The evidence base for Zippy’s Friends for Pupils with SEND
Summary of evaluation study
- 18-month study evaluated the effectiveness, acceptability and feasibility of Zippy’s Friends for Pupils with SEND
- The study focussed on the first three modules of the programme, implemented over the course of an academic year (2014-2015)
- 53 children and young people attending eight SEND schools in the UK
- Data collected from children, parents/carers and teachers before and after the programme using standardised assessment scales and interviews
- Independently evaluated by The University of Birmingham thanks to funding from The Judith Trust
Social skills, emotional literacy and emotion recognition standardised assessments
- The children and young people demonstrated improved emotion recognition skills
- Significant improvements were observed in communication, cooperation, assertion, responsibility and self-awareness
- Improvements in key areas of emotional literacy: ability to manage emotions and relationship skills
Parent interviews
- Parents interviewed provided positive feedback on the programme
- They felt the programme was engaging
- Children’s behaviour and mood had improved at home
- Parents noticed development in children’s communications skills
Child interviews
- The children interviewed were positive and enthusiastic about the programme.
- They could recall features of the programme and had enjoyed learning about Zippy and Zippy’s Friends.
Teacher interviews
- Improvements in children’s ability to identify and communicate emotions
- Improvements in children’s self-expression
- Children’s development of coping strategies
- Teachers’ ratings indicated that the children’s and young people’s social skills, emotional literacy, and emotional recognition improved over the course of the study.
- Significant improvements were observed in teachers’ ratings of communication, cooperation, assertion, responsibility, and self-awareness.
- Parental ratings did not change over time.