Education News

If a child is given support with the development of his/her communication skills from a very early age, it is virtually certain that the child will get better foundation stage results than would otherwise be the case.

Which is why communication and language are invariably seen as a prime area that influences development.

Additionally, where support with the development of communication skills incorporates a partnership between parents and yourselves then the resultant development can be even better.

In England, the funding regime for two year olds means that your staff must have the skills and knowledge to develop communication skills with these children and to work with their parents so that the progress continues at home.

It is because of the huge significance and importance of communication and language that I CAN has developed a major collection of accessible resources for Sure Start Children’s Centres.

These materials ensure that practitioners have the knowledge and skills necessary to support communication and language and to cultivate collaborative relationships with parents.

The resources describe the different elements of communication and language, and outline what good practice looks like. They also show how Sure Start Children’s Centres can empower parents so they can interact with their children to develop communication and language skills.

There is also a pack to help teams of early years practitioners to understand, reinforce and enable the development of speech, communication and language in their group or setting.

I CAN’s resources include progress checks that can be shared with parents for early identification of difficulties and to support the reporting to parents between 24 and 36 months. They also show the way in which everyday activities can be used as opportunities for enhancing communication skills.

I do hope you will consider introducing these techniques and approaches in your centre.

You can read details of all these early years resources and the benefits they bring on https://shop.ican.org.uk/catalog/2 or place an order via our order form here http://www.schools.co.uk/ICANorderform.pdf.

If you have any questions about our resources please do call 0845 225 4073 or email info@ican.org.uk

Ah poor King Charles. Except if I meant, “King Charles walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off,” the contemplation of what it must be like to know that one is about to die is transformed into a ghost story of frightening, if utterly unbelievable, proportions.

Such is punctuation. What is for many school children just another silly thing that adults put into the language in order to annoy is, in fact, a vital part of clarifying meaning, allowing us to express ourselves more clearly than would otherwise be the case.

But there’s a problem. Although punctuation can be taught by giving rules and examples, what children need to do is to practise using punctuation. In fact they need to practise it a lot – without getting bored. Which is why we have created the computer program “Punctuate Plus”.

The program contains three types of exercises: a punctuation quiz set against the clock, a ‘shoot’ the missing punctuation mark game, and exercises within the ‘learn about punctuation’ section. The activities can be varied by selecting specific type or types of punctuation you want to look at, and dyslexic students will appreciate the text-speech feature. This is an excellent teaching resource, especially when used with an interactive whiteboard.

There is more than enough content to ensure that children are not presented with the same question twice, and you can also add your own questions.

There is more information at http://www.xavier-educational-software.co.uk/punctuatemx.shtml and there’s a link on the page to a free evaluation version of the software.

Three types of licences are available (single payment):

Single user £25
Basic site £99 – up to 25 users
Full site £250 – unlimited users
You can order:

By post: Xavier Software, 34 Tan y Bwlch Road, Llanllechid, Bangor, LL57 3HU
By fax: 01536 399012
By email: xavier@xes.org.uk
On line at: http://www.xavier-educational-software.co.uk/punctuatemx.shtml
If you have any questions please call 07895076062 or email xavier@xes.org.uk

The observation has often been made that foundation stage results in settings where children are given support, encouragement and help in terms of communication and language are invariably significantly better than those of children who do not get such early support.

What’s more, as this support continues, the risk of school exclusions is decreased, children’s understanding improves, and ultimately educational achievement improves – all through the child experiencing the right type of interaction in terms of communication and language at an early age.

As you know, the importance of communication and language is reflected in the EYFS framework which also highlights the partnership between parents and your children’s centres and PVI settings.

And thus we have the answer to our question at the top of the page. The most effective way of improving outcomes in early years education involves improving communication skills and extending the partnership with parents.

It is because of the huge significance and importance of communication and language, as well as partnership with parents, that I CAN has developed a major collection of accessible resources on this topic which will ensure that early years practitioners have the knowledge and skills necessary to cultivate collaborative relationships with children and with their parents.

These resources describe the different elements of communication and language and show what good practice looks like. There is also a pack to support teams of early years practitioners to understand, reinforce and enable the development of speech, communication and language.

These resources from I CAN also have progress checks for early years practitioners to share with parents for early identification of difficulties and to respond to the recommendation to report to parents between 24 and 36 months.

As a result you can direct all early years practitioners towards resources to develop the skills and knowledge to lay a sound foundation for communication and language, build partnerships with parents and improve the long term outcomes for children.

You can read details of all these early years resources and the benefits they bring on https://shop.ican.org.uk/catalog/2 or place an order via our order form here http://www.schools.co.uk/ICANorderform.pdf. The resources are all written by specialist speech and language therapists and teachers who have worked across the UK with LAs, settings and practitioners.

If you have any questions about our resources please do call 0845 225 4073 or email info@ican.org.uk