Maybe you are a Children’s Centre, playgroup, nursery, school or Health Professional interested in promoting the communication skills of the children in your care?

Jessica Guerin is a highly skilled trainer with many years experience training Children centre staff, educational staff in schools, nurseries & playgroups, Health Visitors, assistants and parents. She is certified to deliver both Hanen and Elklan training packages as well as having a range of her own training packages available, including half and full day courses covering:

• promotion of communication skills in young children
• baby and toddler signing for early years environments
• ante-natal and post-natal programmes for parents-to-be, new parents, family support and maternity support workers

She can tailor packages to your specific needs and if applicable, will often carry out a visit to the provision in advance of the training being delivered in order to tailor the content of the programme. The training is delivered in a fun and interactive way. It is practically based and attendees take away lots of ideas and strategies they can implement into their everyday routines and settings.

Jessica can also deliver regular parent and baby/child preventative and early intervention groups or pre-school groups directly with the children in your establishment.

These groups include:

• ‘Baby & Toddler signing’, a programme developed to teach parents a wide range of useful everyday signs to use with their babies & toddlers to reduce the frustrations common in the early years, and to promote the development of spoken language skills.
• 'Talking Toddlers for children aged 2-3 years, aimed at extending their vocabulary and phrases, developing their attention, listening and turn-taking skills.
• 'Chatterbox for children aged 3-4 years.' Further developing children’s vocabulary, understanding, attention, listening and concentration skills.
• ‘Sounds Fun’ for children aged 3½-5 years. An advanced group, preparing children for school targeting memory, attention & listening, auditory discrimination, rhyme and phonic knowledge to help with the development of literacy.

Take a look at the section 'Pre-school Communication Groups' for other available programmes. Programmes can be tailored to cover the ages and developmental levels of the children in your care.

If you would like to discuss your training needs or require further information on the above groups, please click here. Costs are available on request.

Recent research findings:

Increasingly what the research shows is that young children's communication skills are a cause for concern. In a 2001 survey of nursery heads, the National Association of Head Teachers found that 75 per cent were concerned that children's language competence at entry had dropped significantly over the previous five years. One in ten children have speech and language problems, according to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and in areas of disadvantage over 50% of reception aged children have significant speech and language delay.

A poll by I Can, a national education charity, found that 89% of nursery workers were worried about the growth of language and communication difficulties among pre-school children. Ninety-two per cent of them attributed this to the lack of time adults and children spend talking together.

The development of communication skills is central to a child’s ability to establish and maintain relationships, to have confidence and high self-esteem, and to achieve not only academically but generally in life. Prevention and early intervention is essential in order to prepare children for life and to prevent secondary difficulties arising. The following are some pertinent quotes highlighting the importance of the development of speech, language and communication skills in young children:

"Children who are unable to communicate effectively through language or to use language as a basis for further learning are handicapped socially, educationally and, as a consequence, emotionally."
Byers-Brown & Edwards, 1989

"Children's reading at 10 is predicated on their vocabulary at 3 and an awful lot of children don't have the sort of rich early environment that others enjoy."
Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Professor of Early Childhood Education, Institute of Education, (The Independent, 28 February 2008)

"The development and use of communication and language is at the heart of young children's learning."
Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance

"Effective communication and language skills are fundamental to young people's learning, developing social skills and fulfilling their potential."
Ed Balls, Secretary of State, DCSF, Launch of Speech, Language and Communications Review, 11 September 2007

"The ability to communicate is fundamental to psychological development and establishing meaningful relationships throughout life."
Alan Johnson, Secretary of State, DH, Launch of Speech, Language and Communications Review, 11 September 2007

"It is relevant to the educational attainment agenda: it is relevant to the tackling antisocial behaviour agenda; it is relevant to the acquisition of skills agenda; it is relevant to the promotion of public health agenda; and it is relevant to the avoidance of mental health difficulty."
John Bercow, MP, speaking about the issue of speech, language and communication at the launch of the Bercow Report,
8 July 2008