Similar case studies

REF impact found 89 Case Studies

Currently displayed text from case study:

The Emotional Dimensions of Nursery Life and Learning

Summary of the impact

Research conducted by Peter Elfer has shown the significance of attention to babies and under threes' emotional well-being in nursery if early learning is to be effective. Children who are continually anxious or distressed do not learn well. A sensitive, responsive and consistent relationship with mainly one or two members of nursery staff (now known as the child's `key-person') has been shown to promote in young children feelings of safety and security. The research has underpinned the development of the key-person role in nurseries, as the means for enabling individual attention to children. This research has had a significant impact in the following areas:

1) UK Government curriculum guidance and requirements

2) Training of the early years workforce and continuing professional development

3) The evolution of UK Coalition Government policy and public discourse

The reach of the research is extensive, providing the underpinning for attachment practice in English nurseries. The above developments have strengthened the expectation in national standards of greater attention to the emotions of babies and young children in nursery and have provided the detailed guidance on how this can be achieved in practice.

Submitting Institution

Roehampton University

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Rapid response reports: a quick but rigorous service for policy-makers

Summary of the impact

Rapid response reports, commissioned from the IOE's Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) by the Departments for Education and Health specifically to inform policy-making, have helped to determine the financial and practical support for disadvantaged families and children in England for more than a decade. This important series of reports has achieved impact not only by producing robust findings that government departments can rely on but by building relationships of trust and mutual understanding between national policy-makers and researchers.

Submitting Institution

University College London

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Social Work

Reducing the Death and Injury of Children from Abuse and Neglect

Summary of the impact

UNICEF estimate that over 3,500 children die annually from abuse and neglect in economically developed countries, including 100 in the UK of whom around 4 are from Northern Ireland. Although the number of deaths appears to be falling in the UK, the rate of decline is slowing. This case study describes the impact of three related pieces of research undertaken for the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People. The aim was to identify the things that policy makers and practitioners could do differently in order to protect children better, and has led to significant improvements into how reviews are undertaken, and in the child protection policies and practices in Northern Ireland. As a result children have been better protected by child welfare professionals.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Social Work

Improving Provision for Children with Speech, Language and Communication Skills

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates how research into children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) has had impact by influencing government policy and legislation, improving provision for children and their parents, providing resources and support for voluntary organisations, and assisting local authorities and trusts in the management of SLCN services. The research informed the 2008 Bercow Review of Provision for Children with SLCN, which in turn led to the Department for Education (DfE) Better Communication Action Plan for improving educational provision. Further research by the team, carried out as part of this Action Plan, underpinned the All Party Parliamentary Group on Speech and Language Difficulties 2013 report and the development of the Children and Families Bill 2013. In addition, the team have collaborated extensively with practitioners and voluntary organisations including a comprehensive two-year DfE funded programme with the Communication Trust (2013-15) to educate and raise awareness of SLCN among its 50 constituent organisations and develop practitioners' knowledge and skills.

Submitting Institution

University of Warwick

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Youth custody and children’s rights in Northern Ireland

Summary of the impact

Research by Dr Una Convery and Dr Linda Moore (respectively Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Criminology) has significantly influenced rights-compliance in policy, legislation and practice regarding youth custody in Northern Ireland and beyond. Most notably, it impacted decisively on the development of innovative regimes and policies at NI's only custodial centre for children and improved their conditions. It also influenced decisions on reduced custodial levels and the removal of children from the penal system. By providing a solid evidence base, utilised by lobbyists and political representatives, the research influenced the inclusion of independent reviews of the penal and youth justice systems within the multi-party Hillsborough Agreement (2010). Its findings also assisted the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) in its successful campaign for enhanced investigatory powers.

Submitting Institution

University of Ulster

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Criminology

Improving the protection and welfare of children living in difficult circumstances in Rwanda, Bangladesh and around the world.

Summary of the impact

Research conducted at UEL on the protection, participation and welfare of children living in difficult circumstances in the aftermath of conflict and in contexts of urban and rural poverty has had wide-ranging impacts on international policy and practice. Benefits have arisen particularly from its influence on national policies for orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda; on international professional standards and `best practice'; and on legal asylum in the USA. It has been used directly by governmental policymakers in Rwanda and Bangladesh and aid organisations in Africa and Asia, and has formed the basis for the development of new learning and advocacy resources used to improve the services offered by social work professionals in Africa, Asia and the UK. Through its direct impact on these individuals and organisations, the research has delivered indirect benefits to millions of children and adults around the world.

Submitting Institution

University of East London

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Social Work

Preventing child death from maltreatment

Summary of the impact

Since 2006 the University of East Anglia (UEA) has led a series of Government commissioned studies of all Serious Case Reviews of child death and serious injury in England. This work has provided the largest national database of analyses of child deaths and serious injury where abuse or neglect are known or suspected.

Since 2008, the findings have informed public understanding, practitioner thinking, multi-agency child protection practice, policy and law - in the UK, and internationally. Both key child protection policy and practice reviews commissioned by the UK Government 2008-13, the Laming report (2009) and the Munro Review of Child Protection (2011), drew on this research.

Submitting Institution

University of East Anglia

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Social Work

Making a difference for children in Scotland and Wales

Summary of the impact

1. Between 2006-10 Open University (OU) researchers Aldgate and Rose worked with the Scottish government to develop a rights and research-based national framework, Getting it Right for Every Child. Significant parts of this framework have now been included in the Children and Young People Bill (2013), to become law in 2014. Aldgate's research into kinship care led to the introduction, in 2010, of allowances for children who are looked after within the kinship care system.

2. Rose also worked with the Welsh government to develop and implement a national framework for learning and reviewing child protection policy and practice. Statutory regulations were laid and statutory guidance was issued for their implementation from 1 January 2013.

These developments have attracted international interest.

Submitting Institution

Open University

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Social Work

Early Childhood Education and Care for Children from Birth to Three

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the impact of research into early childhood education and care (ECEC), highlighting significant findings, outputs, pathways to change and impacts for early education and care services for children under three. Impacts have been substantial, including increased awareness of this `phase'; improved access to professional development; democratic practitioner participation and improved practitioner knowledge. Additionally, influence on policy debate about childcare, changes to organisational policies and practices in the public sector, and commercial development in the private sector, are described. The reach of the impact ranges from individual to organisational levels and local to international contexts.

Submitting Institution

Canterbury Christ Church University

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Children’s physical activity: stimulating policy debate and health improvements

Summary of the impact

Research led by Professor Roger Mackett of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at UCL on children's physical activity has been used by central and local government, other public bodies and various advocacy groups to encourage children to be more active. It has been used to support policy documents and proposals aimed at improving children's health and wellbeing. It has led to improvements in the health, welfare and quality of life of many UK communities through, for example, their greater use of walking buses, which also contributes to reduced CO2 emissions.

Submitting Institution

University College London

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Filter Impact Case Studies

Download Impact Case Studies