Maria Evangelou, Kate Coxon & Kathy Sylva (2008), University of Oxford

Room to Play is an innovative drop-in style provision underpinned by the PEEP ethos and curriculum. It aims both to welcome and value all parents and carers, and to extend their existing parenting practices. Room to Play seeks to appeal to ‘excluded’ or isolated families who, for a range of reasons, may not access other services or forms of delivery. The project began in April 2006, and is funded by the Sutton Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Several recent research studies point out that it is often the services themselves that inadvertently exclude families. As Oxford University’s evaluation indicates, Room to Play has gone a long way towards overcoming these barriers and engaging with a wide cross-section of families.

Engaging families: approaches used in Room to Play

• Taking the service to the user, rather than expecting the user to come to the provider: Room to Play is based in a busy community shopping centre, and is open six days a week throughout the year.
• Effective engagement requires time, sensitivity and flexibility: relationship-building, friendship and social interaction have been some of the successful ways of supporting parents and children. Staff also help parents to ‘move on’ and access other provision.
• It is important to locate the service in attractive premises: parents say that they feel comfortable within the open-plan, home-from-home environment. They can relax with their child/ren, as well as joining in ‘messy play’ activities (such as painting, and playing with playdough, water, sand and ‘gloop’).

An independent evaluation of the project has been carried out by the University of Oxford, in three phases. The Summary at the top of the list covers all three phases, and is part of the PEEP Research series. Full reports and research briefs of all three phases can also be downloaded below.