Spread the word

Pre-school children are the focus of a new nationwide early intervention programme, as Kate Summerside of I CAN explains.

Communication - expressing yourself and understanding others - is the foundation for all children's learning and social development. Children's verbal communication skills impact on their learning and literacy, their ability to make friends and their behaviour.

Communication development has been rising steadily on the agenda of government and policymakers. Last September, Ofsted stated in Removing Barriers: A Can-Do Approach: "Good childcare providers recognise that the ability to communicate is fundamental to learning and participation, and that difficulties in communication lead to frustration, poor behaviour and poor learning."

Early intervention gives children the best chance of success, making sure that they don't get left out and left behind and helping them get the best out of pre-school education. This month, I CAN, the charity that helps children communication, is launching I CAN Early Talk, a UK-wide three-year programme aimed at meeting the communication needs of all pre-school children.

I CAN Early Talk aims to give more than 1,200 nurseries and children's centres the support and skills they need to develop the communication skills of more than 50,000 children. The I CAN Early Talk accreditation programme should help pre-school settings ensure that the communication skills of children in their care receive the highest standards of support. Early Talk will also give families the vital information they need to support children at home.

Early Talk evolved from I CAN's network of 18 early years centres, which were set up in partnership with local education and health services. Independent researchers from City University and the University of London were commissioned by I CAN to undertake a Department of Health-funded evaluation of its early years provision compared with routinely available services. The I CAN model of integrated provision was found to be both effective and cost-effective. Early Talk is being made possible through the support of a number of individual and organisational donors, including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Trailblazing area
The first area to sign up to Early Talk is Brighton and Hove in Sussex. There are currently about 150 registered pre-school groups and five children's centres are due to be set up by April 2006. More than 880 children under the age of five with a communication disability have been identified by the speech and language therapy department in the Brighton and Hove area.

Clare Geldard, Early Talk manager, says: "I CAN Early Talk's tiered approach will mean that staff working with children have the skills and knowledge to ensure that every child reaches their potential. The key to success is the joint planning and delivery of services. Brighton is a good example of where this is working really effectively."

Early Talk will involve a multidisciplinary team of professionals. A steering group has now been formed. It comprises speech and language therapy representatives from South Downs Health, Sarah O'Dair and Penny Taylor; a representative from Brighton and Hove's Pre-School Special Educational Needs team (PRESENS), Claire Foulger; a representative of the Speech and Language Support Service/I CAN centre at Carden, Ali Mayhew; and representatives from Brighton and Hove's early years consultancy team, Viv Bullock and Clayre Morris.

Sarah O'Dair is the clinical team manager (early years) at South Downs Health NHS Trust in Brighton. She has been involved with referring children to I CAN since the early years centre was first set up seven years ago. Sarah says: "Early Talk is a great example of joined-up thinking as it sees health services working with education, involving the EYDCP and the pre-school special needs service.

"Staff will be trained in ways of encouraging children's speaking and listening skills. Once their awareness for children's typical communication development has been raised, they will have the expertise and confidence to be able to identify those children who are struggling.

"We feel that I CAN Early Talk will bring benefits for the speech and language therapy services. This focus on early intervention will help us to raise the speech and language skills in all children, including those whose difficulties may not be sufficient to warrant referral to speech and language therapy, but who would still benefit from enhanced input and support."

Ali Mayhew is co-head of Brighton and Hove's Speech and Language Support Service, a team of specialist outreach teachers who provide advice, support and training to schools in Brighton and Hove to assist them in meeting children's speech and language needs. Ali believes that Early Talk will be "a means of further disseminating best practice across Brighton and Hove with regards to promoting normal language development in early years settings."

Ali anticipates that I Can Early Talk will act as an "additional quality assurance mechanism to assist settings in promoting typical language development, but also to further support settings in the early identification of children with speech and language difficulties and appropriate strategies to support these children." Ali says: "I CAN Early Talk is a very comprehensive framework for settings which encompasses clear guidance with regard to best practice for promoting children's language skills in an inclusive matter.

"Brighton and Hove already has excellent teams working to promote best practice in early years settings," she adds. "Early Talk will provide the opportunity for us to trial working in a more multi-disciplinary way to promote children's language in an inclusive manner, supporting Brighton and Hove's policy of inclusion."

Both Sarah and Ali anticipate that Early Talk's focus on early support and intervention will encourage settings to make fewer, but more appropriate referrals to the speech and language therapy team, as they will have an increased understanding of the type of difficulty that would be cause for concern.

For more information visit www.ican.org.uk or www.talkingpoint.org.uk, or call 0845 225 4071.

(Nursery World, 09.02.06)