
  • Email: askIES@employment-studies.co.uk

The University of Oxford is a University in England.

  • Medical Sciences Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee; Address: Research Services, University of Oxford, Boundary Brook House, Churchill Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7GB
  • Email: ethics@medsci.ox.ac.uk

Communications

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Newsletters: Peep-trained practitioners and their managers will be sent Peep Postings newsletters and our general newsletter as part of their membership (see above). Other people may subscribe to our Peeple newsletter by opting in to join our mailing list (lawful basis: consent). Anyone can unsubscribe from Peeple newsletters at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe button.

Enquiries: If you enquire about Peep Training or resources, we keep your details on our internal system for up to two years, so that we can respond to follow-up enquiries.

Customers buying resources from our online shop

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When you place an order with us via our on line shop or by any other means such as an emailed order form, we ask for your name, address, email and phone number to enable us to process your order. We may also use this information to contact you with information about new products or training unless you advise us otherwise. Information relating to your purchase will also be kept on our finance system, Quickbooks, for up to 6 years for tax and audit purposes.

Human resources (staff, volunteers, job applicants and freelance consultants)

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Employee records: we keep both electronic and paper details of employees to fulfil our legal obligations in relation to contracts of employment, payroll and pensions.

We share employee information Tax Assist Payroll services who have an agreement with us to process payroll and pensions data.

Employee data will not be kept longer than necessary to comply with legal and statutory obligations which in the case of payroll is 6 years from the end of the relevant tax year. A separate records retention schedule details other retention periods.

Any additional information which is not required for the above purposes, e.g. use of photographs, will require employee consent.

Volunteer and trustee records: we keep both electronic and paper details of volunteers and trustees under the lawful basis of our legitimate interests.

Freelance consultants including Peep trainers and assessors: we keep electronic details of trainers and assessors (name, address, email, phone, CV) and each consultant signs a letter of agreement covering the nature of their work for Peeple, its duration etc. The lawful basis for this is contractual.  Consultant data will be kept for the duration of their work for Peeple and for a further 6 years from the end of the last relevant tax year in case it is needed for tax or related reasons.

Job applicants: enquiries and application forms from unsuccessful candidates will be kept for a period of 6 months from the end of the selection process.

Register of interest: anyone interested in hearing about future vacancies or volunteering opportunities (including unsuccessful job applicants) may register their interest on our Register of interest form. Details will be kept both electronically and on paper for a period of 18 months.

Historical records: we keep information on senior personnel such as trustees and directors indefinitely for the purpose of historical records.

Your rights under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations)

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Under the GDPR, you have various rights with respect to our use of your personal data:

Right to Access

You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that we hold about you by contacting us at the email or postal address given below. Please include with your request information that will enable us to verify your identity. We will respond within 1 month of request. Please note that there are exceptions to this right. We may be unable to make all information available to you if, for example, making the information available to you would reveal personal data about another person, if we are legally prevented from disclosing such information, or if there is no basis for your request, or if it is excessive.

Right to rectification

We aim to keep your personal data accurate and complete. We encourage you to contact us using the contact details provided below to let us know if any of your personal data is not accurate or changes, so that we can keep your personal data up-to-date.

Right to erasure

You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data where, for example, the personal data are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected, where you withdraw your consent to processing, where there is no overriding legitimate interest for us to continue to process your personal data, or your personal data has been unlawfully processed. If you would like to request that your personal data is erased, please contact us using the contact details provided below.

Right to object

In certain circumstances, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where, for example, your personal data is being processed on the basis of legitimate interests and there is no overriding legitimate interest for us to continue to process your personal data, or if your data is being processed for direct marketing purposes. If you would like to object to the processing of your personal data, please contact us using the contact details provided below.

Please note that the GDPR sets out exceptions to these rights. If we are unable to comply with your request due to an exception we will explain this to you in our response.

Contact details:

If you wish to find out more about the information we hold about you, contact us in connection with your rights or you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, please email:

dataprotectionlead@peeple.org.uk

or phone 01865 395145

Cookie statement

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What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small file created by a website and then stored on your computer. You can control if and when you allow cookies to be stored on your machine, and can view or delete any cookies stored.

We use several different types of cookies to allow our visitors and practitioners to have a good experience using our website.

  • strictly necessary cookies - these are essential to enable you to register and login.
  • performance cookies - these cookies collect information about how visitors use the website for instance to allow us to see which webpages are viewed the most.
  • functionality cookies - these cookies allow the website to remember choices you make and provide more personal features. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
  • We use Google Analytics cookies to help us improve our website.  Infomation on these cookies can be found here.

The cookies we use are:

 Cookie

 Name

  Description

 Google Analytics

 _ga

 Used to distinguish users.

 Google Analytics

 _gid

 Used to distinguish users.

 Google Analytics

 _gat

 Used to throttle request rate.

 Drupal/Peeple.org.uk

SESS...

 This is a Drupal session cookie used when an authorised user (website member) logs in. You won't get this if you are an anonymous user.

 Drupal/Peeple.org.uk

has_js

 The has_js cookie records whether your browser has JavaScript enabled.

To find out more about cookies there are several websites dedicated to explaining how they work

http://www.aboutcookies.org

http://www.allaboutcookies.org

multi-agency Peep - health & community learning

pregnancy to babyhood: multi-agency work with Health (midwives and health visitors), Community learning & development workers (CLDs) and Voluntary sector workers

“The Health Literacy Project and Bump Start work with women with support needs, as identified by a midwife or health visitor. This might include having had children on the child protection register, housing issues, isolation or a history of domestic violence.

We work with women on a one-to-one basis, encouraging and accompanying them to use the following services, as appropriate:

Bump Start Pregnancy Café – which provides antenatal education, nutritional inputs and information on what’s available in the community, peer support and peer mentoring.

Bump to Buggy group - which continues to develop self-esteem and raise awareness of other community support, including looking at future options and choices.

Peep course with SQA accreditation - this is an ideal step back into learning for the mums. Over several months we cover topics including brain development, stages of development and how babies learn through play. To have an opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained through being a parent reinforces good parenting skills, and helps them gain more confidence. The mums are able to gain a qualification in a nurturing environment – many have had a negative experience of school. It is an ideal spring board into considering future educational or employment options.”

Jacqui Bain, Health Literacy Project, Community Learning and Development worker and Peep practitioner

Jacqui.Bain@ea.edin.sch.uk   t 0131 554 9951   www.edinburgh.gov.uk     www.joininedinburgh.org

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multi-agency peep in Galway

"We’ve delivered more than 20 Peep groups over the past four years, including some with traveller communities, and lots with families from outside of Ireland. Many of the latter commented that singing the songs and interacting with other families had supported their learning of English and helped them become more involved in the Irish way of life - but that they'd also enjoyed singing songs and sharing food from their own cultures within the sessions.

In their feedback, lots of parents mentioned gaining confidence as they played more with their child, and how play helped them see the world more from their child's point of view. The greatest life improvement mentioned by many reflected the value of the time spent as they interacted with their child. One parent started recently as a special needs assistant in an autism unit - she told us that she is singing all of the songs which she was introduced to in Peep (she first started coming to Peep sessions a few years ago with two of her children and also completed a Peep OCN parent-child portfolio) and, in her view, 'Peep was better training than any college'.

In our experience, the Peep programme promotes the value of play and parent/carer-child interactions, supporting learning and social development in line with Sìolta and Aistear Principles. We’ve worked together with a range of agencies to deliver Peep with local families: Galway City and County Childcare Committee, Parent and Toddler groups, Family Support, Home Start, Vocational Education Committee, Home School Liaisons and School Completion Projects."

Practitioners Therese Reynolds and Mary Hannify

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