Welcome to the first edition of the Isos Partnership newsletter. We’re delighted to bring you up to speed with the work we’ve been doing in recent months, and to share some of the things we have in the pipeline.

If you want to chat to us about anything featured in this edition, or to engage with the discussions we’re having as a team, we’d love to hear from you.

Blogs and reports

Since the start of the academic year we’ve published reports and blogs on some of the key questions facing public services, including:

• How can LAs meet increasing need with diminishing budgets?

• How can trusts and schools narrow attainment gaps between ethnic groups?

• How can we make home-to-school travel services sustainable?

• What are the key enablers of improvement in children’s services?

You can see all of our recent publications here.

Talking about our work

In November, Natalie presented the findings from our research on home-to-school transport at the County Councils Network Annual Conference. With 2024 set to be a critical tipping point for council budgets, our report adds to the growing calls for urgent intervention from central government.

In January, Ben went along to IncludEd 2024 - hosted by The Difference - to present emerging findings from a two-year pilot programme we’re helping to lead, testing locality-based approaches to supporting vulnerable young people. It was a chance for us to engage with others doing pioneering work in this space, and to share the objectives the pilots are working towards.

Jodie spoke at the Nursery World Business Summit in February, to discuss how nursery providers can work constructively with local authorities to deliver the government’s expanded childcare offer. In her presentation, Jodie referenced messages we’ve heard from lower and middle income parents as part of current Isos Partnership research.

What we’re working on

• We’re leading a number of projects which seek to develop integrated support for families in the early years. Following our early years evidence review for the Government of Jersey, we brought stakeholders together for a series of roundtables culminating in a report which was welcomed by the new Education Minister. We completed an evaluation of an Early Years Integration Pilot in Rhondda Cynon Taff, with recommendations for the Welsh Government on the universal provision of enhanced support for families with young children. We’re also continuing to working alongside Thrive at Five as their learning partner and have recently completed work for Ealing Council engaging public and third sector professionals to progress thinking in the Family Hubs space

• The first batch of What Works in SEND case studies, which we’ve been developing with the Council for Disabled Children, has gone live. These case studies capture concrete examples of practices that are improving outcomes for young people with SEND in local areas. As we set out in Schools Week, the SEND system needs fundamental reform, but this won’t happen overnight. In the meantime, we need to capture and share examples of effective practice within the system as it currently stands. WWiS sets out to do just that

• We’ve taken on a range of projects on attendance and exclusion. We’ve been working with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to develop their strategy for improving attendance, and supporting Southwark Council to co-design their approach to inclusion with schools

• Our work with the Association of Education Committees Trust to support the development of new locality models for English schools continues. We’re working with 8 LAs and a Combined Authority to develop locality-based partnerships working on three themes: supporting vulnerable pupils; Combined Authorities and school improvement, and a new model of accountability

• Childcare is a significant focus of our current projects. We recently supported Camden Council with the rollout of the government’s childcare expansion, including data analysis and parent and sector engagement. We are also working with the think tank IPPR to develop national policy thinking on the delivery of funded entitlements, building on their previous Universal Guarantee proposals

On the horizon

Our wide range of projects and clients provides constant insight into thorny debates, critical issues and pressing new areas of research. Recently we’ve been developing a pipeline of future research topics that we aim to pursue and secure funding for, including:

• Understanding and responding to growing high needs in the early years

• The role of local partnerships in solving the attendance crisis

• Attainment gaps and attendance dips in Key Stage 3

• Understanding the changing profile of young people’s additional needs, including the increase in social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, speech, language and communication (SLC) needs, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

• Recruitment and retention in the wider children's workforce

• Insecure accommodation and the children's services/housing interface

Get in touch

If you want to follow up on anything we’ve covered in this edition of the newsletter, or discuss some ideas we might be able to help with, we’d love to hear from you. Or feel free to reach out to an individual member of the team.