How brands can supercharge their social impact by investing in Early Years education
The Princess of Wales’ new campaign, Shaping Us, is the latest example of a growing interest in the power of early education to shape children’s lives. It argues that “from pregnancy to age five, our brains develop faster than at any other time in our lives”.
And we know that what happens in early childhood predicts important outcomes much later in life – including exam results, salary, or physical and mental health.
Simply put, early childhood education makes the difference.
This has often been summed up by Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Heckman’s famous curve…
Yet despite the evidence, and the interest across society in the potential of early years to make a difference, many brands have not yet caught up.
It’s an untapped opportunity for brands to create social impact.
There is no shortage of high-profile initiatives from brands looking to drive educational excellence, both in the home and across almost every aspect of the curriculum. But early years often seems to be seen as the poorer cousin.
That needs to change.
Early education is a chance to build a better society. In the UK education system, there are a number of ‘learning gaps’.
Most notably, there is a significant gap in outcomes between disadvantaged and more affluent children, which emerges at the beginning of a child’s education and widens throughout their time in school.
““[Early years] is when we start to understand how to manage our emotions, build relationships with the people around us, believe in ourselves, develop resilience against adversity and have trust in others” (Shaping Us report).
There are also gaps between different places (think levelling up), ethnic groups (white working class and black Caribbean boys perform particularly badly), and those with special needs and disabilities.
Early childhood education can narrow these gaps before they become further entrenched.
If we want to build a better, fairer society, it makes sense to start early.
Whatever your brand’s social purpose, it’s likely that you can find success by working with young families and children during these crucial early years. The Heckman Curve suggests this will give the best return on your investment, too.
So, how can brands create effective early childhood interventions?
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Business voices like the CBI have been calling for a greater investment in skills for years. Brands know just how crucial these ‘soft’ skills are for a changing world of work.
While England's school system is tilted towards traditional curriculum knowledge, in the early years it’s all about building social and emotional skills - like working together nicely, communicating, and building self-regulation.
These help children to be better learners now, and set them up for success in their future lives.
We have a track record of building programmes for brands that focus on these essential skills.
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The Shaping Us campaign demonstrates just how strong the evidence-base is for focusing on the early years.
But there’s also lots of evidence about what kinds of interventions have the greatest impact. An explosion in education research gives brands the opportunity to design
programmes with the best chance of success, and target the social areas where you can add the most authentic value.
Plus, we have a large network of educators, parents and children at our fingertips who are eager to co-create the perfect solution with you.
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Generation Alpha are true digital natives. They have grown up with screens, rich digital content, and 'Kidfluencers' like Ryan – who began broadcasting at age 3 and last year earned $35 million from toy reviews.
This is the age of highly engaging content. It places the child at the centre - whether they’re skipping between short videos or moving around virtual worlds.
Brands need content that competes, without compromising on great learning. The growth of ‘nano-learning’, inspired by the short form of TikTok and Snapchat, offers one intriguing possibility.
We can help your brand identify its own unique opportunity to create engaging, child-centred content that supports learning with parents or teachers.
We specialise in creating engaging content for all ages
At Hopscotch, we know how to drive purpose through the power of education. As a social impact agency, we create work that transforms lives - getting to the heart of the issues that matter to young people, families, and communities. And we know what makes them tick.
Speak to us to find out how we can help you design innovative programmes to support children and families during early childhood, setting them up for success and creating meaningful social impact. Let’s chat.