There can be little doubt that where a child’s education focuses on language skills, then the child’s learning, thinking, social and emotional well-being will be enhanced.

But of course simply having an intervention programme is not enough. For the programme not only needs to focus on children’s language, it also needs to change classroom practice so that it can lead to an impact on learning, social development and emotional development.

And beyond that we need to be certain (through independent evaluation) that the programme does achieve what we want it to achieve.

This is exactly how our programme, Primary Talk, works. It supports the communication development of all children, including those with speech, language and communication needs, and in this way it helps schools improve pupil outcomes.

Better still, the University of Sheffield independent evaluation of the pilot programme found that Primary Talk has a significant impact on classroom practice and helps to improve school environments for all children.

As a result, in schools where Primary Talk has been implemented, teachers report that more children understand what is said in lessons, because of the strategies adopted.

Primary Talk provides a package of training, mentoring and resources for school staff and accreditation of primary schools. The programme is available to local authorities, individual schools or clusters of schools, and can be delivered directly by I CAN staff or via a project of training your trainers to deliver.

To see exactly how Primary Talk could work in the unique conditions within your school, please contact I CAN on 0845 225 4073.

Alternatively you can email us at primarytalk@ican.org.uk. Please provide your contact name, position, school name, address, contact phone number and the best time to reach you by phone.

If you would like to read more about this remarkable project and the way it is being applied in schools across the country, there is more information on our website.