Flying Start is the Welsh Government’s flagship early years programme for families with children under four years old living in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Wales.
ADR Wales’ ongoing evaluation of this Programme has helped to inform the Welsh Government’s decision to continue support for Flying Start. It has also informed the decision to introduce a phased expansion of early years provision to all two-year-olds in Wales.
The Flying Start programme includes:
◦ Part-time childcare for two-to-three-year-olds
◦ An enhanced Health Visiting service
◦ Access to parenting programmes
◦ Support for children to learn to talk and communicate.
ADR Wales linked de-identified Flying Start childcare attendance data with on entry school assessment for children who received Flying Start childcare. The team found that those with higher attendance tended to meet their expected outcomes in all areas of learning more often than those with lower levels of attendance. This difference in outcomes between those with high and low attendance was even greater for children with higher take-up.
Situated under ADR Wales’ Early Years programme of work, this analysis is one of a number of pieces of work that ADR Wales is carrying out to evaluate flagship Welsh Government programmes.