- by Rita Wiseman,
Head of Integrated Services, Early Years and Families
"Being able to read is the most important skill children will learn during their early
schooling and has far-reaching implications for life-long confidence and wellbeing.
Developing from the earliest stages children's speaking and listening skills, ensures
that beginner readers are ready to get off to a good start in phonic work by the age of
five." (Beverly Hughes, Minister of State for Children Young People and Families)
Time to Talk is giving our children a kick start to their learning and laying the
foundations for positive development, with the use of Neighbourhood Renewal
Funding. The aim of the pioneering two-year programme, launched in September
2006, is to improve the speech and language skills of under-fives in the Borough. We
are doing this by screening all our three and four year-olds and then offering support
to improve their skills.
Through the programme, speech and language colleagues have been able to
develop a tool – WellComm – to measure children's speech and language
development. This means that for the first time Sandwell will have a baseline of all
children aged between three and five years who attend a setting, will identify
individual developmental needs and pinpoint specific settings, geographical areas or
groups that need targeted support.
To date, we have trained more than 306 practitioners from 136 settings and screened
4,500 children using a colour code system to assess speech development. This
indicates children who cannot speak well regardless of their birth language.
To stimulate speech and language development, we have developed and
commissioned a range of fun interventions including music sessions and activities
delivered by local arts charity Multi Story. We have also set up other activities that
are known to stimulate language development, including baby massage, story telling
and parents' groups and we have focused on fathers and parents who may find it
difficult to engage with their children. The voluntary sector and our psychologists
have been instrumental in this, developing a DVD to use with parents.
We have also concentrated on emotional wellbeing as we know that babies who are
firmly attached and emotionally secure develop better than those who are not. We
recently held a conference on the subject with eminent national speakers and
attracted 265 participants from across all agencies in Sandwell. As a result we are
now developing a training pack and programmes for all early years settings and
foster parents. This will supplement existing training courses and strategies for
practitioners.
Time to Talk is not working in isolation but links successfully to other programmes
and duties placed on the local authority. For the first time all local authorities have an
early years outcome duty, which focuses on children's achievement in reception
class. The foundation stage targets form part of this and Time to Talk will influence
and enhance children's results, especially in communication, language and literacy.
Our early indications evidence this.
Time to Talk is also an integral part of the Every Child Matters (ECM) framework,
supporting parents and helping them make a contribution to their child's
achievements through their wider well-being.
Our eleven children's centres have been a focal point for delivery and our work with
parents has linked into our parents' strategy group, part of our action plan for our
parenting project with the Department for Children Schools and Families.
To raise the profile and inform parents of this programme we have had an extensive
publicity campaign, have spoken at numerous regional events and in November, we
will be presenting at a high profile national conference.
The whole of this programme has demonstrated a partnership ethos. It has been led
by a steering group of staff from the statutory and voluntary sectors and delivered by
the statutory, private and voluntary sectors with the majority of contracts being
awarded to the voluntary sector – both national and local.
Time to Talk will not be here today and gone tomorrow. We will continue to screen
children, plot their development and target resources. Training and support will
continue for existing and new staff, visiting advisors to settings will incorporate it into
their monitoring of actions and it will feature it in annual reviews. Children's centres
will continue the work with parents and all settings have packs, guidance, and
equipment to specifically promote speech and language development. The parenting
strategy will support the activities and make use of the DVD for working with parents.
Some groups will become self-sufficient but we do need to secure some core funding
to ensure that this programme is not lost. To do this we will be marketing and selling:
- WellComm Tool
- DVD for use with parents
- ‘The Sandwell Approach’: a training pack for emotional wellbeing
The NRF funding has enabled this new service to be developed. It has not only enabled us to support our children but has enabled Sandwell to be pioneers and innovators in early years provision. We are grateful for this.
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