Research and Evaluation
The aims of the local and national evaluation of HeadStart are to identify whether the programme is making an impact on young people’s resilience and mental wellbeing and to understand which elements of support are associated with the most positive outcomes for children.
The Wellbeing Measurement Framework
To support the evaluation, an online survey, the Wellbeing Measurement Framework (WMF), has been developed to ask young people about their general wellbeing, resilience and mental health.
How we do this
The survey takes place annually in the spring term for five years with two groups of young people in secondary schools participating in the programme:
- A ‘longitudinal’ group being followed year-on-year as they progress through secondary school, starting in Year 7
- A ‘snapshot’ group, which involves administering the survey to each Year 9 group.
- Students were also surveyed in 2019 when they were in Year 7.
Year 5 and 6 students in participating primary schools can also take part in the survey.
Survey findings for 2020/21
Just under 4,800 students took part in the wellbeing school survey in 2021 across the HeadStart Kent schools (Year 9 as the snapshot year group and Year 11 as part of the longitudinal cohort surveyed every year).
The number of students who took part was greatly reduced due to the disruption of the pandemic. The findings below relate to students who took part in the mainstream and grammar schools.
Year 9 and Year 11 students surveyed in 2021
- Areas of strength were behaviour, empathy and feeling supported by their peers, the community, and their families.
- Older students had a slightly better appraisal of their wellbeing and reported less behavioural and attention difficulties, and difficulties with their peers.
- Female students reported significantly more emotional and attention difficulties than males. They also had a significantly less positive appraisal of their wellbeing and reported they felt less able to manage their emotions or cope with stress than males.
- Male students reported significantly lower levels of empathy and willingness to help others than females. They also reported they felt significantly less supported by their peers than females.
Positives | Challenges |
Older students with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) had a slightly more positive appraisal of their wellbeing and reported fewer emotional difficulties than those without SEND. They also reported they felt better supported in school. |
Older students eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) reported significantly more behavioural and attention difficulties, and difficulties with peers, compared to those not eligible for FSM. They also reported significantly lower levels of empathy and willingness to help others. The significant differences in these categories were also shown when comparing SEND and non-SEND students. |
Longitudinal cohort 1 (the same students surveyed every year from 2017 until 2021)
Positives | Challenges |
Compared to when they were in Year 7, this year’s Year 11 students reported fewer behavioural difficulties and reported they felt better supported by their peers. |
Compared to when they were in Year 7, this year’s Year 11 students reported more emotional difficulties and had a less positive appraisal of their wellbeing, particularly females. |
Longitudinal cohort 2 (the same students surveyed in 2019 and 2021)
Positives | Challenges |
Compared to when they were in Year 7, this year’s Year 9 male students reported fewer emotional difficulties and reported they felt more able to manage their emotions and cope with stress. |
Compared to when they were in Year 7, this year’s Year 9 students had a less positive appraisal of their wellbeing, particularly females. |
Snapshot Year 9 (the Year 9 students surveyed each year – different students / same age)
Positives | Challenges |
Compared to the 2017 Year 9 students, the 2021 Year 9 students reported fewer behavioural difficulties, particularly males. | Compared to the 2017 Year 9 students, the 2021 Year 9 students had a less positive appraisal of their wellbeing, particularly females. |
Evidence briefings, learning updates and case studies produced by the HeadStart National Learning Team are available.
Local evaluation
In addition to supporting the national evaluation, the local evaluation aims to answer questions under the five objectives:
- Understand the level and extent of awareness of HeadStart.
- Explore and evidence how the programme is being implemented.
- Evidence the extent to which HeadStart is reaching and engaging with its target population.
- Describe and measure the effect HeadStart has on young people and their outcomes.
- Describe whether, and in what ways, HeadStart is facilitating system change in school and community approaches to young people’s mental health.
The local evaluation uses systematic and rational approaches to research and analysis, combining data from relevant sources to produce robust and valid reports.
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Kent Resilience Hub and MoodSpark Website Evaluation Report
A range of interviews, focus groups and surveys were carried out with various stakeholders to explore their views around awareness, use, best features, and potential improvements of the websites.
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Young people's thoughts, feelings and coping strategies report
The aim of this research report was to find out what problems or difficulties young people were facing in their daily lives and what coping strategies or sources of support they were using.
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HeadStart Kent 2019/20 year-end report: Reaching and engaging the target population
HeadStart Kent (HSK) continues to further expand the reach of the programme at all levels and to the intended target populations. Find out how in this report.
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HeadStart Kent 2019/20 year-end report: System change in school and community approaches to young people’s mental health
There is evidence that over the past year HeadStart Kent (HSK) has taken strategic steps in facilitating system change in school and community approaches to young people’s mental health. This report highlights some of the key findings.
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HeadStart Kent 2019/20 year-end report: Outcomes of young people supported by HeadStart Kent
See the most recent year end report for outcomes of young people supported by HeadStart Kent
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HeadStart Participation Evaluation Report 2019/20
Participation and Coproduction: what effect do they have on the outcomes of young people?
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A whole school approach: how does it help to build the resilience of young people?
There are many actions schools can take to embed a whole school approach and build the resilience and improve the emotional wellbeing of their students. However, when speaking to staff and students in some of the HeadStart Kent schools, they had similar views on certain topics.
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Year-end Report 2018/19
Over the past year awareness of HSK has improved and positive engagement was received from stakeholders.
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Training Summary Report
This report combines evidence collated from a range of quantitative and qualitative sources to summarise the performance and outcomes of the training provided by the HeadStart Kent (HSK) delivery partners up to March 2019.
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Qualitative Insight Report Additional Support - Provider and Young Person’s Perspectives
This document summarises learning from interviews with staff from the HeadStart Kent Level 3 additional support delivery partners commissioned by the programme and also young people who received the support.
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Qualitative Insight Report Year 2 Early Help and Preventative Services Implementation Interviews
This document summarises the learning from the second wave of interviews with Early Help & Preventative Services staff involved in the delivery of HeadStart Kent.
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Qualitative Insight Report Year 2 School Implementation Interviews
This document summarises the learning from the third wave of interviews with staff in HeadStart Kent secondary schools.
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Year-end Report 2017/18
This report combines all of the findings from 2017-18