SQW appointed as Learning Partner for Early Years Initiative
Owing to a range of complex factors, the attainment gap – that is, the gap in academic, social and emotional outcomes between pupils from richer and poorer backgrounds – emerges early in childhood and often persists (and often worsens) throughout schooling. The pandemic has exacerbated this, hitting worse-off families harder, and therefore setting poorer children’s learning back more than their more affluent peers.
The Mercers’ Company’s Early Years Special Initiative is funded with the support of the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington and provides grants to organisations in London that use evidence-based interventions to increase young children's numeracy, literacy and language skills, and school readiness (namely, their personal, social and emotional development). Phase 1 of Mercers’ Early Years Special Initiative launched in 2019 and supported 10 organisations. Six of the Phase 1 initiatives are currently still working to conclusion. Following the success of this first phase, the Early Years Special Initiative Phase 2 was launched in 2023.
The Mercers' Company is a trustee of the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington and has commissioned SQW to be its Learning Partner for Phase 2 of the Early Years Special Initiative. SQW will support two cohorts of grantees to reflect on and develop their work throughout their funding term via the facilitation of Action Learning Sets and Learning Symposia featuring live illustrators. SQW will also conduct a series of ‘Special Projects’ to explore topics of interest to grantees in greater depth.
