Our Action Research Acorn Early Years is a learning organisation, and also aspires to be a thought leader in the early years sector. One way in which the organisation works towards this is through its action research group, which is focused on developing best practice and the organisation’s social impact. The group is made up of eight passionate graduate leaders, all of which have a keen interest in undertaking action research and promoting evidence-based practice. The action research group meets regularly and aims to conduct research that will help Acorn, and the wider sector, better understand the impact of different provision within early years care and education. Currently, Acorn's action research group is guided by two underlying themes: Acorn's charitable status and Social Impact Acorn's Relational Pedagogy and ethic of care Ethics in the Early Years Sector Acorn’s ethic of care underpins the ethos of the organisation, and doctoral research that was completed in 2023 explored how care ethics could be applied to childcare practice and how this helps to embed ethical principles. There are now plans to write a book based on the doctoral thesis, arguing that an ethic of care is needed in both policy and practice within the sector, at national and organisational levels as well as by individuals within nurseries. The Impact of Forest School on children with SEND With a range of research already available highlighting the extensive positive benefits of forest school for children, the group has begun exploring the impact of forest school specifically for children with additional needs, and their families. A sample of children (between the ages of 7-14) were observed during their holiday club forest school sessions, and this was supplemented by long-term observations by our Forest School leaders, who have known the children for a number of years. Questionnaires and follow-up interviews have also been completed, capturing the thoughts of the children’s families, and the children themselves. The group is currently analysing the findings, to highlight the key themes of impact. Sustainability Perspectives of Acorn’s Staff, Children and Families As Acorn’s eco-journey progresses and develops, it is important to understand the ways in which environmental sustainability is currently perceived and understood and thereby identify the gaps in knowledge and consequently, practice. Acorn has begun collecting the environmental perspectives of its staff team (including its Central Support Office, Nursery Managers and Deputies, Eco-Leads and the wider staff teams), children and their families. Not only will this research help to identify areas of improvement in Acorn’s eco-journey, it will also help to shape the formation of the organisation’s wider sustainability strategy. Gender Balance in Parental Involvement This longitudinal study aims to explore whether over time, there are any changing gender patterns in parent/carer involvement relating to a child’s early years, through activities such as ‘stay and play’ sessions, home-visits and parent/carer observations. The group already has two years’ worth of data and plans to analyse the findings after the third year of data has been collected. Impact of Volunteer Programme This project is taking place at Acorn’s nurseries who have recently welcomed new volunteers from the community. Through the use of tailored questionnaires and interviews (as well as observations of the children), this research project aims to explore the impact of Acorn’s volunteering programme on the volunteers, the children and the staff teams. Previous projects: Home Visits In 2019, one of Acorn’s first action research projects focused on the impact of home visits, which we believe are the ideal beginning to a child’s transition to nursery. Parents, practitioners and children all contributed to the research data, and the research background included an overview of the literature on attachment theory and transitions. The findings confirmed our impressions that home visits offer enormous benefits for families, children and practitioners. The research paper was presented to the British Early Childhood Education Research Association at their conference in 2020, but this was quickly followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that all home visits were put on hold for the next two years. They are now being re-established as a key aspect of Acorn’s settling-on process for new children.