Promoting school readiness and improving child health: learning from the evaluation of the preparing for life home visiting programme.

摘要

This briefing document outlines the findings from two studies which form part of the independent evaluation of the Preparing for Life home visiting programme. It also highlights how the programme addresses key health and education issues facing policy makers today. The first study is the Children’s Profile at School Entry (CPSE) study which measured the school readiness of children entering primary school in the Preparing for Life (PFL) catchment area since 2008. This study enables a comparison of the school readiness skills of the children in the high and low treatment groups who took part in the PFL programme, as well as comparing these children to the general population in the catchment area. The second study is the Children’s Health study which was carried out in conjunction with Temple Street Children’s University Hospital. This study gathered extensive hospital utilisation and health related data on the children taking part in the PFL home visiting programme.