Early Years Policies In Wales And A Post-Pandemic Future: Mixed-Methods Research Study

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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which began in March 2020 significant public health restrictions were needed in order to contain the virus and protect lives ; lockdowns and social distancing measures were put in place which disrupted everyday life including a range of services and support for all children and their families. Evidence is emerging whereby the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in society and highlighted new populations in need of support. However, research is often focused around disruption to education and the effect this will have on children’s future prospects and much less emphasis on ‘the whole child’ and what their needs are in the present .The Children and Families Division within the Welsh Government want to draw upon the expertise of academics/researchers and professionals to further understand how Welsh Government can counteract any disadvantage and delay that occurred in the early years as a result of children and their families being unable to access the usual support and intervention since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. For the purpose of this research Early Years is defined as pre-birth to age 7. The research will also consider whether Early Years policies need refining or developing in order to meet the needs of children and their families when looking forward to a post-pandemic future.Moreover, this research will help to understand how various commitments set out in the new Programme for Government published in June 2021 can be achieved, for example the Welsh Government are committed to ‘continuing to support the flagship Flying Start programme’, ‘preventing families breaking up by funding advocacy services for parents whose children are at risk of coming into care’ and ‘providing additional specialist support for children with complex needs who may be on the edge of care’. On 7th December 2021, the Welsh Government published an update to the government programme to reflect the Co-operation Agreement reached with Plaid Cymru . Extending free school meals to all primary school children and expanding early years provision for all two year olds, with a particular emphasis on strengthening Welsh medium provision, is set out as a way of improving the lives of everyone in Wales and helping to address the challenges of the aftermath of the pandemic.