BLAST - Boosting Language Auditory Skills and Talking - started
life within a Sure Start progamme in Middlesbrough in 2001.
The speech and language therapist discovered that 50% of children
within nurseries in the area had a measurable speech and language
delay. Conversations between the speech and language therapist
and the nursery teachers formed the basis for a programme
that would support the children's development from where they
were, rather than starting over their head.
BLAST is targeted at nursery-aged children and aims to build
up their pre-linguistic skills, such as attention, listening,
speech sound awareness and story awareness, in order to help
them develop speech and language skills more rapidly. It is
for all children and not just those with a speech and language
delay, and it has proved particularly effective with children
who do not have English as a first language and those who
are generally less confident and willing to communicate.
The programme is delivered in nurseries by nursery staff
and takes place daily for six weeks with the same group of
six to eight children. The format is the same every day, creating
repetition and a structure that gives the child confidence.
The songs are the same for six weeks, the stories and listening
activities are the same for a week and the language activity
is fundamentally the same for a week, with developments each
day. For more information visit www.blastprogramme.co.uk
Dump the Dummy; Bin the Bottle is a campaign run by the Early
Start/Sure Start team in Newham. Developed by speech and language
therapist Emma Cahill and the community nutritionist, the
campaign was piloted in four nurseries over a two week period.
On week one, they ran a session for parents whose children
were over 12 months and were still using a dummy and/or bottle.
During the session they outlined the reasons why bottle and
dummy use should now stop and there was a group discussion
on ways to encourage children to give them up. The following
week children were invited to dump their dummies or bin their
bottles in specially decorated bins at the nurseries and were
given balloons and stickers in return. Following the success
of the pilot, the team is planning to run the campaign in
more nurseries and early childcare provisions and to train
staff on advising parents.
Kirkton Nursery and Family Support Centre, co-located services
in an area of multiple deprivation in north-west Dundee, offer
a wide range of provision to help local families and their
children. This includes a support group for parents and their
children who have additional support needs. Playdays Group
offers parents the chance to meet, share experiences and see
their children interact positively with others. It also helps
to promote consistency in approaches between home and nursery.
The nursery and support centre have built extensive links
with other agencies. Examples include working with occupational
therapists from Tayside Health Board to provide a practical
programme for children with physical needs and the provision
of an on-site speech and language therapist twice a week who
works with the early intervention team. Each child with additional
support needs has an individual support and review plan. Video
Interactive Guidance is provided by early intervention and
family support centre staff for parents and carers who request
it. The Family Support Centre offers a targeted support service,
including seasonal care, family counselling and one-to-one
work, Feel Good groups, Baby Rhyme sessions and information
and advice on a wide range of issues.
(Extracted from Children in Scotland,
November 2005)
Family Talk is a 10-week practical course run through nursery
or primary schools for parents and carers of children aged
3-5 years. It was developed by the Speech and Language Therapy
Department at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Following
a flexible programme of activities and discussion, adults
get together to explore ways of making communication and play
with their children fun and rewarding. Family Talk targets
all parents, not only parents of children with developmental
difficulties, and does not require literacy skills. Sessions
include Play Time, Body Language, After You and What do you
say to that? (following your child's lead), Shhh Listen, Learning
to play and Praise. For more information contact rosaline.owen@onet.co.uk
or phone (0117) 342 8498.
Tower Hamlets Early Years Service has organised the Listen
event to encourage nurseries in the borough to set up workshops
for parents on communicating with their children through play.
The George Green Children's Centre used the theme of favourite
toys. They asked the children to bring in their favourite
toys or comforters, which were placed in attractive and informative
displays. Parents were also invited to bring in their favourite
'toy' for a session in which they reflected on its importance
to them. Other settings put on different events which enabled
even the youngest to express themselves through music and
dance. Parents and carers were helped to appreciate that children
communicate in many ways other than talking.
The Old Moat Children's Centre in Withington, Manchester has made mealtimes a fun and sociable event, by using a specially designed dining room which is influenced by the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Tables and chairs are set out in a cosy environment, with tablecloths or mats, pot plants and pictures of the menu, so everyone can talk about the day's food. With parents commenting that they never normally ate together as a family, the Centre made the change from individual group mealtimes to a communal event.
Mealtimes have been given an extra 15 minutes to allow time for talking and eating slowly, with it being a key time to help socialise children. Staff sit with the children to act as role models and join in conversation extending the learning environment to lunchtime. Children get to help themselves from dishes encouraging independence with new foods such as sweet potato also being introduced before it is cooked, so they can see what it's like. Adults talk about what they like and dislike with the emphasis on what they like to encourage children to try new food.
The sociable meal time has been extended to reach parents, by inviting them to sessions to cook a healthy meal and eat together, with the hope that this communal ethos will be taken into their homes. Mothers who are breastfeeding in the centre are also given time and space, where they will not be rushed or disturbed.
(Extracted and adapted from Nursery World, 10.05.07)
This project trains teaching assistants, nursery nurses and
teachers in the East Riding of Yorkshire to use Ann Locke
and Maggie Beech's Teaching Talking materials in schools,
mainly with Foundation Stage children. Run by the Local Education
Authority in collaboration with the Speech and Language Therapy
Service, the project is in its third year and is having a
significant impact on the language skills of the children
involved.
In 2002-03, the project leaders tested 20 Foundation Stage
children whose teachers had been trained to use the Ann Locke
method, and 20 Foundation Stage children from a school that
was not involved in the project. The tests were undertaken
at the beginning and end of the year. Curriculum Project Manager,
Linda Hobbs, outlines the results.
The tests
The Renfrew Bus Story Test. The child is given a picture
book and a story is read by the adult. The child then uses
the pictures to retell the story. The child's story is written
down and used to measure how many key information words the
child uses, the length of their sentences and whether or not
they use subordinate clauses. They are given an age equivalent
score for each of these.
The CELF Preschool UK (Clinical Evaluation of Language
Fundamentals). This measures a child's receptive language
or understanding and also their expressive language. Both
scores are given as age equivalent scores.
The results
Renfrew Bus Story Information Score
The control school
70% of the children scored less in the summer than they
did in the autumn (National research would lead us to expect
this to happen)
5% stay the same
25% improved their score
The Partnership School
95% of the children had increased scores, most very dramatic.
5% stayed the same.
Renfrew Bus Story Number of Subordinate Clauses Used Score
The Control School
65% of the children improved their score
30% stayed the same
5% scored less
The Partnership School
80% improved their score
15% stayed the same
5% scored less
Renfrew Bus Story Sentence Length Score
The Control School
65% improved their score
35% stayed the same
The Partnership School
85% improved their score
10% stayed the same
5% scored less
The CELF test - Receptive Language
The Control School
90% improved their score
10% scored less
The Partnership School
95% improved their score
5% stayed the same
The CELF test - Expressive Language
The Control School
65% improved their score
20% stayed the same
15% scored less
The Partnership School
90% improved their score
10% stayed the same
Conclusion
The results of the tests showed that both schools had worked
hard to improve the children's level of language. The control
school's results were higher than national research would
lead us to expect. This is, we believe, because the school
has a commitment to raising the level of language in the early
years. Children are taught in small groups, staff are trained
and resources are accessed. However, children in the Partnership
school progressed further than the Control school in all areas
of language that were measured. This was despite changes of
staff in the partnership school that led to the children being
taught by three different teachers over the period of the
study. The targeted intervention through the Teaching Children
Talking programme and the consistency provided by the nursery
nurses who implemented it, helped to maintain continuity and
ensure success . The Bus Story Information score which measures
listening, understanding and vocabulary showed the greatest
difference, and it was felt that it was in this area that
the Teaching Children Talking programme was most successful.
Case studies show that past winners of the BT Schools Awards
are taking an innovative approach to teaching communications
skills.
Hartcliffe Technology College,
Bristol, teaches communication skills through activity-based
projects. It has created a subject area focused entirely on
communication, which is run by Helen Casey, director of Learning
for Working with Others. It encompasses history, geography,
RE, leisure and tourism, and health and social care, and the
key skill is working with others. Activities include scriptwriting,
fortnightly oral-based lessons with tutors and practical groupwork
that encourages teamwork and communication. The school's winning
project was Helping Everyone Communicate Clearly, which aimed
to highlight the importance of oral communication as a life
skill. It included activities such as a nightline exercise,
where groups covered their eyes and negotiated their way under
tables and over chairs, and an exercise where students and
teachers worked together to turn over a mat they were standing
on without stepping off it.
St Mary's and St Benedict's
primary school in Coventry is making innovative use of drama
to teach communication skills. Children at this multicultural
inner city school - some of whom come from poor, indigenous
families in the 40th most deprived ward in the UK - take part
in drama performances, role play and mini-conferences. Role
playing starts at an early age, with different scenarios set
up at the school nursery, such as a beach area with deckchairs
and sand. The school also uses reading mentors as part of
its programme to equip children with good speaking and listening
skills.
(Extracted and adapted from an article
in Education Guardian, 27.09.05)
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