Supporting language development with Tots and Babies in Nottingham

Charlotte Malik, Hub Manager at the National Literacy Trust in Nottingham writes about ‘Talking Tots and Babies’.

This six-week programme for parents/carers and their 0 to 4-year-olds aims to provide support for children who are not accessing formal nursery provision. The programme nurtures language development through stories, songs, and play, and encourages parents to engage in language activities at home.

The National Literacy Trust in Nottingham is funded by Small Steps Big Changes (SSBC) (Nottingham’s A Better Start programme) to deliver place-based work to children and families to improve literacy levels across the city. ‘Talking Tots and Babies’ was designed following research, commissioned by SSBC, into increasing engagement in activities designed to support parents to develop children’s speech, language and communication (SLC). The National Literacy Trust Nottingham Hub team integrated recommendations from this research when they designed and delivered the programme, ensuring that the sessions took place in accessible locations.

Each weekly session has a particular focus, this ranges from from ‘Talking Together,’ ‘Singing Songs and Rhymes,’ to ‘Chatting Out and About,’ and ‘Musical Conversation.’ To encourage this in the home learning environment, families have been provided with books, activity resources, and story props to take with them.

All activities in the programme include a hands-on, practical element. The books and props have been particularly well received, as have age-specific tips on how to make the most of them. A key aim of the programme is to encourage multilingual storytelling and song time in the home, as many parents/carers felt that they should only speak in English to their children. The early years practitioner from National Literacy Trust was able to share information and evidence as well as her own experiences and practice to highlight the positive impact of reading, storytelling, and singing in different languages.

Socialising and bonding are an important part of parents’ and children’s experience of Talking Tots and Babies. This has been reflected by formal evaluation data as well as anecdotal evidence. During the programme, the team listened and responded to participants’ needs, including integrating free play sessions into the delivery.

The feedback from parents captured the positive experience for them and their children:

• “It is worth it because the first two years of life are so important and this can be overlooked as life can be so hectic! These sessions are perfect for drip feeding information and demonstrating simple tasks that are so significant and make a big difference for a young child.”
• “It has helped my child’s confidence and development. My child really enjoyed attending the sessions”
• “I have seen huge improvement in her speech and we’ve learned so much that I can use what I’ve learned out and about each day.”

The programme had a positive impact on parents’ confidence to support their child’s language and on their engagement with language activities, which was a key aim. At the end of the programme, they told us:

• “These sessions have made such a difference to me. All the things we’ve learned, I have been doing at home. My daughter was a Covid baby and wouldn’t interact. Now she socially interacts.”
• “Fun, engaging, educational for parents. Encouraging to realise about all the range of things that can be done with household items.”

Parents most enjoyed the singing and the socialising, as well as learning from experienced programme leaders:

• “Learning about phonics. Nice to get the props/items at the end of each session.”
• “Ideas on how to engage more with my daughter – stories/shopping/songs.”
• “Enjoyed all of it. Learning about milestones. Expertise from leaders. Evidence based advice i.e. how musical play links to brain development.”
  

Since the end of each programme, parents/carers stayed in contact via a WhatsApp group and have attended other Speech, Language and Communication events in the community.

As a result of high demand, the Nottingham Family Hubs will now be expanding our work by funding further Talking Tots and Babies programmes for 3–4-year-olds alongside separate sessions for 0–2-year-olds which are currently supported by SSBC. These will take place in the Meadows and Broxtowe Family Hubs in Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025. It is hoped that if further Family Hubs funding is provided, these sessions will be sustained beyond SSBC.

We are also very proud that the programme has been selected as a finalist in the National Nursery World Awards 2024 in the ‘Working with Parents’ category!

About A Better Start

A Better Start is a ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million programme set-up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

Five A Better Start partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham and Southend are supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. Working with local parents, the A Better Start partnerships are developing and testing ways to improve their children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication.

The work of the programme is grounded in scientific evidence and research. A Better Start is place-based and enabling systems change. It aims to improve the way that organisations work together and with families to shift attitudes and spending towards preventing problems that can start in early life. It is one of five major programmes set up by The National Lottery Community Fund to test and learn from new approaches to designing services which aim to make people’s lives healthier and happier

The National Children’s Bureau is coordinating an ambitious programme of shared learning for A Better Start, disseminating the partnerships’ experiences in creating innovative services far and wide, so that others working in early childhood development or place-based systems change can benefit.

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Visit the A Better Start website to find out more.