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A Peep session with an individual family can happen anywhere and at any time, either virtually /online or face-to-face.

Home visits

Peep home visits tend to happen when a family has a new baby or moves into the area, or when their child is due to start attending an early years setting or school. Some Peep-trained practitioners focus their visit on introducing the family to the Peep programme, while others incorporate Peep into their usual health, nursery or family support visit.

Visits aim to:

• start getting to know the family
• provide information about Peep and other local groups or services
• discuss and model a simple activity and book-share, involving everyone
• offer follow-up contact, or put the family in touch with other relevant services.

A few resources might be offered to the family, such as:

• leaflets about local services - including times, locations and contact details for Peep and other local groups
• Learning Together leaflets with information and ideas about aspects of child development that were discussed (e.g. 'Sharing books with babies', or 'Mark making' for toddlers)
• a picture book or a homemade book (made during the visit)

On-going outreach

Sometimes a practitioner and parent agree that the family would benefit from a few 1:1 Peep sessions, around parent-child interaction and supporting the child's learning and development. The practitioner and parent/carer agree on the focus of the sessions, based on the family’s needs and interests. The practitioner can use relevant Learning Together topics to plan future visits. Families often go on to attend Peep and/or other local groups or stay and plays, as well as gaining confidence and ideas for supporting their children’s learning in day-to-day life.

Peep sessions are designed to be delivered flexibly by Peep-LTP-trained practitioners, to meet local needs. The examples below illustrate some of the different formats for delivering Peep - such as 1-to-1, in drop-in sessions or in group sessions - face-to-face or online, indoors or outdoors. Sessions can be universal (open to all families in the area) or targeted, focusing on parents, carers and children with a particular need or interest. Peep delivery happens in family centres, children's centres, family hubs, schools, nurseries and pre-schools, health centres, families' homes, drop-in sessions, libraries, swimming pools, outdoors - wherever families are!  

Peep delivery formats:

• Outreach/ 1-to-1/ in the home - one or several sessions. Home visits can explore how parents and carers enhance their child’s early learning at home, and share information with families about local Peep sessions and other groups and services. 
• Drop-in sessions might be occasional 'pop-up' sessions, or a regular Stay and Play session. They enable families to get a taster of the Peep programme, and to drop in when they can. As the sessions are open access, they can happen anywhere that families go, including shopping centres or health centres.
• Peep group sessions are generally run weekly for parents and carers to attend with their young children. The number of sessions in a course can vary to suit local needs. 

Parent case studies

Stories from individual parents, including those who have gone on to further training or work through Peep.

• Parent to classroom assistant: Dumfries & Galloway - "I absolutely love my job and wish that I had made the move sooner but without going to the Peep group I would never have been confident enough to do it!" 
• Parent and baby: Birkenhead - the benefits both for her baby's development and the supportive relationships within the group, in mum's own words
• From Peep parent to Peep leader or Childcare and Development worker:  via the Peep Progression Pathway (parent accreditation) - Midlothian

Multi-agency case studies

Local/health authority departments and voluntary sectors organisations have found that using Peep as a common approach is an effective way to engage families:

• Early Help: Nottingham
• Intergenerational: Aberdeen
• Inter-generational: Edinburgh
• Children's centre-led: Liverpool
• Early Years-led: Benalla, Australia
• Education-led: Dundee
• Health/ Community learning and development-led: Edinburgh
• Family support-led: Galway
• Education psychology-led: Stirling
• Peeple Centre-led: Oxford

Health case studies

Peep delivered either in health centres, by health staff or with a health focus:

• Antenatal Peep: Highland
• Mealtimes: Wick
• Outdoor Peep: Aberdeen
• Child health clinics: Oxford
• Health centres: Moray
• Healthy Peep: Midlothian
• Water Peep: Newcastle

Education case studies

Peep in pre-schools, nurseries, transition, schools, colleges and adult learning

• Transition Peep - overview
  • Transition into school: Hampshire
  • Transition into school: Edinburgh
• Developing the young workforce: Moray
• Childcare students: Lancashire
• Early Learning and Childcare students (virtual Peep): Ayrshire College
• Thoughts from an educational psychologist - 20 years of Peep

Employability case studies

Peep supports children's learning through adult (parent and carer) learning; this can be taken a step further through the Peep Progression Pathway (credit-rated units by SQA), work with students in colleges and/or Peep parents becoming practitioners.

• Family learning & employability: Derby
• Peep Progression Pathway: Home-Start

Social Care case studies

A focus on working with parents whose children are looked after, foster carers, kinship carers, etc.

• Children's social care: a city-wide approach
• Foster Carers Peep - with qualification units

Prison case studies

Helping to maintain family relationships, and engage parents in their children's learning and play while they are in prison.

• HM Prison Perth
• HM Prison Inverness
• HM Prison Aberdeen
• HM Prison Winchester

The Peep Progression Pathway offers nationally recognised units to cover three qualification levels for parents and carers as learners. At each of these levels, learners can follow a unit covering:

• any of the five Peep learning strands -  Personal, social and emotional development, Communication and language, Early literacy, Early maths, and Health and physical development, and/or 
• any of the four developmental stages - Babies, Toddlers, Pre-schoolers or Early Childhood - of the Learning Together Programme. 

Join a free Pathway Information Session for practitioners and managers 
 to find out more about using the Peep Progression Pathway with your local families

Mon 2 December:  3.30 - 4.30pm - click here to sign up and get your Teams link 

Benefits of the Pathway for parents and carers

The Peep Progression Pathway units formally recognise the learning which is already occurring within a Peep session. This includes playing, talking, sharing books and stories, and singing with young children, and using ORIM.

The credit-rated units are assessed entirely by portfolio. Through this portfolio learners recognise and build on everyday learning. They reflect on their child’s development and on their own role as their child's first educator. Parents/carers have treasured them, both as a reflection of their own learning and as a keepsake about their child.

Learners who participated in the Peep Progression Pathway found it useful in a range of ways:

Furthering their understanding of child development:
‘It’s good to really consider why you do things and how it benefits your child’ (Parent)

Enhancing parent confidence and relationship with their baby or child:
'The course allowed me to grow in confidence in being able to understand babies' needs and wants. The talk time and listening to others helps put your own experiences into perspective. I'm able to listen to my baby more now and decipher cries and wants - tired, bored, hungry, etc.’ (Parent)

'I gained useful skills through the Peep programme and pathway that will help me day-to-day when I’ve been released from prison. It gave me a better understanding of parenting and what can help my child.' (Parent in Inverness Prison)

As a stepping stone into formal learning and employability
‘We are finding that parents who don't feel confident to register as a learner recognise that their portfolio work is just as good as their peers and often have a change of heart and submit their portfolios for assessment. It’s increasing access to parents who would never consider participating in accredited learning’ (practitioner)

'At the end of our Peep group I had the opportunity to complete the Peep Progression Pathway course and to support the running of a Peep group. I then attended the Peep Learning Together Programme Training and this led to me applying for a post with Midlothian Council as a Peep Leader – I was successful!  To have the confidence to make a complete change in career is a real achievement for me. The Peep Progression Pathway course and the Learning Together Programme helped me become a better parent by supporting my learning and understanding of what a child needs. I realised that I loved the learning and wanted to do more.'

For personal development...
‘I haven’t had to think critically for a while, so it’s been good to get back into it’ (Parent)

... and enjoyment
‘I've recommended it to all my friends. A very worthwhile and valuable experience’ (Parent)

‘Practitioners love that the Progression Pathway is sown throughout our existing Peep Learning Together Programme’ (Practitioner)

Parents and carers involved in an evaluation of the Peep Progression Pathway reported that they have:

• a greater understanding of their role in promoting their child’s development
• an increased confidence in supporting their child’s learning and development
• more knowledge and ideas for improving the home learning environment
• recognised improvements in their own personal learning and literacy skills
• enhanced aspirations  – with many going on to further their own early years and child development study and work opportunities

The units have been credit-rated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5  - equivalent to entry level 3, level 1 and 2 equivalent in the rest of the UK. 

The Peep Progression Pathway - as its name suggests - often leads on to parents and carers taking further training or qualifications, or new career opportunities. You can read some of our case studies here:

• from Peep parents to Peep group leaders in Midlothian
• family learning and employability in Derby
• with Home-Start in Edinburgh
• with foster carers in Oxfordshire
• with inmates (and their partners) in HM Prison Inverness
• parent to classroom assistant in Dumfries & Galloway

Read more about: 

>  Peep Progression Pathway delivery for organisations - including how to become a Delivery Centre

>  Pathway training for Peep practitioners

>  Information for learners - parents and carers

The Peep Learning Together Programme (LTP) covers five strands of child development:  Personal, social and emotional development  ~  Communication and language  ~  Early literacy  ~  Early maths  ~  Health and physical development. See below for an overview of what each strand covers.

There are 74 topics within the Programme, 14 or 15 in each strand. All the topics contain key child development information along with delivery guidance, handouts for parents, and activities which help meet the topic aim. Each topic relates to one or more developmental stage: Babies, Toddlers and/or Pre-school. The Programme is intentionally flexible - practitioners can use any topic from any strand or developmental stage, in any order, to meet the needs and interests of the families that you work with. 

When practitioners attend our Peep LTP Training they are given online access to the whole Programme in our log-in Members Area - see examples below.

Overview programme maps

> Learning Together Programme Topic Aims Map  - an overview showing the aim(s) and relevant age/ developmental stage(s) for each of the 74 topics

> Learning Together Programme Strand Map - one-page overview of the 5 strands and 74 child development topics.

Example of a learning together programme topic

Click the links below to see examples of the downloadable resources available to LTP-trained practitioners for one of the topics, Musical Interactions (for toddlers and/or pre-schoolers):

>  Communication and Language strand - Musical Interactions topic  [for practitioners' planning.  LTP-trained practitioners can buy a hardcopy set of the 74 topics in our Learning Together Programme Folder if they prefer.]

>  Session plan - Question talk time  |  Session plan - Message talk time  |  Session plan - Activity talk time  [for practitioners - select one, and adapt if appropriate]

>  Topic card  [for practitioners - sharing the topic aim with parents and/or course planning]

>  Topic handout  [for parents/carers]

>  Things to do at home handout - Ideas for songs that support language development [for parents/carers]

> Things to do at home handout - Fox in a box song sheet and props [for parents/carers]

>  Peep Tip - how songs and rhymes support talking and listening  [for parents/carers]

Trained practitioners can also access general support and resources on our login website, covering recruiting families, different types of delivery, adaptable posters, leaflets and certificates, etc. 

5 strands of child development in the Learning Together Programme 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development covers:

• the significance of bonding, secure attachment and positive relationships for promoting babies’ and young children’s learning and development
• developing self-esteem, confidence and positive dispositions for learning
• how babies and young children develop an awareness of their individuality and personal identity (sense of self)
• the importance of play (including schemas and treasure baskets) and the quality of the Home Learning Environment for supporting learning and development
• building resilience and self-regulation - tuning into and helping babies and children to manage their feelings
• understanding and managing children’s behaviour
• an introduction to ORIM (Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Modelling) for parents/carers.

Communication and Language covers:

• how babies communicate through body language, facial expression, eye contact and sounds
• the importance of early interactions with babies, for bonding and attachment
• how babies’ speech and language develops through watching, listening, making sense of sounds and beginning to use their own voice
• the importance of everyday interactions (speaking and listening, especially in the mother tongue) in developing young children's speech and language, thinking skills, problem-solving...
• the significance of musical interactions, songs and rhymes for supporting early learning and development
• the importance of play in developing communication and language skills
• the benefits and challenges of engaging with technology
• exploring the language of maths through play and everyday situations.

Early Literacy covers:

• the benefits of sharing books and stories with babies and children
• the significance of sharing books and stories and making home-made books, in promoting reading and writing skills
• the importance of books and stories for developing children’s understanding and awareness of the world around them
• the use of storytelling and exploring stories through play for developing children’s early literacy skills and enhancing their imagination
• how an awareness of environmental print (logos, signs, labels etc in the home, and out and about) can support early literacy skills
• exploring the sounds in words through songs, rhymes, poems, stories and everyday conversations
• the importance of mark making and play for developing early writing skills
• the significance of providing everyday opportunities to explore and experience reading and writing in meaningful contexts (e.g. shopping lists, birthday cards)
• exploring the use of technology in early literacy development.

Early Maths covers:

• how babies and young children learn about numbers and other mathematical concepts through talking, playing and having fun as part of everyday life
• the importance of adults modelling a positive attitude toward exploring early maths
• how numbers are used in different ways in different contexts
• the importance of sharing books, toys, games, songs and rhymes for supporting children’s understanding of numbers and counting
• the significance of routines and things with a working order for helping to develop a sense of order
• exploring numbers, shapes, patterns, sorting, matching and measuring.

Health and Physical Development covers:

• the importance of food for supporting growth, development and health
• how babies and young children develop food preferences
• the role of mealtimes, as well as buying, preparing, cooking and sharing food in supporting early learning and development
• the benefits of exploring nature for increasing well-being, learning to manage risks, and supporting early learning and development
• physical development - including the significance of music, songs and rhymes, as well as exploring language and movement to support conceptual understanding
• brain development
• sensory development – including sight, smell, touch, sound and taste, as well as spatial awareness, balance and co-ordination.

ORIM stands for Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Modelling. These are four practical ways that parents and carers support their children’s learning and development.

Opportunities:  Parents and carers make the experiences of day-to-day life into learning opportunities through the ways that they interact with their children: listening, talking, singing, playing (indoors and outside), encouraging, and giving them time and attention. Parents also give children opportunities to explore and experiment with everyday objects, such as mark-making with a paintbrush and water or chalk on paving stones, or using an empty box to make a toy farm, dolls house, boat, space rocket...

Recognition:  When parents and carers show that they recognise and value their children’s efforts and achievements - and the children themselves, just for who they are – it contributes to children’s understanding and belief in themselves as learners. Recognition can be simple and low-key (e.g. a quiet word, smile, or high-five), or more obvious praise and encouragement, or putting their painting on the fridge or making up a story in which the child appears as a character. Parents and carers also recognise what counts as progress for their own child (e.g. being able to balance for longer on a log, or to join in with a familiar song).

Interaction:  Parents and carers support their children’s development by interacting with them in many ways, such as:

- listening and talking with them about what they are doing and or how they are feeling
- involving them in everyday tasks such as cooking or cleaning
- explaining or demonstrating how to do something
- offering reassurance or encouragement as a baby explores (without getting too involved)
- helping a toddler to manage their frustration
- watching television with their child and chatting about what they are seeing.

Modelling:  Babies and young children learn from watching and listening to those around them. The most powerful models for them are those that they spend the most time with and who they love the best – their parents and carers. Through these models, babies and young children absorb behaviours, attitudes towards learning and how to interact with others. They also learn more specific things, such as how literacy and maths are used as part of day-to-day life, such as writing a shopping list or paying for the shopping.

This ORIM framework was developed by Professors Peter Hannon and Cathy Nutbrown at the University of Sheffield. In their work with families, they noticed that all parents and carers support their children's learning by naturally providing Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and a Model (ORIM for short). However, when we (as practitioners or parents) understand how ORIM helps learning, we're more likely to think about and do them more often in everyday life - which helps children's learning even more. And the big difference is NOT how well we ourselves got on at school - but what we do with our children: talking, playing, singing, sharing books and stories, and keeping ORIM in mind.

ORIM is threaded through Peep programmes - it helps practitioners to see and value what parents and carers are already doing to support children's learning.  As parents and practitioners share ideas, they improve the quality of the home learning environment, which research has shown to be so important for children’s later outcomes.

how orim helps families

The more that we as parents and carers know about how children learn and develop, the easier it becomes to:

• understand how to make everyday events into learning opportunities 
• recognise  what counts as progress for our own child, and understand how to scaffold their learning (support them with new things, while they learn to do it themselves)
• recognise  and value all the little developmental steps on the way to the ‘big’ goals of learning such as talking, reading and writing
• recognise  and celebrate our child just for being themselves
• understand the different ways that we can helpfully interact  with our child
• appreciate our role as a model  for our child/ren.

> Download our short topic handout: An Introduction to ORIM or our Urdu version: An Introduction to ORIM in Urdu (for screen) or An Introduction to ORIM in Urdu (to print).

To find out more about parents and children learning together in everyday life: ask about Peep sessions at your local children's/ family centre or early years setting, visit our facebook page or attend one of our practitioner training courses.

All Peep Programme delivery is underpinned by our principles:

We believe that relationships are at the heart of learning

We believe in the potential of every parent, every carer and every child

We recognise parents and carers for what they already do, and help them to do more

We believe that lives can be transformed by building on everyday learning experiences

We recognise the importance of reflecting on the world through the eyes of others

The Peeple principles complement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This covers all aspects of a child’s life and sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status. There are four general principles covering non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the right to life survival and development, and the right to be heard. The Convention has been signed by all United Nations member states (other than the USA).  Respecting and teaching children about their rights ties in with the broader support provided by parents and carers every day: listening, talking, playing, reading and spending time with children, helping them to develop empathy, understanding and interest in the people and the world around them.

The Peep Learning Together Programme helps parents, carers and practitioners make the most of the learning opportunities in everyday life, supporting their babies' and young children's learning through play.

Watch our 'What is Peep?' video to find out more about Peep groups, and to hear from Peep practitioners and families:

Research has found that the main influences on young children’s outcomes are the quality of the relationship with their parents and carers, and what they do with their family, from birth (known as the Home Learning Environment). Early intervention makes a real difference. Our evidence-based Peep Learning Together Programme contributes to this, by helping:

• parents and carers to improve their children’s life chances, by:
  • developing sensitive and responsive relationships with their babies and children, 
  • making the most of day-to-day learning opportunities – listening, talking, playing, singing, and sharing books and stories together,
  • recognising and building on their own learning potential and achievements,
• babies and children to become confident communicators and learners through play
• practitioners to develop their work with parents/carers and young children
• communities to narrow the attainment gap, which appears even before children reach school.

what is the peep learning together programme?

The Peep Learning Together Programme (LTP) values and extends what parents/carers already do to support their child's learning in everyday life. Peep is a strengths-based approach to working with families, focusing on doing with  rather than doing to  parents, in line with our principles.

>  Click here to watch Fife's 5-minute video about how their Peep-trained nursery staff use Peep with families and their older toddlers and pre-schoolers

If you are already a Peep-LTP-trained practitioner, you can access the whole programme by logging in to the Members Area.

Practitioners from any sector can use the structured but flexible Programme once they have completed the two-day Peep LTP Training.  This includes downloadable access to information, ideas and activities within 74 child development topics, each with session plans and parent handouts. The Programme covers five strands of child development, which it aims to improve by working with parents: 

• personal, social and emotional development
• communication and language
• early literacy 
• early maths 
• health and physical development.

>  Look at an overview and examples of LTP topics and their downloadable resources.

what happens in a Peep session

Peep-trained practitioners share the Peep Learning Together Programme (LTP) with families through conversations and joint activities focusing on aspects of children's learning and development, underpinned by the ORIM learning framework. Peep sessions are for parents/carers and children together. Each session is based on a child development topic, which contains:

• talk time, to discuss key ideas with parents and carers relating to the topic focus
• songs and rhymes
• books and stories
• ways to put ORIM into action (Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction, Modelling)
• play activities (during the session and/or ideas to try at home).

Peep sessions raise awareness and model how singing, talking, playing and sharing books and stories together help strengthen relationships and develop children's listening, talking and later literacy.  Families also consistently report that Peep sessions are fun, increase their confidence (both adults and children) and provide an important source of ideas and support from the practitioners and other families.

Practitioners can decide the length and format of their Peep sessions and courses. On average, sessions last about an hour (generally shorter if online or 1-to-1). Practitioners often run Peep courses of between 6 and 10 weekly sessions, though some offer one or two taster or focused sessions (e.g. focusing on ‘Transition into the setting’), while others offer sessions on a rolling basis throughout the year or term.

who the Peep Learning Together Programme is for and how it can be delivered:

Peep is relevant to all parents/carers and young children, and can be used for both targeted and universal work with families. The Programme was designed to be used flexibly by Peep-trained practitioners, to meet the needs and interests of their local families.  Practitioners can decide whether to focus on any or all of the five child development strands, and with any or all developmental stages/ages: babies, toddlers and pre-school.

Peep can be used wherever families spend time - indoors, outside or online. Click the links below to find out more about some of the ways of using the Learning Together Programme: 

• in universal or targeted groups (usually for about six to twelve families)
• one-to-one
• in drop-in sessions (such as Stay and Play or child health clinics) 
• in a school or nursery.  

The programme can be used as part of a multi-agency approach to working with families – Peep practitioners work within Health, Education, Childcare, Family Support, Early Help, Children's Centres/ Family Hubs, Portage/ Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Adult and Community Learning, Social Care, Prisons, Youth work, Psychology, Libraries, Volunteering...  You can read case studies about a wide range of delivery contexts.

> The Peep Progression Pathway offers formal recognition of parents'/ carers' learning based on supporting their child's learning and development through Peep, with nationally recognised units to cover three qualification levels for parents and carers as learners. This builds parental capacity and ‘learner identity’ which research shows makes further progression into volunteering, further learning or work more likely.

> The Peep Antenatal Programme is the LTP's sister programme, and supports strong parent-baby bonding and attachment relationships during the perinatal period, beginning in pregnancy.

>  Download our Peep Learning Together Programme Overview leaflet and join us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram - all @peeplecentre. 

> Find out more about Peep Learning Together Programme Training or about holding a training course for your local staff and colleagues.