Early Years families take part in language development workshop

Happy talk was the order of the day when a BBCET school invited parents and carers to join their children for a special speech and language event on Wednesday 15 October.

The Language Link Workshop at St Catherine’s Catholic Primary in Newcastle was open to Early Years First Stage (EYFS) pupils and their families, and was led by Gemma East, a Speech and Language Specialist and Therapist assigned by the Trust.

“Parents who attended had a 20-minute workshop about understanding how to support language development at home through games and activities the children would enjoy,” said St Catherine’s SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator) and Year 3 Teacher, Alys Haddow.

“Then they went up to our Early Years classrooms and had the chance to take part in some language-rich activities with their children, trying out some of the strategies they had just seen in the workshop.”

The school’s Early Years staff were on hand to help, including Fiona Craggs and Debbie Terpsiadou from Nursery, and Melissa Calvert and Maureen Nixon from Reception.

“We were aiming to improve the use and understanding of language, so that children benefit across their learning – reading, writing, and spelling – in all subjects,” continued Ms Haddow.

“Language is key to communication, expression, understanding the world, and many other areas of development, and we feel helping parents understand how they can help too, only strengthens the support children are receiving.

“Language Link is an intervention we use in school, and have been for the last year, and we have already seen such positive impacts in classrooms. Children are more confident asking and answering questions, having conversations with peers and adults, pushing themselves in their writing to use more creative vocabulary, and just generally improving their self-esteem and wellbeing.”

The scheme has proved so successful that a similar workshop is planned for Year 1.

“It is important to include families in the development of their children, so they can see how they can help at home, as sometimes it isn’t obvious, and sometimes parents don’t always know they have the tools to help,” added Ms Haddow.

“It is important to increase family engagement and make the family aspect of the school even stronger, with all of us working together for the good of the child.”