Research report - Institute of Education, University of London

was my bit as Mum that you should be doing that and encouraging that. Mother of
Abby, girl, Group 4 (high SES, attainment as predicted).
Similar examples of stimulating early years HLEs were found for nearly every high SES child
in the CFC studies (i.e. 12 out of the 15 high SES CFCS children had medium to high early
years HLEs). Right from the start these families „cultivate‟ skills and attitudes that prepare
their children for a successful academic career. School relevant early learning activities such
as book reading are an inherent aspect of child rearing, or as one mother put it when asked
why she felt it was important to read with her child: “What else is there in life really?”
5.2.1 Effective early years Home Learning Environments (HLEs) in low SES families
High prevalence of educationally relevant early learning experiences are by no means
absent in less affluent homes, nor are they always present in high SES families. However,
qualitative and quantitative analyses from the EPPE 3-11 research (Melhuish et al., 2008;
Siraj-Blatchford, 2010) showed that children from disadvantaged backgrounds with high
attainment typically came from families that provide them with a highly favourable early
years HLE in combination with attendance at a high quality pre-school setting. These
children and families were found across different minority ethnic groups. The measures of
the early years HLE included frequency of being read to, going to the library, playing with
numbers, painting and drawing, being taught letters, being taught numbers,
songs/poems/rhymes (see Appendix 10 for more details).
In the CFCS sample we found medium to high scoring early years HLEs for just over half of
the low SES children „succeeding against the odds‟ (Group 1: Low SES, higher attainment),
compared to forty percent of their peers (Group 2: Low SES, predicted attainment). These
children (Group 1) had ample opportunities to experience activities which helped them
develop school relevant skills. Often the parents were very creative at finding enjoyable and
stimulating activities for their child that would not put an extra strain on the often limited
household budget.
„Cos we didn‟t have a lot of money, so we made things...Used to make all sorts
(laughing). We used to walk up the city and walk to parks, and we used to do art stuff
didn‟t we? We used to make a lot of things. Anything out of nothing (laughing). We
made this big dolls house out of toilet roll and glue and cardboard. We had this big
cardboard box (laughing) we put a wooden plank on the bottom, and we made it into
a dolls house. And it was really big; it was just out of toilet roll. It‟s brilliant
(laughing). Mother of Martha, girl, Group 1 (low SES, attainment higher than
predicted).
In contrast, the other eighteen children from disadvantaged families (5 girls and 4 boys who
were „succeeding against the odds‟, and 8 boys and 1 girl who were succeeding as
predicted) in the CFCS, had lower early years HLEs (i.e. lowest 40%). This certainly did not
mean children received no early learning experiences in their home environment, nor did it
necessarily mean that the quality of the experiences was low. It did indicate however, that
the frequency of experiences was lower for these children. Despite their lower early years
HLE, the analysis of the CFCS interviews showed that for all children who were „succeeding
against the odds‟ except one (i.e. the girl who had been adopted at age six), stimulating early
years HLE activities involving parents and children, such as book reading and teaching
letters and numbers, were in fact provided. One mother described an elaborate ritual she
and her son shared before bedtime that actually involved reading, rhymes and storytelling,
despite the overall lower early years HLE:
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