In Stoke-on-Trent we are working in the electoral wards of Bentilee and Abbey Hulton. We first started working in the area in 2021 and heard from our partners that many children were entering nursery and reception with below-expected levels of speech and language development.
We looked into different activities and interventions which are proven to help children develop speech and language, and discovered Oxford Education’s Talking Time, which aims to enhance nursery children’s oral language skills through small-group activities, professional development for staff, and supportive resources. Working with six of our partner schools, we trained nursery teachers in the Talking Time’ programme to improve language development and communication skills of 187 children, before they started school.
This report examines the implementation and early effectiveness of the Talking Time intervention in Abbey Hulton and Bentilee, which was introduced in the 2023/2024 school year.
The evaluation of the first year of Talking Time focused on three main objectives: assessing how well the intervention was implemented, looking at changes for children and teachers and identifying ways to improve local delivery in future years.
There was a 51% reduction in the number of nursery school age children with significant language delays from 39% to 19%
Despite challenges faced in the implementation of the programme, including high staff turnover, the demands of existing curricula and a lack of planning time, a huge impact was seen on the seen on the development of communication & language skills in the children that participated.
Overall, 71% of children from the 6 schools that delivered Talking Time improved their communication and language skills.
Teachers reported increased confidence and improved teaching practices, with more intentional and inclusive interactions with children.
The structured training, blending theory with practical application, was highly effective. Support from us, through follow-up visits and responsive guidance helped keep the momentum going.
This year, to improve the effectiveness of the intervention, we will be repeating the training for a new cohort of teachers as well as for private and voluntary sector nurseries. This means hat all children arriving in reception year in our schools will have benefitted from Talking Time. We will also be looking at encouraging better collaboration and sharing of knowledge between settings with the long-term aim of Talking Time’s reflective practice becoming embedded within local nursery provision for the long-term.
“Talking Time really supported our children in developing their confidence and use of language when talking in a group and within their play. It also really supported with listening , attention and focus. The training was thorough and really helped the staff to provide the highest quality sessions."