Kate launches new campaign about importance of early childhood?

[AllOutofEverything]

I have been reading about how Kate is launching a new awareness raising campaign about the importance of early childhood.
I had thought she launched this years ago and since then we have had the survey with the 5 big questions, her visits to nurseries, and her meetings with Early Years experts. I can't see how this is any different from what was announced in the past?

Many, many children don't. Ask any childcare provider, infant school teacher. You're just arguing for the sake of it now.

@AllOutofEverything Can you tell us in which ways the early years matter?

This is 101 initial questions of any campaign development. If you can't answer that, then the campaign has not been thought out.
It really is not over critical, it is what I would be expected to be able to answer about any projects I work on. And I am low paid, not someone who is senior.

@AllOutofEverything sounds like you need to contact the organisation and interrogate them directly. Please report your findings.

Okay I am going to leave this discussion. Those defending this are not prepared to answer incredibly basic questions about the campaign. I suspect because there is no real campaign, it is just pr for Kate.

p.s. It is not nit picking. Charles would have been able to answer these questions about Princes Trust and I know from an interview I watched with Philip he could also answer the same questions about D of E. That is because they are decent well thought out projects.

It seems that it’s less than 99%. It is less than 1 in 5 as mentioned in this BBC article

The campaign plans to increase public awareness of the significance of the first five years of life, in terms of the future physical and mental well-being of adults.
Amanda Berry, chief executive of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, which is funding the project, said a recent survey showed a deficit in public awareness.
"Less than one in five people understood the unique importance of the first five years of our lives," she said.
"During our earliest years, more than a million connections between the nerve cells in our brain are formed every second - faster than at any other time in our lives," said expert adviser Prof Eamon McCrory, a neuroscientist at University College London.
"These connections drive our development, building the foundations for all future learning, behaviour, and health," he said.

None of us work on it you know. You seem cynical and wilfully misunderstand what it's about.

People have provided responses to your questions but you're so against the project (I'm assuming purely because of who is promoting it rather than because of the subject matter) that you're not prepared to read the information provided.

Based on the 5 questions survey, only one fifth of parents selected 0-5 years old.

Which period of a child and young person’s life do you think is the most important for health and happiness in adulthood?
Start of pregnancy to 5 years
5-11 years (primary school)
11-16 years (secondary school)
16-18 years (further education)
18-24 years (young adulthood)
All equally important
Don’t know

So people did not recognise 0-5 years as the most important. That is not the same as thinking early years do not matter.

Maybe it shows that:
"Less than one in five people understood the unique importance of the first five years of our lives," she said.
"During our earliest years, more than a million connections between the nerve cells in our brain are formed every second - faster than at any other time in our lives," said expert adviser Prof Eamon McCrory, a neuroscientist at University College London.
"These connections drive our development, building the foundations for all future learning, behaviour, and health," he said.

@Coxspurplepippin That is not true. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you do not understand what an outcome is.

I thought you woz leaving the thread........

'The campaign plans to increase public awareness of the significance of the first five years of life, in terms of the future physical and mental well-being of adults.'

Public awareness does not translate into action if there is no public policy and public or charitable funding behind it.

This has already been said by some Australian research about two years ago.

Almost word for word

I must be reading the reports differently as I am seeing lots of highlighting of gaps and then suggestions for action - some examples I've seen below.

The Big Change: Starts Small reports findings that are reflected in the parental perceptions survey (and supported by wider sector evidence) - so absence of recognition around social and emotional development is backed up by parental perceptions and then loops back to a recommendation about increasing awareness of SED alongside usual milestones/nutrition etc and a link to how programmes like tiny happy people can help achieve.

Similarly, the lost costs of not supporting the early years are quantified at £13.6 billion which makes it easier for other sector campaigners to demonstrate how investment in their programmes can reduce that deficit - with specific examples about how investing in maternal mental health would benefit.

There are calls for action/recommendations that go beyond govt - so calling on employers to think about supplementing statutory paid leave (and equalising it) but suggesting employers learn from each other as to the commercial benefits of such an approach.

The report praises Sure Start but cautions of need to avoid stigmatising needing help and recognising the cultural shift we need to go on so everyone is able to ask for and offer help - link to parental perceptions survey here too (suggestions about scaling up peer support as one solution to this). The report also highlights absolute need to address poverty.

To me this seems like an iterative process - each element of research/campaign is contributing to a wider (hopefully) transformative goal. Will it be news to some people, absolutely not - but when the research demonstrates there are public perceptions that suggests information isn't as accessible or disseminated as it could be then perhaps there is still a journey to go on.

Childhood engendered inequality is what Grint would call a 'wicked problem or wicked issue' - and those issues need systems leadership - creating a narrative that highlights the challenge and why other people should give a damn about it and then moving onto what are we going to do then. I think this is where the work of the CfEC is at. Now, it may be that it needs to go further and become a grant giving CfEC alongside its research, campaign roles and maybe that's her vision too - who knows.

In fact, there's so much online already about the importance of the first five years. Seems like this campaign is piggy-backing on stuff that is already done? I hope it comes up with something new otherwise it is just copying research and majorly embarrassing.

As I've said before, as someone with literally no skin in the game I don't understand how everything she actually does is a problem. It's nonsensical because if Meghan did it it would be a cause to get behind. It literally befuddles me. Surely on a parenting website early years support would have support!

You haven't read up on it either.

If it is to be meaningful and we are to assess the impact that Kate has had we need a clear set of objectives, timelines and deliverables and a means of monitoring them. And it has to be added value not just things that would have happened anyway given the coordinating of the current leadership team. If we had those then we could assess the value of Kate's involvement and praise (or criticize her on that basis). Does such a framework exist ?

I've used the AI bot to get up to speed....

How can we measure the impact that Kate middleton will have on the early years of children ?

Measuring the impact that Kate Middleton will have on the early years of children can be challenging, as it is often difficult to quantify the effects of advocacy and awareness-raising efforts. However, some possible indicators of impact could include:

1.Changes in policies and programs: If her advocacy leads to changes in government policies or programs related to early childhood development and well-being, this would suggest a significant impact.

2.Increased public attention and awareness: If her work results in increased media coverage and public discourse on the importance of supporting children's early years, this would indicate that she is having an impact.

3.Increased funding and support for relevant organizations and initiatives: If her advocacy leads to increased funding and support for organizations and initiatives that focus on early childhood development and well-being, this would be another sign of her impact.

4.Improved outcomes for children: Ultimately, the most significant indicator of impact would be improvements in outcomes for children, such as better health, education, and well-being. This could be measured through long-term studies and evaluations of relevant programs and initiatives.

It is worth noting that the impact of individual advocacy efforts can take time to become fully apparent, and may be difficult to quantify in the short-term.

Kate's never had a job with targets and responsibilities... and it shows.

Oh please.

Meghan was blamed for killing both Phillip and Elizabeth. She's blamed for the starving children of Britain, and for Louis subbing his toe. She most certainly never gets praised for any thing.

I agree, it is a shame that they are pitted against each other, but the tabloid media and Brits who support that toxicity only have themselves to blame.

An honest view would be given past perfomance and attention to detail then it's far too early to call whether Kate will materially make a difference in actual real outcomes in improvements for early children years. Coming back in a year we should be able to see if it is more than just a photo op to placate her critics and probably 5 years before we can see if it is something of real and lasting worth.

No one ever doubts the Prince's Trust or DoE Awards and that's the benchmark of success. Before anybody say "but Meghan" she is a senior working royal and therefore is accountable to much higher standards. Same goes for William.

Or if the role is to dress up nicely and go out and glad hand people and wave flags and stuff and do puffery pr, sort of "fire and forget" events then make that clear that effective action isn't really required. Let's have that debate.

It must be said at 40+, it's a bit late in the day to getting stuck in , habits and behaviours tend to be embedded into perosnalities by this age. If I was their manangment line I would be putting them on notice of improvements needed and considering the future of their place in the organisation if those improvements weren't forthcoming.

I'm glad she's doing this. I hope it comes up
Again and again. It is so important.

What I hope she does with it next though is RAM HOME that fathers also have responsibility in 0-5 years too. The only criticism I have of her doing this is that by the nature of her being a woman, it implicitly signals that it's up to mothers. It comes across as very nice and very feminine (partly because that's how she comes across).

This is NOT women's work. I'm not blaming adult mental health problems on fathers' behaviour before age 5, but so many women struggle mentally trying to be a good mum while carrying the burden if so much else in family life. If parenting needs an improvement, the biggest change could come from targeting men as a whole (to change expectations that mum will do most of the work) and fathers.

A second massive difference would come from the support single mothers get. CMS is a joke. Nobody can parent with patience if they're tired after a 12 hr shift (if they even have child care) need to get to the food bank, have a cold home and clothes they can't afford to wash yet. I know this impacts two parent families too, but its disproportionately single mothers who are in this situation.

If the first 0-5 years are so important then it's not only education that's required. It's implementation of the education. Supporting those who are socioeconomically most at risk of developing MH problems later, to receive the fruits of that education is important.

I have to admit to not following what Kate does that closely. From the few clips I've seen of her with her kids though, she's clearly learning and enacting what she's learnt - good on her. She clearly has the support to enable her to do that, never the less, she is thinking about it and doing it. It seems to be a strong interest of hers and I wish her the courage to really make an impact. That will require courage, because it will require saying things that upset some people and she seems like someone who tries to avoid that at all costs.

I have to say @crapcrapcrapcrapcrap That TED talk was really good, I was blown away with it, it was so well done. Really worth watching....'peek-a-boo really can change the world'

I just hope that Kate can engage in the same way. I did not like the Shaping Us video that is being shown in cinemas at the moment, it just didn't have any punch but who knows whether she was involved in that decision to have plasticine figures. There is nothing like little children to captivate an audience and make you sit up and listen. And that's what that TED talk did. It was so well done.

Here is Shaping Us
www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1728440/Kate-Middleton-video-early-years-campaign-early-childhood-Princess-of-Wales

@daretodenim
Great post and so agree on a father's role which is why it was so good to see that it was Dad and toddler interacting in the TED talk I have just watched that was linked on here. Not Mum, but Dad.