By the age of three, children in the lowest income group have language skills on average 17 months behind children in the highest income group1. In response to this critical matter of equity and social mobility, the National Literacy Trust (NLT) led the development of First Words Together (FWT), a new project in partnership with Birmingham Forward Steps (with grant funding from the Department for Health and Social Care, as part of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund 2020-21). It launched in 2021, aiming to address this language gap as early as possible by working with families in areas of high deprivation in Birmingham.
More than 600 families engaged in the first two years, the vast majority of whom lived in the 30 per cent most deprived post code areas on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Subsequent funding has allowed the NLT to extend the project in Birmingham by an extra year, as well as begin to roll out the programme into other local authority areas.
The Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) was appointed as independent evaluation partner, and this article draws on some of the interim published findings which relate to the first two years of the project in Birmingham2. Further reports will be published in the autumn considering later data collected.
CREC has taken a mixed-methods approach to evaluating the programme, combining different data collection methods including pre-/post-course surveys with parents, post-training surveys with practitioners, focus groups with parents, interviews with practitioners and case studies of practice, and participant monitoring data. In this way it has been able to not only capture the impact of the programme on practitioners and families but also to begin to understand how the programme sits within wider complex, multi-agency early years systems, and how best it can therefore be supported in future.
There is a wide range of learning coming out of this project; however, this article will look at the families it reached and how it made a difference to them.
THE PROGRAMME
FWT, based on an existing Early Words Together at Two programme3, was developed in consultation with speech and language therapists to provide support and resources for families of under-twos in disadvantaged communities. The sessions support parents with communicating with infants, understanding the importance of gesture and shared attention, singing songs and rhymes, sharing books and stories, and ideas for real-life experiences to hear and learn new vocabulary. The programme runs across five weeks where parents and children attend in small groups in a social and relaxed environment, supported by FWT trained staff. These have tended to be staff from Children’s Centres across the city who were the key practitioners targeted for training. However, as the project progressed, community stay-and-play staff (Early Years Alliance) and library staff were also trained.
ENGAGEMENT AND REACH
In the first two years of the programme, up to and including March 2023, an overall total of 612 people participated in the FWT programme at their local Birmingham Children’s Centre.
The programme has been delivered across all ten Birmingham districts, with 83 per cent of participants residing in the lowest three deciles on the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation. In fact, most parents/carers (53 per cent) lived in the 10 per cent most deprived local output areas.
In terms of ethnicity, 83 per cent of parents were from minority ethnic backgrounds. Almost half (43 per cent) of the parents/carers identified as ‘Asian/British Asian’, while 11 per cent identified as Black. About a sixth (17 per cent) identified as White British.
WHAT IMPACT DOES THE PROGRAMME HAVE ON THE HOME LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR FAMILIES OF UNDER-TWOS?
A key outcome of the FWT programme was to achieve increased awareness among parents about the importance of a language-rich home learning environment. The thematically analysed evidence reveals both parents and practitioners perceived that the FWT programme impacted positively on parenting skills and practices, which enabled improved support for language development in the home and led to language-enriched home learning environments, particularly in relation to increased parent/child talk and book sharing.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON GENERAL PARENTING SKILLS AND PRACTICES IN THE HOME
The parents we spoke to were highly positive about how the FWT programme had changed their parenting practices in the home in general, with reduced screen time for children and more play, singing, book sharing and child/parent talk given as examples. Parents suggested their interactions with their child were more direct, simpler, slower paced, with more eye contact and time devoted to dialogue with their child. They also indicated theyhave learned tips, such as using inexpensive materials and resources in the home to create positive play scenarios with their children.
‘I have learnt more about how to interact with my child through play and song. I have reduced the screen time to help my son with his speech and language.’ (Parent)
‘Give them time to talk to you, looking at you, face to face … He’s come on loads since.’ (Parent)
IMPROVED PARENT SUPPORT FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE HOME
Parents also reported that following the FWT programme they have been able to offer their child improved support for language development in the home. They highlighted there is more talk with their child, especially during home play and when sharing books. They also testified to doing more singing and nursery rhymes with their child. Practitioners validated the parent’s perceptions of a shift in their understanding of the importance of talking to their children.
LANGUAGE-ENRICHED HOME LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Parents explained to us that their home learning environments had become language-enriched through their participation in the FWT programme. Parents stated that they were sharing books, and activities based on books, much more, singing to and with their children more and engaging in more storytelling dialogue and play.
‘Simple ideas to help us with speech and language, things like using stories and through play.’ (Parent)
LESS ISOLATION FOR PARENTS/CARERS AND CHILDRENPOST-COVID
The evidence revealed a further surprising impact on the home learning environment. Some parents stated that the FWT programme had enabled them to reconnect with other families and services post-Covid, and that they were less isolated and generally more socially engaged than previously. Practitioners also noticed this change during the programme; an important finding, as many families with young children have been cut off from wider social interaction, thus affecting the child’s speech, language and social development.
‘They’ve set up a WhatsApp group already supporting each other… they’ve actually lacked confidence in going to groups and now they are making friends – it’s really good for their mental health.’ (Practitioner)
WHAT IMPACT DOES TAKING PART IN THE PROGRAMME HAVE ON PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ CONFIDENCE AND UNDERSTANDING WHEN SUPPORTING THEIR CHILD’S SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT?
A second key outcome of the FWT programme was to have developed the skills and confidence in parents to support the literacy development of their children at home. All parents and carers who participated in the programme were asked to score themselves on a five-point Likert scale against seven self-evaluative questions (relating to their knowledge and confidence) about young children’s communication and language development. This was completed once at the start, and again at the end of the programme, and the modal and median data shows that parents perceived their own knowledge and confidence increased in all seven areas. This data was supported by parent and practitioner interviews.
INCREASED PARENT CONFIDENCE IN SUPPORTING THEIR CHILD’S EARLY SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
Some parents testified to their increased confidence in supporting their child’s speech and language and felt the programme had reassured them in their interactions with their child. Practitioners were equally positive in their belief that the parents had gained confidence in their ability to support their child’s developing speech and language and had become more secure in their parenting, which positively affects their wider relationships. Practitioners could also directly attribute this outcome to strategies parents had learned during their FWT sessions, such as making eye contact and speaking more directly to the child.
IMPROVED PARENT KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF EARLY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Both practitioners and parents also felt parents who participated had gained vital knowledge and understanding of the importance of early language development and how they might support this better through their parenting strategies. Parents testified to their learning from the FWT programme, stating that they had gained a lot of information, practical tips and strategies when interacting with their child, and had a better understanding of how speech and language develops in their child.
Practitioners also provided evidence of parents’ improved knowledge and understanding of early language development and suggested that often parents were uncertain and unsure about how to interact with their child, and the knowledge gained led to them using their own culture and language more effectively within their interactions with their child.
CONCLUSION
It was always hoped that the programme would boost parents’ knowledge and confidence in supporting their children’s language development, and so to capture this in the research was important. For example, the data shows that 90 per cent of parents reported a positive change in their knowledge of the ways to talk and interact with their child, which suggests the programme is effective in that regard. Equally important, however, has been to better understand what has contributed to these changes as well as to identify ways in which the programme can be improved.
By listening to the parents we have also discovered how important FWT has been to their overall sense of wellbeing, and how a five-week programme has empowered them to make positive changes to boost their children’s language development.
REFERENCES
1. Gascoigne M. and Gross J. (2017) Talking About a Generation: Current policy, evidence and practice for speech, language and communication. Report for ICan and The Communications Trust. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/3zjs6kbd
2. National Literacy Trust (2023) Evaluation of First Words Together in Birmingham. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/39srec7k
3. National Literacy Trust (2023) Early Words Together at Two. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/e9468cwe
