Strategic ambition
Our strategic ambition is to transform Early Years education and care in the UK, so that all children have an equal opportunity to succeed.
Our social impact
The first five years of a child’s life profoundly affect future life outcomes. Yet too many children living in poverty are left behind, as Early Years education and care in the UK is chronically underfunded.
Children who attend quality Early Years settings are more likely to graduate, less likely to be arrested and less likely to struggle with substance abuse as adults (Reynolds, 2015, online).
Quality education in areas of disadvantage
Through our social enterprise model, LEYF runs nurseries in disadvantaged areas where there wouldn’t otherwise be a high quality nursery accessible (77% of our nurseries are in the ‘most deprived’ and ‘deprived’ areas of London, versus an average of 50% throughout London). Those nurseries provide the same high quality care and education to the children while also going above and beyond to support their families and local communities.
We consistently achieve higher Ofsted ratings, with over 50% of our nurseries rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, versus 22% on average in London. The rest of our nurseries are rated ‘Good’. We can achieve these results because of our approach to enabling children’s learning and development, which is through our LEYF Pedagogy.
We ensure continuous improvement of our model and our teaching approach through Action Research projects.
Our mission and purpose
LEYF’s mission is to change the world one child at a time by creating a catalyst for long-term social change. By supporting parents back to work, generating jobs for young people and campaigning for fair Early Years policies, LEYF is helping whole communities to thrive, now and in the future.
Our Burgess Park, Wandsworth Bridge and Marks Gate nurseries support families by operating food banks and providing families with meal packs with all ingredients needed to cook an evening meal with their children. We are able to do this thanks to generous donations from partner organisations who share our values.
Getting the Early Years right benefits the whole of society. Our ideal nursery includes a mix of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, which is proven to have a positive effect on the development of all children, but particularly those from poorer backgrounds. Where possible, we employ local staff and recruit apprentices, which brings an economic benefit to disadvantaged communities.
