The Child of the North Research that we do highlights the challenges and struggles of children in the North, forcing us to think how we can help to better the lives of these children.

To help us answer this we need to ask what a child needs to thrive? 

We have been part of two reports so far, with a total at 12 to be released in the coming months. Please find below links to these reports

Child of the North Report 1: Building a fairer future after COVID-19

A major new report reveals widening inequalities for children growing up in the North of England post-pandemic compared to those in the rest of the country.

The considerable costs to society and the UK’s economy of rising inequality are outlined in The Child of the North: Building a fairer future after COVID-19 report, produced by the N8 Research Partnership and Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), and written by over 40 leading academics from across the North of England, DU colleagues included.

The report looks at a wide range of factors, from child poverty to children in care, to build up a picture of the Child of the North. It sets out 18 clear recommendations that can be put in place to tackle the widening gap between the North and the rest of England.

Child of the North Report 2 : An evidence-based plan for addressing poverty with and through education settings

The second report in a year-long series – produced jointly by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives – that seeks to deliver a country that works for all children and young people, sets out a new plan to take the battle to reduce child poverty inside the school gates.

It argues that schools and nurseries are anchors in the most deprived communities and they should play a leading role in those areas with the worst child poverty.

The report calls on Government to implement three core, evidence-based recommendations:

1. Commit to a national priority of eradicating child poverty and removing the barriers to education it creates.

2. Commit to a national strategy that utilises the existing educational setting infrastructure to address child poverty.

3. Focus on “levelling up” within areas where education settings are serving the most disadvantaged communities.

With over four million children in the UK living in poverty – one million of them in the North of England –  the report highlights the negative impact that poverty is having on many children’s education and future employment prospects.

The report also highlights the link between child poverty and the current school attendance crisis, suggesting that children growing up in poverty are at increased risk of not attending school.

It showcases existing initiatives that show the positive impact that projects within the school gates can have on alleviating child poverty, including ‘Poverty Proofing the School Day’ - developed and rolled out by Children North East - and the related ‘Cost of the school day’ from the Child Poverty Action Group.  

It also sets out how universities can play an important role in raising attainment of children in their local areas. Durham University have begun to explore how they can play a role in raising the attainment of children in their area and are sponsoring a scheme to provide local schools around Durham with evidence-based programmes that support disadvantaged pupils.

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. 

Child of the North Report

A major new report reveals widening inequalities for children growing up in the North of England post-pandemic compared to those in the rest of the country.

The considerable costs to society and the UK’s economy of rising inequality are outlined in The Child of the North: Building a fairer future after COVID-19 report, produced by the N8 Research Partnership and Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), and written by over 40 leading academics from across the North of England, DU colleagues included.

The report looks at a wide range of factors, from child poverty to children in care, to build up a picture of the Child of the North. It sets out 18 clear recommendations that can be put in place to tackle the widening gap between the North and the rest of England.

The Child of the North - An evidence-based plan for addressing the autism assessment and support crisis

people (CYP) are being diagnosed as autistic. The most recent government estimate is that almost 2% of pupils in England now have an autism diagnosis, a number that has risen over recent years as awareness about autism has increased. Autistic CYP experience the world in a different way which can have an impact on social communication and interaction, interests, and can be characterised by restricted or repetitive behaviours. Autistic CYP may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention.

These factors can have a profound impact on the daily life of autistic CYP and their families, and most will face some challenges as they grow up. The education system can be difficult for some autistic CYP, particularly those at schools with very rigid policies. Only a quarter of autistic CYP say they feel happy at school – and it is perhaps unsurprising that an autistic CYP is twice as likely to be excluded from school as a child without Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).

Most autistic CYP – and their families – need some health service and other support as they grow up. Too often the gateway to receiving that support is complex. It requires an assessment to take place, yet as this report sets out, the UK has an autism assessment crisis. Thousands of CYP who need an autism assessment and support are not receiving timely help. As one parent seeking an assessment for her child told the report authors, “it was an absolute nightmare”.

Many thousands of families feel the same way, and they are being left to navigate a support system that is hampered by processing delays and long waiting lists. On average, only one in 10 CYP are receiving an appointment within 13 weeks of being referred, and as the statistics in this report show, girls and children from ethnic minority groups are even less likely to receive the support they need.

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.