Enrolments reach record highs
The number of children benefiting from Zippy's Friends has now passed 50,000, with record numbers enrolling for the current school year.The programme, which helps young children to develop coping skills, is now being taught in kindergartens and schools in ten countries. The latest to join is Iceland, where classes started last month.
The first significant pilot of Zippy's Friends was in 2000/01 and involved 1,130 children. By last year enrolment had risen to 11,780, and this year it has almost doubled again, to 22,997.
The country with the most extensive programme is Lithuania, where 7,713 children are taking part, but the most dramatic growth this year is in Hong Kong and Poland. In both places, successful first year pilots have led to major expansion. In Hong Kong, enrolment has risen from 287 children to 3,200, and in Poland it has shot up from 358 to 4,140.
The Polish programme, called Przyjaciele Zippiego, began in eleven kindergartens and four primary schools in Warsaw, but there are now plans to deliver it to 200 kindergartens and primary schools across the country. This has been made possible by the support of OKI Printing Solutions, which has sponsored the production of Polish teaching materials.The company's director, Piotr Nowak, said: 'The idea of the programme is really valuable. Generally, the main attention is paid on the physical health of children - on eating and dressing and encouraging them to practise sport. Usually, it is forgotten that emotional health and good wellbeing, as well as self-perception, functioning in the group and overcoming difficulties, are very important. The earlier we teach children how to cope with the difficulties, the better they will overcome problems later through their life.'
Other countries to record strong growth rates this year are Brazil, Canada and India. Enrolment in Brazil has increased by more than five times, and in Canada and India the numbers have more than doubled.
There has also been a 50 per cent increase in England, and even more children will join the programme there in January, when classes begin in Northumberland.
Partnership for Children's director, Chris Bale, sees a clear pattern emerging in the development of Zippy's Friends in different countries.
'Time after time, a country launches the programme in a few schools, and then it just takes off,' he says. 'We started in Lithuania with just 314 children, and this year we have almost 8,000! So now we don't worry about starting small. If the agency that is running the programme is really committed, and if the teacher training is effective, the numbers will soon grow.
'The other thing we've learned is that once a school or kindergarten has used the programme, it invariably wants to run it again the following year. Teachers see the benefits, for children and even for themselves.'
The total number of children who have taken part in Zippy's Friends since its inception currently stands at 54,261. There are plans to start the programme next year in China, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, and discussions are continuing about launching in a number of other countries.
The original development and evaluation of Zippy's Friends was generously funded by GlaxoSmithKline. HSBC supports the programme in England, Brazil and Hong Kong.