£32 million ‘big bet’ home learning challenge launched

A new project aimed at improving children’s ability to learn outside of the classroom is the “big bet” to improve their life chances, a key adviser on government’s opportunity mission has said.

The £32 million “home learning challenge” will tests interventions and technology in a bid to reach Labour’s 75 per cent school readiness target by 2028.

The project was launched by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), an independent government-funded body that invests in science and innovation in partnership with the DfE.

It will pilot “innovative” solutions, with the most successful being rolled out nationwide.

The project will also help Labour deliver its pledge “to break down the barriers to opportunity”, one of its five central missions in government.

Anne-Marie Canning, opportunities mission director at UKRI, told Schools Week: “This is our big bet in terms of improving children’s life chances.”

Canning, a former chair of the Bradford “opportunity area” under the Conservatives, added: “We have really strong ‘what works’ methodology in education, which is brilliant.

“But we also need to make sure that we’re fostering innovation, because we know that there are some areas where doing things the way they’ve always been done will just not wash over the next decade or so.”

Support for dads and homeless children

UKRI’s challenge defines children’s home learning environment as having several parts, including how parents engage with their child’s learning as well as their relationship.

It also explores the availability of books, toys and “everyday resources” to youngsters.

Canning said exploring how children learn out of the classroom “touches so many different areas, from parent relationships to materials and toys, to neighbourhood safety, to playgrounds and play infrastructure.

“We knew it would be a big beast, but we’re very excited about what it might be able to do.”

Over the next three years, UKRI will offer grants with specific focus on learning outside the classroom. Organisations will then be able to bid to take part and develop their innovations.

Two funding opportunities have been announced so far. One is a £2 million project focused on supporting dads’ engagement with home learning, which Canning said would be a good opportunity to “bring dads into the mix”.

In a second project, organisations will propose wraparound support ideas for the nearly 200,000 children living in temporary accommodation.

Canning said she has spoken to one headteacher where 75 per cent of the children in their school were in temporary accommodation.

“It’s just a huge barrier to kids getting on in life.”

‘Boots on the grounds’

UKRI was “open to all sorts of innovations”, including mobile phone applications or an online platform. But there would also be “boots on the ground” interventions.

Some of the other ideas UKRI is developing include creating a “searchable repository” of local opportunities.

This could include parents being able to look up the nearest playground to local scholarship offers. There could also be “micro-grants” to provide practical help for families.

The most promising projects would be scaled up and implemented nationally, with the aim of continuing after the scheme ended.

The challenge is the second of three that form part of the “missions accelerator programme”, with the Treasury investing more than £500 million into UKRI for work that will help benefit each of the government’s mission areas.

The first challenge – launched last November – was about identifying special educational needs sooner and supporting earlier intervention, while the third and final challenge, which is yet to be launched, will be about skills and supporting youngsters not in education, employment or training.

Canning said she was keen for teachers, school leaders and educational professionals to take part in the home learning challenge.

“What we’re really clear about is that we want to create things that help schools, teachers and educators, rather than additional burdens to them.”

The project is also open to researchers, local authorities and private sector organisations.

In the past academic year, 68.3 per cent of pupils achieved the school readiness target.

But this figure only marked a 0.6 per cent increase compared with the previous year, which suggests that the pace of improvement needs to increase for the government to meet its 75 per cent target.

Canning said if the innovations worked and were rolled out widely, not only would children be more school-ready, but schools “might experience really engaged parents who know and understand they’re part of the learning journey”.

“We know that they have a massive effect, and that if we get mums and dads and carers on board, the job of schools becomes much enhanced.”