Highlights from the Bettws early learning community

‘Our Bettws’: Report looking at highlights from the Bettws Early Learning Community 

Fiona Elliott, Data and Learning Lead for Save the Children Cymru looks back at what was achieved as part of the Bettws Early Learning Community in Newport over the past year and where we go from here.

Child poverty data reveals stubbornly high in the Newport West area (34.9%) and Bettws remains one of most underserved communities in Wales. To be able to better meet the needs of families and children we need to understand the ecosystem and take an informed approach based on learning and adapting.  

Bettws Early Learning Community places children and families at its centre; surrounded and supported by early years practitioners and professionals from health, education, housing and third sector organisations who are united in wanting to see children thrive in their early years.

Reflecting on this past year, it has been an exciting time of growth and empowerment. We have heard that many families are proud of the strength of community and connection in Bettws and we have seen progress in how families are raising their voices to advocate for change and influence the services and support available.

Coffee Mornings are highly valued by families

Our peer-support coffee mornings for families, running four mornings a week, have gone from strength to strength. These groups have been regularly attended by families and provide a relaxed, safe environment for them to come together to talk, play with their children and join in fun activities such as arts and crafts, games and nature walks. Parents have shared how much they value and enjoy coming to these groups – some have said their confidence has increased since joining, including their social confidence and their parenting.

“I feel more confident in general within myself…Knowing other people have the same or similar issues makes me feel more at ease.”

The ‘Stay and Play’ Pilot project was a great success!

We were delighted to see children and families engaging with our weekly ‘Stay and Play’ sessions, in partnership with Monnow Primary School which ran all through the autumn term last year. Parents valued the opportunity to connect with other families and have access for their children to play in the safety of the school grounds. As the project was such a success, we are continuing with ‘Stay and Play’ sessions on a weekly basis during term time.

“The play project after school was amazing – it not only gave my kids a change to run around and play with things they might not have at home, it was also a safe environment, so parents weren’t worried.”  

A better understanding around mental health issues

In partnership with Platfform, the mental health and social change charity, we delivered the Embrace Pilot over the year. Eighteen parents from Bettws took part in the project which aimed to enhance community mental health understanding, develop collective action skills and create space for reflection and learning to make sustainable changes.

Parents have shared with us their experiences of taking part in Embrace and how it helped enhance their understanding of their mental health, gave them space and support to process trauma, and techniques for managing their emotions in their daily lives.

“Embrace for me helps me see things in a different way. It allows me to open up and share my trauma in a safe and completely understanding environment. It shows me how mental health works and how I can then use it to accommodate to my life.”  

“I feel calmer…it’s change how interact with other people and I’m more patient with my kids.”

Giving parents a voice to influence change

Other highlights from this year include making progress in empowering families to have a voice and taken an active role in their community. The Voices for Bettws (V4B) parent group are a great example of this – they have been meeting regularly to discuss important issues and have taken opportunities to influence change. We were also delighted to see parents engaging with Welsh Government Ministers when they visited in January 2023.

Looking ahead

In the Bettws Early Learning Community, we place great emphasis on our approach to learning and value the voices of everyone we hear from. We want to thank all the families and professionals who have taken part in our research activities this year and help us develop a deeper and richer understanding of ‘our place’, putting knowledge at the heart of everything we do. 

Over the next year we will be producing a series of thematic spotlight research findings to inform the development of the Early Learning Community and to build on our understanding of the early years system to influence change that will lead to system-wide improvements .

To read the report see Our Bettws Annual Report 2023.

To learn more about Bettws Early Learning Community visit Home - Bettws Early Learning Community (bettwselc.org.uk)

Bettws ELC is part of Save the Children’s UK-wide Early Learning Communities programme.