Durham University is involved in the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) Child of the North research partnership. It aims to act as a new focal point for the harnessing of research evidence to achieve transformative impact for children living in the North and beyond. It will also seek to add value to the nationally and internationally significant initiatives and collaborations in this area that already exist within the region.

Co-production with children, practitioners and policy makers will be a core element of Child of the North. This will build on existing N8 strengths in engaging children and young people in participatory science, co-design and co-creation of research, and crowd-sourcing data collection. Please contact the Durham Institutional Champion, Charmele Ayadurai for more information on this partnership.

The All-Party Parliamentary Groups Child of the North Commissioned report in summer 2023 revealed a great appetite within parliament for evidence based recommendations that can shape the policies of the upcoming government in 2024. Also, there was a lot of enthusiasm expressed for a follow up report to maintain the momentum.

To successfully unpack some of the prominent issues and to address them effectively, a plan was devised to produce 12 reports by launching one report per month in 2024. The idea of showcasing a series of reports with each report addressing a single topic is to highlight how the same fundamental themes keep emerging, and this will have a far greater impact.

The 12 reports will ensure politicians stay focussed on developing policies that will improve outcomes for children and young people, and helps ensure these policies are based on the best possible evidence.

To ensure the 12 reports are taken seriously by the next government a campaign on “Children First Government” was actioned. The reports will sit as a backbone as a year long campaign to ensure that the upcoming government puts children first by enacting the policies to address the problems so clearly and upsettingly laid out in the original Child of the North Report. Child of the North: Building a fairer future after COVID-19

Below you will find links to 12 reports that have been prepared and released over the last year. 

Report 1 - An evidence-based plan for addressing the autism assessment and support crisis

The report highlights troubling statistics of children with autism awaiting assessment, help and support. With calls for more assessments to take place in nurseries and schools while providing more support for autistic children before diagnosis and to establish cohesive partnerships between schools, health, voluntary services and universities to transform the support autistic children receive.

Report 2 - An evidence-based plan for addressing poverty with and through education settings

Despite the UK being one of the wealthiest economies in the world, with favourable economic conditions and rising wealth associated with the years between 2012 and 2021, this has worryingly not been translated into reductions in child poverty. The report makes it clear that the new government plan needs to incorporate a targeted programme of funding to support schools, targeted extension of Universal Free School Meals in schools, a child poverty unit in No.10 and Government Poverty Tsar to drive improvements.

Report 3 - Improving mental health and wellbeing with and through education settings

This report showcase the grim reality of our current mental health support system for children with a dire state outlook for the future if dedicated funding is not available. The report calls for early support for neurodivergent children, NHS information hubs to signpost appropriate local mental health support to children and parents, expansion of mental health support offered through schools and education settings as well as addressing workforce crisis by empowering teachers with trainings on building a wellbeing classroom for children while encouraging psychologists to support schools.

Report 4 - An evidence-based plan to build the foundations of a new "Sure Start" in and around education settings

The “Sure Start” programme made significant strides in educational outcomes, health outcomes and boosting parental employment of disadvantaged children. Yet, decreased funding resulted in centre closures. The report shows how schools can build bridges with “outside school gate services, programmes and activities” such as mental health services, youth work, dental care, breakfast clubs, holiday clubs amongst others to meet the needs of local children and services.

Report 5 - An evidence-based plan for supporting physical activity and healthy nutrition with and through education settings

Lack of physical activity of 60+ minutes a day, not consuming the recommended 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables and consumption of double the recommended daily sugar limits has resulted in child obesity crisis, crippling the NHS further. This report urges for a clear nutrition standards for every food and drinks displayed in schools, free fruit and vegetable provisions for schools, expand provision of school breakfast clubs while widening the entitlement to free school meals and provision of healthy start scheme.

Report 6 - An evidence-based plan for addressing the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) assessment and support crisis

This report reveals an average wait for ADHD assessment takes almost 4 years in Yorkshire and Humber areas for 19-25 years. This needs to be addressed by better connect systems to facilitate earlier identification of SEN(D) and the provision of more appropriate support. While children with SEN(D) are more persistently absent from school, three times more likely to be suspended from school and “Not in Employment, Education or Training” (NEET) at 16-17 years of age. Holistic measures needs to be put in place i.e. Electronic Development and Support Tool (EDST) and Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) to identify and support pupils with increased likelihood of having SEN(D). Improved and extended training is equally vital for SEN(D) professionals and families.

Report 7 - An evidence-based plan for upskilling our children and young people for digital futures

Covid-19 pandemic amplified the lack of access to suitable device for home study and digital skill shortages. This report outlines minimum digital living standard framework  to ensure every household has access to digital infrastructure, enhancing digital inclusivity in schools through Continuing Professional Development for educators and creating a national Digital Creativity  “Skills Commons” to foster cross-sectional partnerships and network development.

Report 8 - An evidence-based plan for improving children’s oral health with and through education settings

An appalling statistic of fewer than four out of ten children in England have good oral health showcases reducing sugar consumption through policy actions such as expanding levy on sugary sweetened milk and soft drink industry. Restrictions on food marketing, advertising and promotions while banning the sale of caffeinated energy drinks to under 16 year olds and optimising exposure to fluoride are some interventions for oral health improvements.

Report 9 - An evidence-based approach to supporting children in the preschool years

Preschool children readiness shows a great divergence between the North (59% in Manchester) and the South (84% in London). Children who are not school ready are more likely to be NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) by the ages of 16-17. This calls for boosting language skills through The Nuffield Early Language Intervention Preschool, initiatives that provides ideas for fun, low or no-cost activities for families with young children that aim to help children develop the skills, language, and resilience needed for starting school and beyond through 50 things to do before you’re five and Sheffield Small Talk speech and language therapy clinic to help all SEND preschool children.

Report 10 - An evidence-based plan for improving school attendance

This report reveals persistent absence and/or non-attendance rates of pupils from disadvantaged background, with Education Health Care plan and pupils identified as young carers. Creative and inspirational programmes such as Wirral Emotionally Based School Avoidance Strategy (EBSA) using a telepresence robot that enables children to access their education remotely; Bradford SAFE Taskforce initiated a variety of carefully designed, evidence-based interventions across 18 schools in the city to improve children’s attendance, behaviour, and engagement with their education. R Place was set up to bridge the gap between long term non-attendance and education for students aged 13-16 with social, emotional, and mental health needs who are finding it difficult to meet the expectations of mainstream education.

Report 11 - An evidence-based plan for addressing childhood vulnerability, crime and justice

This report finds astonishing number of children entering the criminal justice system. This calls for an urgent need and action to set up a holistic child centred approach where public services work together to identify and address reasons why children often or become victims of crime. The focus should be more on Developing a more inclusive school system that supports vulnerable pupils, including training to help school staff to recognise SEND, neurodiversity, and signs of distress and trauma is crucial. Community-based programmes are also encouraged to provide safe and constructive outlets for children, steering them away from harmful environments and potential criminal involvement are urgently needed.

Report 12 - An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity

Lack of funding in state schools have resulted in 93% of children being excluded from arts and cultural education. Thus, a career in arts, music and culture has become unreachable despite children’s talent. Northumberland based Mortal Fools and Dance Action Zone Leeds in the North are great examples. Children are given opportunities to co-create compelling, socially relevant, and high-quality theatre, film, and creative projects with young people, artists, producers, schools, arts venues, and communities. Dance is also used as a tool to combat health inequalities and improve physical and mental health among local children.

Be involved

We are always looking for anyone who is interested or is currently working on the following areas (but not limited to this):

As the health and wellbeing of a child is dependent on external factors. We are equally interested in research that helps the North East covering the following areas (but not limited to this):

If any of the above speaks to your research and interests please get in touch with us.

Looking to the future, we are looking to build upon this webpage to showcase the great work we are currently engaged in or are looking to engage in. This page will then act as a platform to link us to our industry partners and universities in the North East. Collaboratively we will create an extraordinary piece of work that will help improve the lives of many people especially the children living in the North East of England.

Please find below some useful links and information. 

The long-term consequences of long-term disadvantage - report to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership

The above new report on the long-term consequences of long-term disadvantage is likely to be of interest. The report has been produced for the Northern Powerhouse Partnership by FFT Education DataLab, and the key findings are summarised below.

The report found that:

• Pupils eligible for FSM whilst at school are less likely than their peers to be in education or employment aged 22 and are more likely to be in receipt of workless benefits. 
• The length of time a young person is in receipt of at FSM represents a clear social gradient in terms of decreased employment and long-term education outcomes. 
• Lower qualification rates at the end of compulsory schooling persist into early adulthood, including lower rates of degree-level study. The gap in educational outcomes established at 16 never recovers. 
• Those who were long-term disadvantaged were most likely to go on to a sustained positive destination of they lived in London (69%) and least likely if they lived in the North East (54%). 

Making schools better for disadvantaged students by Stephen Gorard, Beng Huat See, Nadia Siddiqui, Durham University.

Around the world, governments, charities, and other bodies are concerned with improving education, especially for the lowest-attaining and most disadvantaged students. Making Schools Better for Disadvantaged Students presents detailed research into how poverty affects student segregation and underachievement in schools. It contains the first ever large-scale evaluation of how funding can best be used to lower the poverty attainment gap for disadvantaged students.

Drawing on a wealth of empirical research from England, India, and Pakistan as well as worldwide reviews of relevant studies, the book presents high-quality evidence on the impact of funding policy initiatives, such as the Pupil Premium funding in England, and the many variations of similar schemes worldwide. It analyses education measures which have been put in place and discusses ways in which these can be used efficiently and fairly to allocate funding to students who are persistently at risk of underachievement. The book is unique in synthesising many forms of evidence from around the world and finding a definition of educational disadvantage that can be used fairly across different contexts.

Offering significant implications for ways to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged students, the book will be essential reading for students of education policy, sociology of education and educational practices, and all researchers, school leaders, and policy-makers working in this area.