As part of the TALK Derby initiative, since 2019 Elklan has been providing training to practitioners and parents in Derby City, to enable them to support the speech and language development of children in the early years.
Despite the many delays and interruptions caused by the pandemic, the commitment and flexibility shown by all involved have resulted in real progress for children in Derby!
We have delivered training virtually and provided e-learning modules and telephone support for those who want to make the most of every chance to interact with children.
To date:
- 140 practitioners who work with children in early years settings have received training in supporting their communication needs. 91 of these have completed and gained accreditation in supporting children’s speech, language, and communication.
- 101 practitioners from early years settings have taken part in training to identify children with speech, language, and communication difficulties.
- 128 early years practitioners received extra training and resources to enable them to run groups for parents.
- 23 pre-school settings and 5 childminders have made changes in their practice, trained all their staff, and completed all the work necessary to gain a Communication Friendly Setting or Communication Friendly Home Learning Environment award.
- 86 members of the wider workforce who regularly work with young children have received training to help them better understand children’s communication needs.
More are likely to complete before the programme ends.
Some comments from those involved:
I feel completing the communication friendly training as a whole setting has massively impacted on us all as well as the parents and children.
Parents now have a greater awareness of how they can support their child with their speech language and communication.
There has been a direct positive impact upon teaching and learning since embarking on the project.
