The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood launches Foundations for Life.

Today, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood launched Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development, a major new resource designed to support everyone working with babies, young children and their families.

Developed to strengthen shared understanding across the early years system, Foundations for Life sets out why social and emotional development matters so profoundly, and how these essential skills begin to take shape from the earliest months of life. Grounded in scientific research and practical insight, and developed alongside early years experts, professionals and practitioners, the guide highlights the critical role of loving, responsive relationships in shaping children’s lifelong health, wellbeing and ability to thrive.

Foundations for Life has been published on the Centre for Early Childhood’s new online resource hub, which brings together the Centre’s full suite of evidence-based resources for professionals and practitioners across health, education and social care. The hub aims to support consistent, high-quality practice by making trusted guidance easily accessible.

In the foreword to the Guide, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales writes: “While our society often focuses on academic or physical milestones, research consistently shows that it is our earliest relationships, experiences and environments which lay the foundations for our future health and happiness. The quality of our connections – with ourselves, with others and with the world around us – shapes how safe we feel, how we relate, and how we process experiences throughout our lives.”

The publication of Foundations for Life coincides with the release of new research from the Centre for Early Childhood, The First Five Years: A Parent Perspective. The research shows that parents value opportunities to speak with trusted, knowledgeable practitioners and want clear, authoritative information from formal sources. When professional support is limited or brief, many parents turn to friends, family or online advice, often feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information at a time when reassurance and consistency are most needed.

The launch of Foundations for Life marks a clear ambition from the Centre for Early Childhood to ensure social and emotional development is recognised as foundational to children’s outcomes, alongside physical and cognitive development. In the months ahead, the Centre will work closely with leaders across the early years system to embed this knowledge into education, training and professional practice, helping to create the conditions in which love can flourish and children can thrive.