It shows:

• Schools are leading the way in developing initiatives for children’s wellbeing - blending health, education, and community development
• Early intervention using video feedback approaches works to prevent pre-school behaviour problems
• New evidence of the vital role that children and young people can play in shaping services

The report’s editors welcomed the Government’s proposals to expand Best Start family hubs. There are plans for at least one in every local authority by April 2026 and 1,000 by the end of 2028. Best Start Hubs aim to be a one stop support centre for families.

However, the Child of the North report highlighted that schools have been running initiatives for some time that offer a range of hub-like models that are locally accessed, responsive to community needs, and better link education and health.
This means the Government is missing an opportunity to integrate Best Start into the educational system in communities, in a way that meets children’s educational, health and wellbeing needs and massively expands hub numbers.
The report authors recommend Best Start should evolve into a truly integrated model that will:

• Meet children’s health, wellbeing and educational needs in a ‘one stop shop’
• Better link education and health provision
• Take actions to make partnership working in communities more likely to happen and be effective

Professor Liz Todd, from Newcastle University’s School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, who led the report, said:
“There are many schools that are already collaborating with local charities and health authorities to address gaps, involve the community and provide activities for children and families. The government is really missing a trick here if it doesn’t develop a new more locally based and community relevant hub model around schools.”
Fellow editor Dr Simon Pini, Senior Research Fellow in the University of Leeds’ School of Medicine said:
“Our education system is far too focussed on academic outcomes in the way that pupils and schools are assessed and how resources are funded and organised.
“A shift to focussing on the holistic care and personal development of our young people and the people around them will be a benefit to our society without detracting from academic and economic outcomes. A significant step forward will be to invest in and further develop school hubs for holistic care.”
Dr Matthew Mathai, Consultant Paediatrician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and also a report editor said:
“Schools are the beating heart of our communities. They are places where learning, wellbeing, and opportunity can come together powerfully. By creating Best Start Hubs around them, we have an extraordinary chance to bring the NHS 10 Year Health Plan to life, making a real, tangible difference for children, families, and neighbourhoods. Together, we can transform schools into thriving centres where children and young people achieve their potential and communities flourish.”
The campaign was launched at the National Opportunity Summit hosted in Leeds, where Minister Josh MacAlister pledged his support towards building a country that works for all children on his first day as Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department for Education.
#ChildrenFirst builds on a major series of reports produced last year on key topics identified by Northern child health leaders as major issues of concern, including poverty, special educational needs, school attendance and mental health. The reports included evidence-based plans and recommendations for policymakers to help address these issues.
The #ChildrenFirst campaign also includes the launch of toolkits designed to help schools, child health workers and local authorities take practical steps to improve the health and wellbeing issues faced by the children and young people in their care.
The toolkits are published on a weekly basis over the 12 week period from September 12th alongside the re-released reports in the ‘A country that works for all children and young people’ series, which were produced jointly by Child of the North – a collaboration between the N8 Research Partnership and Health Equity North – and the Centre for Young Lives think tank.
The toolkits provide evidence and suggestions about how all parties can work together to build a country that works for all children and young people. The goal is to ensure alignment between practitioners on the ground and government’s work on the Opportunity Mission to make certain that every child has the best possible start in life.
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:
"The evidence is clear - support for children and families in the early years has long-lasting and far-reaching benefits. The extra investment for Best Start Hubs is very welcome and recognises the importance of getting it right in the first few years of a child’s life.
"Many schools are already showing how they can play a leading role in breaking the glass ceiling that holds back so many of our children. It is crucial that this excellent good practice is built upon and expended to maximise the chances of boosting opportunity for all children, from their earliest years and throughout their childhood."
Each of the 12 reports is based on in-depth research carried out by academic experts in children and young people’s health and wellbeing from universities across the North of England and beyond, including N8 Research Partnership members Leeds, Manchester, Durham, York, Lancaster, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, the University of Bradford, and others.
The policy recommendations made in the reports have helped to shape the Government's Opportunity Mission - the goal of which is to break down the link between a person’s background and their future success, and giving children the best start in life.
Professor Mark Mon-Williams, who edited the report series, said:
“We are facing a national emergency with record levels of children from disadvantaged areas arriving in schools without the core skills they need to achieve and thrive and with poor health. This report shows that there is a fantastic opportunity for government to achieve its Opportunity Mission by making best use of the UK’s wonderful education system”.
Reimagining Sure Start update: Scaling Best Start to best start ever is edited by Liz Todd, Professor of Educational Inclusion at Newcastle University, Dr Simon Pini, Senior Research Fellow at Leeds University and Dr Matthew Mathai, Consultant Pediatrician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Further information
Child of the North
Child of the North is a partnership between the N8 Research Partnership and Health Equity North and includes partners from across the North of England. Its vision is to develop a platform for collaboration, high-quality research, and policy engagement to support fairer futures for children living in the North of England.
N8 Research Partnership
The N8 Research Partnership is a strategic collaboration between the universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and York, and aims to maximise the impact of this research base to enable business innovation and societal transformation. N8 creates programmes involving a critical mass of world class academics which form networks of innovation excellence with partners in other sectors, to drive investment and economic growth.