The Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), involved a partnership between Thrive at Five, seven local schools, and Staffordshire University, in which Staffordshire University students, rather than teachers or early years practitioners, deliver the NELI intervention.
To ensure high-quality delivery and smooth implementation across multiple settings with numerous students, two Peripatetic Support Staff provided additional oversight and support working across all seven schools. These support leaders played a crucial role in supporting effective implementation of NELI.
Across 7 schools a total of 269 children were screened for the NELI intervention using the Language Screen app. Of these, 101 children (35.9%) participated in the intervention.
NELI was partially implemented across all schools, with none completing the full 20-week intervention. All schools, however, completed Phase 1 (10 weeks) and 6 schools completed over 60% of sessions.
Despite the challenges faced in the intervention, such as student dropout, delays in DBS clearances, and seasonal disruptions, a huge impact was seen on the development of communication & language skills in the children that participated.
We saw a 62% increase in the percentage of children whose language skills were not a cause for concern.
Improvements were observed in the children’s language skills that participated in NELI. The percentage of children whose language skills were scored as ‘not a cause for concern’ rose from 3% to 65%, after taking part in the intervention.
97% of children improved their communication skills
These results show that supporting children in reception through NELI can have a huge impact on their communication and language skills. In the evaluation, we detail some of the main learnings from this, such as the importance of employing Peripatetic Support Leaders and retaining student engagement, how we can have a greater impact if we deliver the full 90 sessions of NELI, and the need to increase access to NELI for every child that could benefit.
"Without the support of Thrive at Five, we would have really struggled. The sessions take the Teaching Assistant out of the classroom for long periods, which is challenging given the increasing needs of the children. Having that extra support was an absolute godsend."