Training courses to help you support children with their communication, language and literacy development.

Speech and language Support for 3 to 5's

This Elklan Course is a highly successful accredited course particularly aimed at practitioners who support three to five year olds. It will be especially beneficial for practitioners working with children with delayed speech and language development. However, the course is designed to support the speech and language development of all children within the setting.

Feedback received about this course:

• "It is a really worthwhile course, which really enables you to examine your own practice, as well as learn about children’s speech and language development in a detailed way. Our setting has most definitely benefited from the training and will be looking to continue my training to Level 4, so I can support the rest of the staffing team in developing their skills further."
• "I would like to express how informative the Elklan course was. I found the tasks set for each module really supported  and extended my own knowledge as a practitioner."
• "I really enjoyed the Elkan course. It has given me more strategies to help parents and to help myself in the work setting. The Elkan book has a good range of resources to help you through the course and even after course to put into practise. Doing the course it was good to have the webinars each week where we could support each other and share examples and ideas to support the course work."

As part of the Let's Make Communication Count project, once the criteria for using the WellComm Toolkit is met, there is funding available for practitioners to complete this Accredited Level 3 course.

Elklan Communication Friendly Settings

Elklan Communication Friendly Setting (CFSe) accreditation is awarded to early years settings that have trained and supported all their staff in communication and language development. 

They will also have shown evidence of embedding this knowledge in targeted interventions and through the implementation of a setting communication policy. Accreditation can be achieved in one year and is renewed after three years. It is the most cost effective strategy available for capacity building in communication within settings.

As part of the Let's Make Communication Count project, once the criteria for using the WellComm Toolkit is met, and there is at least one member of staff in ten has successfully achieved Elklan Speech and Language support for 0-3s or 3-5s at Level 3, there is funding available to help providers achieve CFSe accreditation award, depending on how much funding the provider has previously received, as part of the project.

See the Elklan website for more information about the courses and contact your Early Years and Childcare Adviser if you want to discuss your funding route into being eligible for the courses.

Communication Trust courses

The Communication Trust is a coalition of over 50 not-for-profit organisations. Working together we support everyone who works with children and young people in England to support their communication, language and literacy.

Their online short course is free and a great place to start learning about children and young people’s communication, language and literacy development. It looks at how you can support the development of these skills on a day-to-day basis in your setting, and how to spot children and young people who might be struggling to develop these important skills.

The course takes approximately half a day to complete.

Register to attend the Communication Trust Course

Skills audit tool - Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

A self assessment tool relating to perceptions of current level of skills and understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

This form is designed to be used on an ongoing basis to provide a baseline measure, evidence continuous professional development, and to identify progression from learning. 

Download the skills audit tool - SLCN self assessment form.