From birth to age eight, children take the first steps in a lifelong learning journey. Young children are actively observing their world and learning from it from the moment of birth. The quality of a child’s early experiences makes a critical difference as their brains develop, providing either strong or weak foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life. In their first three years, children develop physically, cognitively and emotionally at a faster rate than at any other time in their lives. Children’s brains are built, moment by moment, as they interact with their environments. In the first few years of life, more than one million neural connections are formed each second – a pace never repeated again.

• Young children thrive when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning. General cognitive processes, emotional and social development of children are critical for their success in school and in later life. Research has also shown that much more is going on cognitively, socially, and emotionally in young children – including infants – than scientists or care and education professionals previously knew. CEPERD focuses on meeting the needs of children from disadvantaged communities and dual language learners, engaging and supporting families, and building the capacity of educators and communities to sustain improvements.
• CEPERD supports good early childhood development with research to improve future opportunities, school attainment and even earning potential
• CEPERD supports, designs, studies, and scales up programmes that enhance school readiness and success.
• CEPERD supports educators and policymakers with research on psychological and physiological development, how children at different stages of development interact in school, and the effectiveness of policies and programmes designed to support child development.
• CEPERD supports children’s cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and behavioural growth; understands how children develop and learn and predicts future behaviour and guide teachers teaching methods.