A revolutionary early years educational programme is being celebrated by Glasgow City Council, supporting the social and emotional development wellbeing of children.
The programme, named Think Equal, looks to improve critical thinking, self-esteem, empathy and relationship skills within children, with this being done to develop individual and societal progress. This will give children the tools that they need to deal with the challenges that life presents, as well as reducing the risk of harmful behaviour in later life.
More than 390,000 children across 30 countries have been reached by the programme and Glasgow’s initial rollout will ensure that half of all the nursery schools across the region will benefit. This will mean that around 3,000 three to six-year-olds will be supported in the first year of operation within Glasgow.
City Convenor for Education and Early Years Cllr Christina Cannon said:
"We are always looking at innovative and ground-breaking ways in which to complement our well-established nurturing principles which are embedded in schools and nurseries across the city to support our children, young people, and staff.
"Think Equal will be a useful addition to our learning and teaching resources and I am delighted that Glasgow is the first city in Scotland to be able to provide this revolutionary programme by joining forces with Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU) and British Airways.
"Our children and families deserve the very best and to be equipped with the skills to help them navigate life's challenges “
"We are very interested to see the research and data over the next few months as Think Equal is rolled out across our nurseries.
"We know, via our nurture initiative, that early intervention works."
Jimmy Paul, Head of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, also commented:
"The SVRU's vision for Scotland is that it is the safest country in the world to live in and our public health model to achieving that goal supports pilot projects working in the primary prevention arena.
"This vision is only achievable if we all work together, this includes making sure young people have the best start in life, to allow them to grow and reach their full potential.
"The delivery of the Think Equal programme aims to support staff working in the early years settings who are helping to lay the positive foundations for children, allowing them to build their confidence and self-esteem while teaching them about respect, empathy and kindness."
Greater Manchester also adopted the programme, with it being rolled out to 965 reception classes and 659 nurseries across the region and 42,000 children benefitting. Education authorities, NHS mental health care and the violence reduction unit all contributed to funding the project.
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