- The Government is funding training to combat poor levels of communication and language skills in primary schools.
- New Early Learning Goals are proposed for this area.
- Training should cover how children’s speech, language and communication skills develop, and strategies to support that development.
Early communication and language development is in the spotlight. With more than a quarter of children failing to meet the expected level of language, communication and literacy skills at the end of Reception, the Department for Education has unveiled a programme to train more than 3,000 early years practitioners across 53 local authorities to support children’s language skills, from Elklan and the Education Development Trust, as part of the £20 million Early Years Professional Development Fund, and a pilot phase will begin later this year.
The DfE is also funding some local training to support early language development as part of its £8.5 million early years local government programme. It is particularly concerned with the ‘word gap’; the gap in communication skills between disadvantaged children and their peers when they start school. Revisions to the EYFS Early Learning Goals, currently being piloted, with references to ‘using new vocabulary’, have clearly been made with this front of mind.
Communication and Language is a Prime area, reflecting the crucial role it plays in a child’s development. Children with poor communication skills are more likely to fall behind in attainment; children with communication difficulties are also more likely to have behaviour difficulties, low self-esteem and struggle to maintain friendships.
‘Communication underpins everything,’ says Tamsin Grimmer, director of Linden Learning. ‘Training should cover how children learn language, and practical things that practitioners can do such as maintaining a running commentary.
‘When I visit settings, practitioners are not always talking to children and I feel chatter ought to be everywhere. If you have got the playdough out, you can be saying “I’m rolling my playdough, she is pinching her play dough” – that’s how we learn language, through repetition and putting it in context.’
Currently the three Early Learning Goals for communication and language cover listening and attention, understanding, and speaking. Under the revised goals ‘understanding’ has been removed and ‘attention’ sits under PSED, leaving only listening and speaking.
IN CONVERSATION
While the sector has welcomed the Government’s focus on early language development, there are concerns about the new goals placing too much emphasis on vocabulary and reading to children, and not enough on interactions, understanding and serve-and-return conversations.
‘There seems to be a top-down approach, trying to get children to be passive receivers of knowledge rather than creative partners in their own learning,’ says Mrs Grimmer. ‘The new goals show a very narrow focus on what communication and language can be, to the detriment of very young children.’
Louise Dean is early years lead at Little Squirrels nursery, part of Redgate Community Primary School. Concerned that children were coming into Reception with poor speech and language skills, the school decided staff should undergo Level 3 training with Elklan.
‘The main thing I brought away was around not asking so many questions – there should be four comments to every question,’ she says. ‘Children can get quite over-awed by questions in a school environment. As a practitioner you feel you have to ask questions, but Elklan taught us to stop and comment instead – if a child is painting, we might say “I like your brush strokes” or “I love how you have used colour’.’’ Training also covered children’s vocabulary, and how to involve parents. ‘Half the battle is making sure parents know that what they do at home is important,’ says Ms Dean.
‘Training needs to give practitioners a clear idea about the stages of development and what children should be asked to do at different ages,’ says Sue Fisher, trainer and consultant for Early Education. ‘They need to understand the difference between speech, language and communication, and have an awareness of how to support children on an individual level, as well as having an environment which makes children want to communicate with each other.’
Ms Fisher draws on I CAN research, such as the study The Cost to the Nation of Children’s Poor Communication, and the work of Elizabeth Jarman, founder of Communication Friendly Spaces.
Funding is still a problem. ‘Many nurseries are changing how they engage with training because local authorities are unable to fund courses,’ says Mrs Grimmer. ‘They save up and do one big thing a year that everyone attends, instead of different practitioners having training every other week or month. They are topping up online, but you don’t get the depth of discussion and understanding.’
Cuts to Children’s Centres have also hit early years CPD. Funded training is vital if practitioners are to help children achieve the communication and language skills that will enable them to access the curriculum when they leave the EYFS.
Liz Elks, speech and language therapist and co-founder, Elklan
A communication difficulty is often at the root of many other issues in the early years. Practitioners can speak a lot and sometimes don’t wait for long enough for children to reply. The focus of our training is on developing the skills to interact appropriately with children.
We also look at the complex process of language development, and ensuring the environment is communication-friendly. For example, we may find that a setting has established a quiet corner, but it is near the door to the outside area. With children bombing past it all the time, it is hard for those using it to find it relaxing or have a chat.
We supported one setting to change the scheduling of storytime – it was before lunch, but that is a distracting time when staff are moving tables and clearing up. They switched storytime and songtime, and that made all the difference to the children’s attention.
Vocabulary is another important area. We find practitioners are quite good at modelling adjectives, but forget they need to model verbs. It is important to make settings aware of the difference between receptive and expressive language.
It is important to offer accreditation and for courses to take place over ten weeks. Our core courses are accredited at Levels 2 and 3. A ten-week course gives practitioners time to embed their learning in their practice. Speech and language training is not about ticking a box, people don’t appreciate how complex it is until they start to study.
Our model for a Communication Friendly Setting is that one in ten of the staff would take part in Level 3 training and then one will go on and do Level 4, and cascade training to everyone as a lead communication practitioner, with an Elklan trainer in the wings.
Training
Speech and language support for 3-5s Elklan.
Early Talk 0-5I CAN.
Building blocks to communication and literacy Early Education, 8 October 2019, London.
Let’s Get TalkingTamsin Grimmer.
online training
Child development 1: Speech and Language Skills NDNA.
Supporting children with speech, language and communication needs PACEY.
Speech, Language and Communication in the Early Years Early Years Alliance. CACHE-endorsed.
guidance
Development Matters Early Education
Early years outcomesDfE
resources
Early Years Resources and What Works? The Communication Trust.
ICAN
Closing the word gap Oxford University Press.
Every Child a Talker While the ECAT programme is no longer funded, these resources are still useful.
Interacting or Interfering? Improving interactions in the early years by Julie Fisher. Practical guidance on how to improve interactions.