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