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Spring 2 Communication Hub was focused on Social Interactions. Click the video to access the presentations.

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This is a drop in service for Pre-School children registered with a North Essex GP. No referral needed, just turn up.

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This training was delivered by Lucy Carr for the Communication Hub. Designed to help practitioners working with children who have speech sound errors. Lucy talks us through typical errors, what to listen out for, and how to support the child in setting.

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Here is the video link to the training on "How to Wait Well".

When we have concerns about a child's SLCN it is important that we are supporting their needs from the earliest opportunity. Due to budget cuts, waiting times to see a speech therapist can be long, so waiting for this with no action can cause larger gaps to form. This training uses the guidance from OA and gives advice on how to support children in your setting.

If you use this resource, please could you click the like button so we can measure usage.

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Alresford Communication Hub_ How to Wait Well-20250429_180302-Meeting Recording.mp4

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How to wait well - Alresford and Mayflower Communication Hub 

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How to wait well - Alresford and Mayflower Communication Hub 

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The next sessions for Alresford and Mayflower are focusing on how to support children who you are referring into SaLT for. You may have speech sound concerns for individuals. With waiting lists being long, how can we support children while they wait for SaLT assessment. We will be looking at tips and tricks on how to “wait well”.

Please be aware, we are not speech therapists, so we cannot focus on specific children or sounds. We will be looking at good practice within “targeted support” so that the gap doesn’t widen while you wait.

This training is aimed at Pre-school, nursery, child-minder and EYFS settings.

Mayflower - 24th April @4pm in-person and virtual

Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 334 813 453 428 7

Passcode: fe9x8CP7

Alresford - 29th April @6pm virtual

Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 375 490 141 550

Passcode: wW3gZ2rq

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Removing Phonological Barriers training - Alresford Hub

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Removing Phonological Barriers training - Alresford Hub

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Alresford Communication Hub training - Removing Phonological Barriers. Recording of session 4.2.25

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Find out about the Ordinarily Available framework

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Useful videos from the Autism Strategy Team

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Useful videos from the Autism Strategy Team

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The following films have been coproduced with short breaks providers, schools, families and health colleagues, to provide information about how you can support the children and young people that you work with. The topics for the films are based on feedback from Essex Parents and Carers and have been designed to support the Implementation of the Ordinarily Available.

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Useful videos from the Autism Strategy team

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The following films have been coproduced with short breaks providers, schools, families and health colleagues, to provide information about how you can support the children and young people that you work with. The topics for the films are based on feedback from Essex Parents and Carers and have been designed to support the Implementation of the Ordinarily Available.

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4th Feb - Removing Phonological Barriers 

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4th Feb - Removing Phonological Barriers 

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Rowena and Carolyn will be running an online session focusing on phonological awareness and barriers, how to identify them and how to run activities to help build early speech and phonics skills.

This training is aimed at Pre-school, nursery, child-minder and EYFS settings.

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Removing Phonological Barriers training flyer

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The Autism education trust have framework documents are great for signposting settings to how to support children with social communication difficulties.

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What are the Framework documents and how can you use them?

These resources are embedded into our Professional Development Programmes and are free to download. They will help you improve the learning and wellbeing of autistic children and young people by supporting you to capture pupil voice, set suitable learning challenges, measure progress and identify areas where you or your setting can make improvements.

You will find a summary of our Framework Documents below.

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The AET Framework Documents can be used by anyone working alongside autistic pupils to support the development of good autism practice.

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The training hub is where schools and early years and childcare providers can browse, book or purchase face to face and virtual courses, conferences, workshops and events

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Welcome to the Education Essex online Training Hub

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The training hub is where schools and early years and childcare providers can browse, book or purchase face to face and virtual courses, conferences, workshops and events Search by event type:

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Practical, early years SEND assessment resources that you can use to help children with SEND

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Help for early years providers : SEND assessment guidance and resources

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The resources have been developed by Dingley’s Promise in collaboration with the Department for Education.

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Access resources, activity ideas and advice for teaching communication and language to early years children.

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Access resources, activity ideas and advice for teaching communication and language to early years children.

Communication and language resources

Resources are split into 3 areas based on the educational programmes:
Interactions Exploring language Listening and understanding
These resources will help you when reviewing your current curriculum to make sure you are meeting the requirement of the revised communication and language area of learning.

As you make changes to your curriculum consider what you want children to learn first and plan opportunities for them to achieve this.

Please bear in mind any current covid restrictions and/or advice when undertaking any suggested activities.

What the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework says about communication and language

The development of children's spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.

Children's back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development.

The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial.

By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively.

Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive.

Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

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Access resources, activity ideas and advice for teaching communication and language to early years children. Resources are split into 3 areas based on the educational programmes: Interactions Exploring language Listening and understanding These resources will help you when reviewing your current curriculum to make sure you are meeting the requirement of the revised communication and language area of learning.

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Practical, early years SEND assessment resources that you can use to help children with SEND.  The resources have been developed by Dingley’s Promise in collaboration with the Department for Education.

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Help for early years providers : SEND assessment guidance and resources

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The resources have been developed by Dingley’s Promise in collaboration with the Department for Education.

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"Serve and return" interaction, video from Harvard Center on the Developing Child

Case studies of practice, Nursery World
Series of identifiable stages
The importance of the early years, The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LUCID) (video)

Supporting Speech and Language fact sheet, The Communications Trust

Speech sounds, ICAN fact sheet

Stewart, N. (2015) Listen to my idea! Communication and language in the early years in D. Whitebread and P. Coleman (2015), Teaching and Learning in the Early Years, 4th edition

Parents' resources, The Communication Trust

Playful interactions, videos and activities - BBC Tiny Happy People

National Literacy Trust, Words for Life website - activities for parents and support materials

Burke, N. (2018) Musical Development Matters in the Early Years: free downloadable guidance written to support the development of music practice and provision in settings plus free online resources to accompany the guidance: videos, questions for reflection, research, information and downloadable resources

Songs, rhymes and finger play pamphlet, Froebel Trust

The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LUCID) Evidence Briefings:

NCB (2019) Closing the Word Gap with Jean Gross CBE, article, presentation and briefing paper
English as an additional language
Bowen, C. (2011) Brown's Stages of Syntactic and Morphological Development, Speech-language-therapy website

Talking with parents about children's SCL Needs, ICAN video

Makaton information, resources and guidance, Makaton website
Back to The Prime Areas of Learning

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Communication and language resources – Birth To 5 Matters

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“Serve and return” interaction, video from Harvard Center on the Developing Child

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North East Essex Speech and Language referral process - Pre-school and primary

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North East Essex Speech and Language referral process - Pre-school and primary

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North East Essex have published a webpage that includes information videos, speech sound screener, a new referral form and 'drop in' clinic information.

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Speech and Language Therapy North Essex - Essex Child & Family Wellbeing Service

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We are the provider for the NHS children’s Speech and Language Service in North Essex which includes Colchester and Tendring. The North Essex Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service provides support and assistance to children and young people who are experiencing difficulties with speech, language, understanding, talking, communication and with feeding & swallowing. We do […]

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Please note the new number for the Early Years telephone drop in.

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Telephone drop in poster EY 2025 - ESNEFT

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Making it REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) is an award-winning programme that works with practitioners to support children’s early literacy and development.

The programme helps practitioners to build parents’ knowledge and confidence so that they can help their children with reading and writing and create a positive early home learning environment.

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Make it REAL, project overview - Essex County Council

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Here is a link to our Page Tiger document where you will find information regarding resources and training opportunities

SLCN Page Tiger

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Speech and Language Therapy North Essex - Essex Child & Family Wellbeing Service

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We are the provider for the NHS children’s Speech and Language Service in North Essex which includes Colchester and Tendring. The North Essex Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service provides support and assistance to children and young people who are experiencing difficulties with speech, language, understanding, talking, communication and with feeding & swallowing. We do […]

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Selective Mutism Information and Research Association (SMIRA) 

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Selective Mutism Information and Research Association (SMIRA) 

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SMIRA became a UK Registered Charity in 1992, having been set up initially to support families with selectively mute children. This work has since been extended to provide information to health and education professionals involved in the upbringing of such children and young people.

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Selective Mutism Information & Research Association (SMIRA)

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Selective Mutism (SM) is a communication anxiety disorder. This site contains information on and support for parents, people with SM, and professionals.

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https://youtu.be/VVM0Ht2BzZs

Training link to the video on BLANKS interventions.

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Speech Articulation Screener - For use when referring into HCRG NE Essex

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Speech Articulation Screener - For use when referring into HCRG NE Essex

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Speech Sounds - Cued Articulation and phonics

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Speech Sounds - Cued Articulation and phonics

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Here are a series of really short videos which teach staff how to use cued articulation to support the teaching of speech sounds and phonics. These work with children who have speech sound delay, hearing impairment or SEND.

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Cued Articulation

We use a method of visual phonics called Cued Articulation. It was developed by a speech and language therapist called Jane Passey and works to use a hand gesture while you say a sound. Visualising phonics in this way helps the child understand where the sound is made, the shape of the lips as you say the sound, the type of articulation and if the sound is voiced of unvoiced, you will notice some actions use one finger or two fingers. One finger indicated that a sound is unvoiced and two means that it is voiced.

All our children have some level of hearing loss, we feel that this method of supporting phonics allows them to take an individual learning pathway, developing their phonic understanding and applying it in the way that suites them best. For us it is essential to explore phonics through listening and visual support, this ensures that the children understand that each letter has a name and a sound, and that we can listen for the sounds in words. Supporting understanding of phonics in this was allows children to begin to blend and segment for reading and writing. Some of our children may struggle to blend whole words the use of Cued Articulation helps children to identify initial sounds so that they can use their word file dictionaries to locate the words that they want to write.

In addition to this we focus on the three L's: Looking Listening and Lip patterns. Recent research indicates that lip reading is essential in developing good literacy. So we support the use of phonics with a visual cue that cues our children to our lips, so while they are listening they are watching how these sounds are formed at the mouth and supporting the development of their lip reading skills as well as their phonics.

Below you will find links to videos for each of the cues. Each video in set one has the letter sound through cued articulation then letter name through finger spelling and then a word in pictures and signed that begins with that letter. Set two and three focuses on saying the sound with the cued hand shape and movement.

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Phonics through Cued Articulation - James Wolfe Primary School

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We use a method of visual phonics called Cued Articulation. It was developed by a speech and language therapist called Jane Passey and works to use a hand gesture while you say a sound.

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How to use data from BLANKS assessments to plan interventions for pre-school, Nursery, EYFS and KS1.

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FREE resources for use of visuals at home and transitioning to/ from the home.

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Autistic pupils have strengths and differences in the way they learn. For many, verbal input, such as speech, is one of the most challenging modalities, while visual information may often be more easily understood.

Presenting information in a visual way can help to support and encourage the ability to process information, communication, and language development. It can also promote independence, self-confidence and raise self-esteem.

When using visual support it is important to ensure they are appropriate to the individual and in line with their needs and current stage of development. Visual supports are very personal and what works for one pupil may not work for another. Once you introduce a type of visual support (for example, timetable, schedule, cue cards), use it consistently so that the pupil becomes used to it.

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Autistic pupils have strengths and differences in the way they learn. For many, verbal input, such as speech, is one of the most challenging modalities, while visual information may often be more easily understood. Presenting information in a visual way can help to support and encourage the ability to process information, communication, and language development.

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Resources to support speech sound development

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Resources to support speech sound development

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Most children’s speech sound development follows a typical pattern. It is normal for children to replace some of the more difficult sounds with sounds which are easier to say. For example 'tar' for 'car' or 'poon' for 'spoon.'

However some children’s speech sounds may develop more slowly or in an unusual way. For example ‘har’ for car or ‘oo’ for spoon, ay-ee for baby. These children may need extra help to develop their speech sounds.

There are different stages to work through, which include both listening to and producing speech sounds. It is important that the child is confident at each stage before moving onto the next.

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Most children's speech sound development follows a typical pattern. It is normal for children to replace some of the more difficult sounds with sounds which are easier to say. For example 'tar' for 'car' or 'poon' for 'spoon.'

However some children's speech sounds may develop more slowly or in an unusual way. For example 'har' for car or 'oo' for spoon, ay-ee for baby. These children may need extra help to develop their speech sounds.

There are different stages to work through, which include both listening to and producing speech sounds. It is important that the child is confident at each stage before moving onto the next.

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Here at Just One Norfolk, we are dedicated to providing children and young people's health services to the community. Find out more about our services

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TLC is an Essex campaign helping parents, carers and families give their young children the best start to life, developing their communication skills through playful learning at home.

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This is the content area of the home page…

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Support for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the EYFS - Essex guidance

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Support for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the EYFS - Essex guidance

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EAL in EYFS

Home Language Profile template

Welcoming refugee children

For advice contact andree.race@essex.gov.uk

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Tips on how to support a child's speech sound development.

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Tiny Happy People can help you develop your child’s language and communication skills, so they get the best start in life.

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Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child's language skills. Explore our simple activities and play ideas and find out about babies and toddlers' amazing early development.

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Children’s language development and parenting advice - BBC Tiny Happy People

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A chatty child is a happy child, so Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child’s communication skills through simple interaction and play.

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Information for adults on how to introduce a core board to a child to aid their communication.

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stamma.org offer advice, parent support groups and training.

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© 2018 - 2023 STAMMA, British Stammering Association trading as STAMMA, reg. charity no. 1089967/SC038866, reg. company no. 04297778 (England & Wales)

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Hungry Little Minds is a campaign from the Department of Education to support families in the home learning environment through offering simple, fun activities for children from newborns up to five.

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Chat, play, read!

Here are some tips and activities to help your child develop their speech skills:

use things your child is interested in for play, follow their lead and make sure you're physically at their level while playing

if you notice your child looking or pointing at something, talk to them about it before they lose interest in it

picture books introduce your child to new things they haven't seen yet in real life - ask them to tell you the story, or talk about what the characters might be thinking and feeling

make reading, singing and playing even more fun by using lots of actions and different voices

take turns to make noises or speak - your child will be able to hold longer conversations, so slow down your speech, give them plenty of time to respond and listen carefully to what they have to say

talk to your child in short, simple sentences, as it's easier for them to understand you and have a go at copying when they are ready

try to use the same book or sing the same song, as young children learn a lot from repetition

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Find out how you can help your child with their speech & language development. If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor or health visitor.

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NHS Start for Life - Early Learning and Development

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NHS Start for Life - Early Learning and Development

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90% of your child's brain growth happens before the age of 5. Right from the start, all those little moments you spend together with your child are building their brain.

Every smile, cuddle, chat and game makes a huge difference, helping them learn to communicate, develop confidence and make friends.

Find lots of ideas, easy tips and activities you can do together with your child.

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Early learning and development - Start for Life - NHS

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Every smile, chat and cuddle is a great opportunity to help your baby's communication and language skills. Find fun activities and games for your everyday routine.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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We are Speech and Language UK - we want every child to face the future with confidence. For 1.7 million children in the UK, learning to talk and understand words feel like an impossible hurdle.

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Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service

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Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service

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https://essexfamilywellbeing.co.uk/hubs/

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Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service

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The Family Hub offer we provide and the outcomes we aim to achieve ensures all families within Essex are supported from before children are born up to the age of 19 or 25 for those with Special Educational needs.

We focus on making sure that everyone in Essex has the best possible start in life through having access to Free, high quality and easy access to services in your Community, School, Family Home or within a Family Hub.

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Welcome to your Family Hub - Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service

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The Family Hub offer we provide and the outcomes we aim to achieve ensures all families within Essex are supported from before children are born up to the age of 19 or 25 for those with Special Educational needs.

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The Time Together booklet is a colourful and easy-to-read guide that is full of suggestions for how parents can support their young child's learning at home. It has been translated into 22 different languages for you to share with the multilingual families in your setting or community.

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Parents and children chatting together, singing songs and sharing books in their home language is a fantastic way to support children's development at this time.

The Time Together booklet is a colourful and easy-to-read guide that is full of suggestions for how parents can support their young child's learning at home. It has been translated into 22 different languages for you to share with the multilingual families in your setting or community.

Download the appropriate translated booklet from this page and let us know how you are using them to support multilingual families by emailing earlyyears@literacytrust.org.uk

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Time together - support for multilingual families | National Literacy Trust

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The easy-to-read Time Together guide comes in 22 languages and is full of suggestions for how parents can support their young child's learning at home.

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Five top tips for supporting communication in under twos

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Five top tips for supporting communication in under twos

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Download this free colourful poster to display in your setting to promote these five top tips for supporting a toddler’s communication development before they start to talk.

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Interacting through sharing books from when babies are very young is a fantastic way to support their communication development. Talking about the pictures in the book, relating the story to the child's everyday experiences, and letting the child hear spoken words with varying rhyme and rhythm all help to build their understanding of language.

Share with parents the importance of looking at books together with their baby. There are a wide range of books for under twos that you may have in your setting and can encourage parents to share with their baby, such as touch and feel books, black and white books, books with sound, or lift the flap books.

Remember the five top tips when sharing books with babies and toddlers, as well as during other everyday activities and interactions.

These five top tips are taken from our brand new early years programme, First Words Together. Find out more here: First Words Together resources

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Five top tips for supporting communication in under twos | National Literacy Trust

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Interacting through sharing books from when babies are very young is a fantastic way to support their communication development. Talking about the pictures in the book, relating the story to the child's everyday experiences, and letting the child hear spoken words with varying rhyme and rhythm all help to build their understanding of language.

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The National Literacy Trust’s family-facing website. Here parents and carers can find further guidance and tips on spending time outside with their baby or child, and quick activities to support their conversations and interactions.

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Words for Life | National Literacy Trust

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Activities and support for parents, children and young people to improve language, literacy and communication skills from home.

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Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy - North East Essex

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Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy - North East Essex

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Speech and Language Therapy North Essex - Essex Child & Family Wellbeing Service

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We are the provider for the NHS children’s Speech and Language Service in North Essex which includes Colchester and Tendring. The North Essex Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service provides support and assistance to children and young people who are experiencing difficulties with speech, language, understanding, talking, communication and with feeding & swallowing. We do […]

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Speech and Language UK - Progress Checker

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Speech and Language UK - Progress Checker

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words.

It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children. It's not the same as a standardised measure a specialist would carry out but it should give you an idea of how your baby or child is developing and whether you need some support or advice to help you and them.

Choose the right age and answer the questions, at the end, we will let you know how your child is doing and what help is available if you need it.

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words. It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children.

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Education Endowment Foundation - Communication and Language Evidence Store

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Education Endowment Foundation - Communication and Language Evidence Store

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The EEF is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.

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An introduction to speech, language and communication (SLC) in the early years from PACEY

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An introduction to speech, language and communication (SLC) in the early years from PACEY

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https://www.pacey.org.uk/ceysmart-public/2023ENMAnintroductiontospeechlanguageandcommunicationSLCintheearlyyears/#/page/63a32eed65fbe30a4580f438

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Creating a communication supportive environment

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Creating a communication supportive environment

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A communication supportive environment is one that ensures that children’s speech, language and communication skills are planned for and supported throughout the day.

https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/resource-library-for-educators/creating-a-communication-supportive-environment-early-years/

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Helping children learn new words: Early years - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Helping children learn new words: Early years - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/resource-library-for-educators/speech-sounds/

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Supporting children's early communication skills

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Supporting children's early communication skills

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https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/resource-library-for-educators/supporting-childrens-early-communication-skills/

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https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/educators-and-professionals/resource-library-for-educators/visual-supports/

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What's a story sack?

A story sack is a large cloth bag, such as a pillow case or grocery bag, with a favourite children's book and supporting materials.

Why are story sacks useful?

Making filled story sacks can help to make reading meaningful and fun. Fill the bag with models, props and prompts to retell the story and promote engagement and discussion. Build up a library of story sacks in your setting that can be used with small and large groups, or sent home to support parents and carers to build their child's love of books and reading in the home

Using story sacks in your early years setting will help with:

stimulating language development

making reading more memorable

supporting children with their own storytelling

Our story sack guide

Download the guide from the available files list on this page to access:

general instructions on how to make and use story sacks

two story sack ideas with step by step instructions based on The Three Little Pigs and We're Going On A Bear Hunt.

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How to make and use a story sack | National Literacy Trust

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A story sack is a large cloth bag, such as a pillow case or grocery bag, with a favourite children's book and supporting materials. Making filled story sacks can help to make reading meaningful and fun. Fill the bag with models, props and prompts to retell the story and promote engagement and discussion.

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Our vision is to ‘Raise Early Achievement in Children’ across Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Peterborough.

Based at The Barn Nursery School in Greenstead Green, we work in partnership with the DFE, The National Children’s Bureau, The Education Endowment Foundation and other Stronger Practice Hubs to improve outcomes for children across the EY sector

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You can have lots of fun exploring and making different sounds with children as you play and do everyday activities. You will see examples of these types of activities as well as learning about how we say different speech sounds and some hand signs you can use to go with each sound.

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An introduction to speech, language and communication from Speech and Language UK

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An introduction to speech, language and communication from Speech and Language UK

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An introduction to speech, language and communication

Our online short course is free and a great place to start learning about children and young people’s speech and language development.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Our online short course is free and a great place to start learning about children and young people's speech and language development.

This short course looks at how you can support the development of these skills on a day-to-day basis in your setting, and how to spot children and young people who might be struggling to develop these important skills.

We have re-developed this course so it is now tailored for the needs of practitioners working across all the different education phases. You have the option to access four different pathways - early years, primary, secondary or further education so you can choose which pathway is most relevant to your area of work.

If you work across more than one educational phase, you will only need to complete the phase which you predominately work in as the key principles are transferable across all the age ranges. The course takes approximately half a day to complete.

Please note, we are experiencing a surge in demand for the online short-course, which is causing the application to buffer. If your browser is timing out after signing up, we recommend giving it some time and trying again later. Also, we would recommend accessing the course on a laptop or computer via chrome.

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An introduction to speech, language and communication - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Our online short course is free and a great place to start learning about children and young people's speech and language development.

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WellComm Early Years (6 months – 6 years) and WellComm Primary (6 – 11 years) are two unique speech and language toolkits that offer the complete solution from screening to intervention. Each toolkit includes guided observation that’ll help you identify any problems along with the activities you may need to address them.

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Delayed language skills lead to under-performance later in life, yet many primary school children have unidentified speech and language difficulties. WellComm can help you to turn this around.
Both the Early Years and the Primary toolkits enable you to quickly and easily identify children needing support. They're quick and simple to use (requiring no speech and language expertise), and the traffic light scoring format of the instant reports makes them quick to interpret.

Both toolkits come with an age-appropriate Big Book of Ideas providing a total of over 150 instant, play-based activities so you can take appropriate action straight away. Activities can be used with parents at home too, so that support is provided whether or not a child is referred to a speech and language therapist

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Both the Early Years and the Primary toolkits enable you to quickly and easily identify children needing support.

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Infant Language Link is an innovative online package used to identify and support children with mild to moderate SLCN and those new to English. The assessment will also identify any children who may have more severe language needs, such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), so that these children can be considered for further investigations and diagnostic assessment with your local speech and language therapy team. Suitable for children aged 4 to 8 years,

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Our award-winning Infant Language Link is an innovative online package used to identify and support children with mild to moderate SLCN and those new to English. The assessment will also identify any children who may have more severe language needs, such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), so that these children can be considered for further investigations and diagnostic assessment with your local speech and language therapy team. Suitable for children aged 4 to 8 years, 500 colourful resources, 12 planned termly language groups, 24 individual teaching plans and 52 handouts for parents make this the most comprehensive SLCN package available for schools.
Watch our video to find out why over 3,500 schools use our packages.

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Our award-winning Infant Language Link is an innovative online package used to identify and support children with mild to moderate SLCN and those new to English. The assessment will also identify any children who may have more severe language needs, such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), so that these children can be considered for further investigations and diagnostic assessment with your local speech and language therapy team.

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Speech Link is a package used to identify and support children with developmental speech sound difficulties. Suitable for children aged 4 to 8 years, Speech Link helps demystify speech work and helps support staff work effectively with children’s common speech sound errors.

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Speech Link includes 23 planned and resourced speech interventions covering all common developmental speech errors. Each programme comes with clear instructions on how to help children produce and listen for sounds on their own, in words and in sentences. Over 600+ downloadable resources are included so staff do not have to waste valuable time trying to find the right pictures for each sound. Speech work is always most effective when school programmes are backed up with home practice. Speech Link provides extensive resources for parents including over 30 activities for home practice and information sheets.

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Speech Link includes 23 planned and resourced speech interventions covering all common developmental speech errors. Each programme comes with clear instructions on how to help children produce and listen for sounds on their own, in words and in sentences.

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Early Talk Boost is a targeted programme aimed at 3-4 year old children who need help with talking and understanding words, helping to boost their language skills to narrow the gap between them and their peers. The programme aims to accelerate children’s progress in language and communication by an average of 6 months after 9 weeks.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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A catch-up programme for children aged 3-4 who are struggling with talking and understanding words.

Early Talk Boost is a targeted programme aimed at 3-4 year old children who need help with talking and understanding words, helping to boost their language skills to narrow the gap between them and their peers. The programme aims to accelerate children's progress in language and communication by an average of 6 months after 9 weeks.

Children who are selected to take part in the programme will attend three sessions per week during circle/story time, each lasting 15-20 minutes delivered by an early years practitioner. The sessions include activities that cover the foundation skills in speech, language and communication that children need for learning and understanding new words, as well as having conversations.

Further information can be found in these documents and the introductory video below:

The benefits are:

Supports children who are not achieving their expected levels of progress in their language development

Can be used to demonstrate to Ofsted how you are focusing on developing staff skills

Help to build relationships with parents, by reinforcing the language skills the child learned during the group sessions

Demonstrates the effective use of your Early Years Pupil Premium allocation

An all-in-one speech and language solution package

Can be used by non speech and language specialists

Proven to improve children's language and communication through our evidence base

Designed to be sustainable so you can deliver the programme multiple times to new groups of children

A dedicated team to support you to maximise the impact of Early Talk Boost in your setting

Identify, monitor and track children's progress before and following the programme with the online tracker

There are two parts to Early Talk Boost.

The first is Early Talk Boost training delivered by our regional team of Licensed Tutors. The training is for early years practitioners working with groups of 3-4 year olds in early years settings. Participants will develop the skills and knowledge to understand the rationale behind Early Talk Boost, identify appropriate children, measure their progress and deliver the programme successfully.

The second is the Early Talk Boost Programme Pack. The pack includes everything you need to run the programme. Specifically, the pack includes:

The Early Talk Boost Programme Manual containing detailed group session plans and required resources

10 Jake & Tizzy Complete Sets (Titles 1-8) that have been specifically designed and written for the programme

Early Talk Boost Participant Book

Tool Bag including all of the resources needed for programme activities

Access to the Online Tracker where progress can be monitored to support Pupil Premium

Example resources:

There are two costs to Early Talk Boost.

The Programme Pack costs £550.00 and the cost of training is set individually by our Licensed tutors. If you are a small setting you might wish to consider grouping your staff together with other settings for the training and sharing the costs between yourselves.

See a breakdown of the affordability of Early Talk Boost over time here.

Visit the Find a tutor page to find a Talk Boost KS2 Licensed Tutor near you using the Map. The Licensed Tutor can arrange training and quote the cost of training. You can then purchase the Programme Pack directly on our online shop.

Alternatively get in touch on info@speechandlanguage.org.uk or call 0207 843 2515 to talk to our team about Talk Boost KS2 or to arrange training.

Practitioner and Tutor resources
All the practitioner and tutor resources for our programmes can be found on our new learning portal.

Please register or sign in here.
Programmes tracker
To help you access the online tracker, we have created a number of resources that will show you how to set up your account and get the most out of the tracker.

To Set up an account please visit www.speechandlanguagetracker.org.uk

Please note, that all the PDFs of the trackers can be found in the resources section of the tracker and on the Learning Centre (register using the link given above).

Interested in this programme?

Purchase this programme and others on our shop.

Go to the shop

Our licensed tutors have been specially trained by us to deliver our programmes. Have a look at our map to find tutors in your area.

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Early Talk Boost - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Early Talk Boost - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Word Aware 2 is based on the same principals as Word Aware but it is adapted for the Early Years. It includes the fun and engaging ‘Concept Cat’ method to teach children early verbal concepts

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Vocabulary is important the world over. In the US, the Common Core has brought vocabulary to the fore whilst in England the new curriculum specifically highlights the importance of vocabulary. Vocabulary is important from Early Years right through to secondary / high schooling as a result of the vast explosion of topic specific information.

Spoken vocabulary at 5 years impacts on reading comprehension at 15 years of age (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1997). Vocabulary relates to reading comprehension, but impacts equally on curriculum areas that require specific word knowledge such as mathematics and science.

Yet children from the poorest 20% are already a year behind with spoken vocabulary by 5 years of age (Roulstone, Law et al 2010). Without support these children fall further and further behind.

Word Aware is a structured whole school approach to promote the vocabulary development of all children. Focussed on whole class learning, the resource is of particular value for those who start at a disadvantage - including children with Developmental Language Disorder, Special Educational Needs and those who speak English as an additional language, but it will extend the word learning of all students.

This approach is full of practical and inspiring ideas that can be easily applied by busy classroom practitioners to develop both spoken and written vocabulary.

Word Aware has been developed by combining up to date research with extensive classroom experience. Stephen Parsons and Anna Branagan have been using this approach and training many practitioners since 2010. The end product is an effective and time efficient method for developing the spoken and written vocabulary of all children. It has been enthusiastically received by class teachers, head teachers, curriculum coordinators, Special Needs co-coordinators, Learning Support Assistants and Speech and Language Therapists / Pathologists.

The Word Aware book was published in 2014. This supports children's vocabulary development from 5-11 years but with simple adaptations it can be successfully used in secondary schools. The Word Aware book is available from routledge.com.

See best practice examples

Word Aware 2: Early Years

Word Aware 2 was published in 2016. It is based on the same principals as Word Aware but it is adapted for the Early Years. It includes the fun and engaging 'Concept Cat' method to teach children early verbal concepts such as 'both, corner, smooth and after'. Word Aware 2: Early Years book is available from Routledge.

Watch Word Aware 2 webinar

Amazon reviews for 'Word Aware'

This is an excellent resource! I am a speech and language therapist and use it in schools. The staff and children really enjoy it and they learn so much. I've seen a child go from not being able to say what he has been learning to being able to describe the Great Fire of London to his parents."
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Excellent product for the price. Full of highly useful and attractive resources, both on paper and on the included disk. Would wholly recommend."
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Reviews for 'Word Aware 2: Early Years'

The book starts with a detailed, interesting and clearly referenced introduction, which would be very useful for teaching staff and is a great refresher for SLTs. I like the fact that the approach is designed for the whole class, so it's inclusive and that there is a strong emphasis on the importance of Adult Child Interaction."
Rhiannan Walton, Therapy Ideas Blog. Full review

In summary, Word Aware is a great resource for anyone working with Early Years children and I would highly recommend it. It has a good mix of theory and practical activities which can be put into practice immediately with education staff and parents."
Emmy Pratt, Speech and Language Therapist. Full review

Word Aware training is available now. Click on the link below to find out more.

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Vocabulary is important the world over. In the US, the Common Core has brought vocabulary to the fore whilst in England the new curriculum specifically highlights the importance of vocabulary. Vocabulary is important from Early Years right through to secondary / high schooling as a result of the vast explosion of topic specific information.

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Alresford and Mayflower Hub Newsletter Jan 24

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Alresford and Mayflower Hub Newsletter Jan 24

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We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We’d also like to set optional performance and functional cookies. We won’t set these optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

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Essex Library Service | Our services for children and young adults

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Our services for children and young adults

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Essex ActivAte is the name for the government/council funded holiday programmes run by Active Essex. During school half term and holidays, we work with a network of locally trusted organisations across the county to deliver free, holiday clubs to support the physical and mental wellbeing of eligible children. Our activity clubs support school aged children (4-16yrs) who are eligible for benefits based free school meals, or from 'low-income' working families, also a small number of other eligible groups

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Essex ActivAte - Explained! - Active Essex

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Between 2019 and 2020, the Active Essex Foundation took action to help young people in Essex stay active and enjoy nutritious food during the school holidays, reaching over 2000 families in Essex most affected by food insecurity.

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We offer FREE interactive courses to help you negotiate these tricky times. If you are a parent, grandparent or caring for a child or young person living in Essex we have support for you.

Courses are delivered online live & face to face at various locations across Essex and some flexible learning classes

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Community and Family Learning

We offer FREE interactive courses to help you negotiate these tricky times. If you are a parent, grandparent or caring for a child or young person living in Essex we have support for you.

Courses are delivered online live & face to face at various locations across Essex and some flexible learning classes. None of the sessions are recorded because our learning is based on lived experience and we promote confidentiality and safeguarding as core values to our courses. You will come to non-judgemental, supportive learning sessions facilitated to support your family's journey.

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Community and Family Learning We offer FREE interactive courses to help you negotiate these tricky times. If you are a parent, grandparent or caring for a child or young person living in Essex we have support for you. Courses are delivered online live & face to face at various locations across Essex and some flexible learning classes.

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Welcome to Inclusive Communication Essex

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Helping your child understand language: one information carrying word

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Helping your child understand language: two information carrying words

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Helping your child understand language: three information carrying words

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EYFS Communication and Language - Listening & Understanding

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EYFS Communication and Language - Listening & Understanding

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Good listening and understanding skills help with all areas of the EYFS. Practitioners give their top tips for engaging children in listening and understanding.

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EYFS  Communication and language - Listening & Understanding

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Early years practitioners explain the importance of exploring sounds and words in the early years foundation stage

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EYFS – Understanding the world – Widening vocabulary

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EYFS – Understanding the world – Widening vocabulary

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A wide vocabulary provides children with the means to describe what they see, show their knowledge, make comparisons and start to understand that they have a part to play in looking after the world. Practitioners give their top tips for developing children’s vocabulary

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EYFS – Understanding the world – Widening vocabulary

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Top Tips for Early Years Practitioners - Speech and Language UK

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Top Tips for Early Years Practitioners - Speech and Language UK

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An object of reference is an object which has a particular meaning associated with it. For example, a fork may be the object of reference for dinner. A bath toy used as an object of reference for bath time.

The object is closely associated with and comes to represent another object, activity, person or event. These objects need to be used consistently to give your child information about what is going to happen and can be used to support the development of a child’s understanding

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Here at Just One Norfolk, we are dedicated to providing children and young people's health services to the community. Find out more about our services

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This free one-hour virtual session will reveal everything you need to know about BBC Tiny Happy People to feel confident about recommending this service to the families that you work with.

The session will explain Tiny Happy People's approach, show you easily shareable content on the website and highlight the key language techniques and resources that you'll want to share.

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Hundreds of fun, simple activities , organised by age, showing families how to support their children's language development.

There's also child development content , showing parents and carers why supporting language learning is important. It's all about children's amazing brain development and how they understand the world around them.

As well as tips and advice from health visitors, speech and language experts, healthcare professionals and early years practitioners covering a wide range of parenting topics.

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Champions Training for professionals 2024

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Find out how to become a Tiny Happy People Champion as an early years practioner or healthcare professional.

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Children learning more than one language

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Children learning more than one language

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Speech and language UK

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This guidance is for early years practitioners working with children aged between 2 and 3. It will help early years practitioners to:

review a child’s development and progress in the 3 prime areas of learning and development in the EYFS framework

identify any areas of concern or additional development needs

work with parents and other professionals to put in place appropriate support and intervention

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On this page you will find links to The Bell Foundation’s award-winning EAL Assessment Framework for Schools Primary Descriptors and Tracker which can be used in an EYFS setting

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This resource includes links to the Foundation's award-winning EAL Assessment Framework for Schools, Support Strategies and digital EAL Assessment Tracker for use in EYFS settings

Download resources

Back to all resources

On this page you will find links to The Bell Foundation's award-winning EAL Assessment Framework for Schools Primary Descriptors and Tracker which can be used in an EYFS setting. However, those using these resources should be aware that not all descriptors will necessarily be relevant to an EYFS setting and are advised to use their professional judgement when using the resources.

Also on this page are videos which provide guidance on how to use these resources.

Once you have downloaded the Tracker, please click 'Enable Editing' in order to have full functionality.

How to use the Tracker and Assessment Framework

Please follow the links below and on the right hand side to the guidance document, videos and webinar to learn how to use and apply this easy to navigate Tracker and Assessment Framework in your setting.  The first video in the playlist is an introductory video which provides a short, succinct demonstration of how the digital EAL Assessment Tracker works.  There are additional videos available which provide more detail on individual parts of the tool, but there is no need to watch all of them, or to watch them in order, they are just there to provide help if you need it.

Videos: How to work with The EAL Assessment Framework for Schools
Watch the webinar
If you have any comments, questions or feedback on Version 2.0 of the EAL Assessment Framework or the new EAL Assessment Tracker please email: info@bell-foundation.org.uk including 'EAL Assessment' in the subject line and a member of the team will respond to your enquiry within five working days.

Resource downloads

On the right hand side of this page are a number of documents that you can download for free.

When printing the EAL Assessment Framework - Primary Descriptors document, please print pages 4 to 7 in A3.

Licence information

© The Bell Educational Trust Limited. This resource is free to use for educational purposes.

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EAL Assessment Framework - EYFS - The Bell Foundation

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This resource includes links to the Foundation's award-winning EAL Assessment Framework for Schools, Support Strategies and digital EAL Assessment Tracker for use in EYFS settings Download resources Back to all resources On this page you will find links to The Bell Foundation's award-winning EAL Assessment Framework for Schools Primary Descriptors and Tracker which can be used in an EYFS setting.

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If you're working with children who are learning English as a second language, then these hints and tips might be helpful. You can also download our checklist and action plan to see how you're getting on in your setting.

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If you're working with children who are learning English as a second language, then these hints and tips might be helpful. You can also download our checklist and action plan to see how you're getting on in your setting.

Watch the videos, or read the transcripts below.

Children with English as an additional language - an introduction

Some children will grow speaking one language (monolingual) others children may speak two (bilingual) or three or more languages (multilingual). Some children may also use a sign or symbol language.

Some people worry that when a child learning to speak two or more languages they will be confused or unable to communicate effectively in either language. This is not the case. Children develop fluency in both languages, although they may at times switch between languages in the same sentence. This is called code-switching. Children may also use the languages they speak in different situations e.g. English in a childcare setting and their home, or first language at home.

Being able to speak more than one language is extremely advantageous. It can enhance a child's self esteem and identity, as well as developing and enhancing cognitive and thinking skills.

Some children will learn to speak two languages from birth and other children may learn one language first and then a second language.

It is important for children and families to maintain the language /s they use at home. This supports communication in the family and a sense of identity and community.

Working with children with English as an additional language

Some practitioners may be monolingual. Others may speak more than one language but may not speak the same languages as children. This is not a barrier to working with children with and supporting children with EAL.

One of the most important things is to show you value and respect all languages and that children and families need to feel welcome, valued and respected in the setting.

Work with parents and find out about the languages spoken by the family. Find out the keys words a child uses e.g. mum and dad, toilet. Start to keep a book for each language. This can become a very useful resources in your setting. Put a picture of the word in the book, write word down in the script used by the child. Write down how to pronounce the word. You can also make a picture card / key ring card of important words that children can carry and point to as they need e.g. the toilet, drink, mum.

Pronounce and spell children's names correctly. Ask parents to write their child's name in the script they use. Put this on the child's coat peg. Make some sticky name labels to be put on paintings etc.

Use visual timetables and visual clues e.g. photos on toy boxes.

Use song boxes and activities with visual prompts. Learn and sing songs and rhymes and listen to music in children's home languages

Use story sacks and tell stories with puppets and find stories in a children's home languages.

Remember that children need time. Time to settle, build relationships and time to take in a new language while keeping their first / home language.

Working with parents with English as an additional language

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Videos for practitioners about working with children and parents with English as an additional language.

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In this webinar, Ofsted discuss early years education in schools, focusing in particular on communication and language. Ofsted talk about what inspectors look at on inspection, including around the use of phonics. We also explore deep dives in the early years and share insights from our research.

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Early years in schools | Ofsted webinar for schools

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Council for Disabled Children e-learning modules 

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Council for Disabled Children e-learning modules 

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Please use our Browser Checker Tool before starting the training modules to make sure you have the correct system requirements for this platform.

Welcome to the Council for Disabled Children's Social Care and SEND online...

Welcome to the Council for Disabled Children’s Health Advice online...

Welcome to the Delivering Quality Annual Reviews online training,...

Welcome to the Council for Disabled Children’s and NHSE/I's Level 1: SEND...

Welcome to the Council for Disabled Children’s The role of Child and...

Welcome to the Council for Disabled Children’s and NHSE/I's Level 2: SEND...

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These workshops and information sessions cover a range of topics around caring for your child

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Our workshops and information sessions cover a range of topics around caring for your child.

In this article

About our workshops

We're currently running our workshops as virtual sessions, which take place via Zoom. We do look forward to being able to offer in-person workshops again in the future, once it is appropriate to do so.

Many of our workshops are tailored to different child age groups, particularly younger children. We also run a series of general workshops appropriate for parents of children of all ages.

We add new workshop dates all the time, so if you can't find what you're looking for, please come back soon.

Browse workshops by subject

Speech, language and communication

Virtual workshops for parents of children with communication difficulties associated with hearing impairment, language impairment and autism.

We run three versions of this workshop: for early years, primary school and secondary school-age children.

Browse on eventbrite
Browse workshops by age group

We run workshops for parents of children at different age groups. Browse our workshops for families of:

Regional workshops

Due to funding, some of our workshops are available to parent carers in particular areas. Browse our workshops for:

Rare conditions workshops

We run a range of workshops tailored to families with children who have rare conditions.
Browse on Eventbrite
All workshops
Browse all our workshops in one place

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Our workshops and information sessions cover a range of topics around caring for your child.

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Bilingual Families - The Importance of Home Language - TLC

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The importance of home language: A leaflet to share with families translated in over 20 languages

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The importance of home language: A leaflet to share with families translated in over 20 languages

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Why is home language important?

The language you speak with your children is the first language they will learn. It is their first connection to you, to the rest of their family, and to their culture and community. It is the language they first use to learn about the world around them. It is the language that helps them get "set for life" - and you are a central part of that process! This is one of the many ways parents are their children's first teachers.

What are the benefits of using your home language?

Using your home language connects your children to your family. It also provides a connection to your important cultural traditions, and to friends and neighbours who speak the same language. Using your home language allows you to teach your children, and to learn new things together. You can talk about new experiences and words; you can practise
letters and numbers. All of these things are an important part of your children's early learning - and it will be easier and more fun for you if you do it in your most comfortable language.

Will my children get confused using two languages?

Young children can learn two or more languages at the same time. They learn quickly when they have lots of experiences with adults who speak with and listen to them. Sometimes children will combine words or phrases from both languages. That's OK! It may sound as though they are confused, but they are actually learning the rules and vocabulary from both languages and sorting them out in their brains. It is a sign of good learning and thinking.

What can I do at home?

Tell stories and read to your children in your home language. Share rhymes, chants, songs, and poems you learned as a child. Look for fun activities happening in your language, such as story time at your local library, local festivals and cultural events. Look for bilingual books, wordless books, or books in your home language at your nearest public library
For more advice around home languages click the link on the sidebar.

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Bilingual Families - The Importance of Home Language - TLC

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Using your home language allows you to teach your children, and to learn new things together. You can talk about new experiences and words; you can practise

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A variety of training videos from the East of England Stronger Practice Hub

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Autism Central’s Peer Education Programme offers support to parents/carers and personal assistants of autistic children and adults via:

1. The Autism Central website (https://www.autismcentral.org.uk/hubs/essex-county-council) which has a huge range of information and guidance.

2. Weekly online group sessions

3. 1:1 support calls for more personal support.

This is a free, all age service and does not require a diagnosis. Visit the website to find a wealth of information and to book online and 1:1 sessions

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EXTRA – Support for Families (EXTRA) is here to help anyone caring for children in the Tendring district to meet the challenges of parenting. We offer local opportunities for parents/carers to meet at workshops, informal parent peer support groups and a range of programmes and courses

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Training is free and suitable for all professionals working with autistic children and young people.

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Support for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the EYFS - DfE guidance

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Support for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the EYFS - DfE guidance

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Good practice in EYFS

Advice for families

EAL Assessment guidance

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BookTrust is the UK's largest children's reading charity

We get millions of children reading by supporting families to start sharing stories and books together from the earliest possible age.

Find out more about our work

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A dedicated digital hub for BookTrust’s early years partners

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Supporting speech, language and communication skills

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Supporting speech, language and communication skills

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Speech, language and communication skills underpin children’s learning. This resource explains what these terms mean and how they are different from each other. It also includes information on the expected development of children in these areas

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Neurodevelopmental Pathway - North East Essex

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Neurodevelopmental Pathway - North East Essex

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Provides telephone support to children and young people with a neurodevelopmental condition and their family

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The Neurodevelopmental Pathway coordinators support children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism, ADHD and Dyspraxia. They provide information, resources and support at any time, including pre and post diagnosis.

Help is tailored to family needs. It could include help to access support with:

managing changes to routine

navigating social situations

understanding sensory processing

navigating transitions at school

explaining other services and how they can help

managing meltdowns and shutdowns

Children and young people up to the age of 25 with a neurodevelopmental condition (pre or post diagnosis) in Colchester and Tendring district.

Contact by phone or email. A professional working with the child or young person can also provide a referral.

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NHS - Neurodevelopmental pathway - North East Essex

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The Neurodevelopmental Pathway coordinators support children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism, ADHD and Dyspraxia. They provide information, resources and support at any time, including pre and post diagnosis. Help is tailored to family needs.

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Ormiston Families’ Breaking Barriers service provides support for children and young people affected by the imprisonment of a close family member

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For professionals

Our Breaking Barriers team can provide talks and presentations to teachers, social workers, police officers and other professionals to help them understand the 'hidden sentence' which is often endured by children and young people with a parent or family member in prison.

An estimated 310,000 children every year have a parent in prison in England and Wales and 10,000 visits are made by children to our public prisons every week.

Read the Cambridge Institute of Criminology's evaluation of our Breaking Barriers service:
Breaking Barriers
Contact us

To make a referral, book a talk or for a general discussion about the service, please contact our team at bbreferrals@ormistonfamilies.org.uk.

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Ormiston Families' Breaking Barriers service provides support for children and young people affected by the imprisonment of a close family member.

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Blank's Levels of Questioning are a framework developed to help children develop key oral language comprehension skills. The framework is built around four stages of questioning, which become progressively more complex, moving from relatively simple, concrete questions to more complicated, abstract queries

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Blanks Levels of Questioning - Speech Pathology - Twinkl

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Looking to learn about Blank’s levels of questioning in speech pathology terms? Our handy teaching wiki is here to lend a hand with explanations and advice for parents and teachers.