A debate in the House of Lords last week flagged up the shortage of speech and language therapists in children's services (see News, page 6). It is not that there are too few people - according to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, eight out of ten newly qualified therapists cannot find a job. And the problem of young children with language delay is on the rise, as a recent Talk to Your Baby conference showcasing initiatives from local authorities across the country illustrated. Speaking and communicating are so fundamental to young children's learning that funding for sufficient trained speech and language practitioners, as well as training and support for all early years practitioners, can only be money well spent. Raising the bar for the Early Years Foundation Stage early learning goal on linking sounds and letters is not the answer (see Letters, page 30).
A debate in the House of Lords last week flagged up the shortage of speech and language therapists in children's services (see News, page 6). It is not that there are too few people - according to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, eight out of ten newly qualified therapists cannot find a job. And the problem of young children with language delay is on the rise, as a recent Talk to Your Baby conference showcasing initiatives from local authorities across the country illustrated.
Speaking and communicating are so fundamental to young children's learning that funding for sufficient trained speech and language practitioners, as well as training and support for all early years practitioners, can only be money well spent. Raising the bar for the Early Years Foundation Stage early learning goal on linking sounds and letters is not the answer (see Letters, page 30).
This week, you will receive the latest edition of our ever-popular Nursery Chains magazine with Nursery World. Find out who's up and who's down in our exclusive Top 20 league table.
Finally, we've included a great wallchart from Dot to Dot so you can start planning for next year, and we've also got ten early years French packs to give away in our reader offer (page 7).
