About us
Who We Are
Kindred² is a charitable foundation working collaboratively with partner organisations to improve early education and early child development.
Solid foundations developed in the early years are the basis of later achievement. A child’s development by 22 months serves as a strong predictor of educational outcomes at age 26.
Almost half of the attainment gap at GSCEs is there to see before children start school, and more than a quarter of children start year one of their education already at a huge developmental disadvantage to their peers.
We know that intervening early saves money. Research shows that for every £1 invested in pre-school education, £7 would be required in adolescence to have the same impact. And every £1 invested in the early years saves £13 in later interventions.
We will work to ensure that there is the widest possible understanding of the science of early child development and the long-term impact that early experiences can have on the life chances of every child.
Public definitions of educational success focus on key assessment points at 11, 16 and 18 years of age. We believe that ensuring every child is ready for school at 4 is not only important to success at these later ages but is also critical to giving every child an equal opportunity to fulfil their potential.
Our Aims
We are aiming to do three things:
Increase public awareness of the importance to us all of ensuring every child gets the best start in their early years.
Build a cross-party, independent, expert-led coalition to shift the emphasis of public policy and funding from late intervention to early prevention.
Work with politicians and policymakers to bring the new emphasis to life by restructuring the quality and quantity of early years support for children and families.
We want organisations to work with us to create and co-own the changes we seek. We believe that together, with a shared vision, the sector (charities, practitioners, private and public sector nursery providers, academics, policymakers) will have a greater impact than any single organisation can achieve alone.
The Evidence
Why early years? Because the research is clear: disadvantage starts early.
Almost half of the attainment gap at age 16 is already in place before children start school and a child’s development by 22 months serves as a strong predictor of educational outcomes at age 26.
This is because of the rate and scale of growth that takes place in the first few years of life: most of a baby’s brain is developed before they start speaking.
We know that, as an education system, the later we intervene in meeting the unmet development needs of our children, the harder it is to close the attainment gap.
There is also broad consensus on the social and economic value of investing in the early years. We know that for every £1 invested in pre-school education, £7 would be required in adolescence to have the same impact. And every £1 invested in early years saves £13 in later interventions.
Our Trustees
Kindred2 Team
