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Evelina London communication friendly environment award supports local schools to improve

Last updated: Wednesday, 09 October 2024


Children's models

Teachers from The Grove Nursery School with Laura Tewkesbury, speech and language therapist at Evelina London

Evelina London community speech and language therapists have been supporting local nurseries and early years settings to improve the communication development of children under the age of 5.

The community speech and language therapy service at Evelina London has been providing bespoke training to children's centres and early years settings for over 10 years. As part of the training, settings are able to complete a foundation or enhanced communication friendly environment award and a corresponding audit to exemplify the impact the training has had on their ways of working.

The Evelina London communication friendly training and audit programme is currently delivered to children's centres in Lambeth and Southwark as part of the community speech and language service's core provision. The training and audit programme is being given to 14 nurseries through funding provided by the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP), with 7 working towards the enhanced award.

Up to 10% of all children in these boroughs will have a communication disorder that requires ongoing support and up to 50% of children may have a temporary language or communication need which, if not recognised, could become more entrenched and lead to challenges in their education and long-term wellbeing. The training is designed to help nurseries identify these children so that they can get the support they need.

Speech and language therapists work in partnership with staff in the nurseries to tailor the training to best suit each individual setting. They work together to identify the nursery's strengths and needs. This includes looking at the different levels of adult-child interactions, environmental supports (for example, using a visual timetable so children can see what will happen during the day) and activities that take place in the nursery, such as snack time and book time. The speech and language therapists then build a bespoke package to help the nursery make sustainable changes. Thanks to the training, the nursery is better able to support the communication development of the children they care for, and identify children with more complex communication needs who can be referred to the speech and language therapy team for individual support.

Laura Tewkesbury, speech and language therapist at Evelina London, worked with The Grove Nursery School between 2021 and 2023 to help them achieve both the foundation and enhanced levels of the award. She said: "The award aims to upskill the nursery's whole team so that they can set the nursery's culture. Working towards the award is very tangible – it is not just about learning the theory, but actually using the skills every day."

Sue Howlett, assistant head teacher at The Grove Nursery School, said:

Staff knowledge, confidence and collaboration have all increased massively through completion of the award. Every member of staff knows the techniques available to support children with their communication. They have all got resources in their 'toolbox' that they can try to see what works.

Visit the LEAP website or phone 020 3049 8181 for more information and to find out how to take part in the award.

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