City of York Council and York and Scarborough NHS Foundation Trust’s Early Talk for York programme has been shortlisted for an award in the ‘Delivering Better Outcomes’ category at this year’s prestigious Municipal Journal Awards.
A pioneering children’s speech and language programme in York has been shortlisted for a national award.
City of York Council and York and Scarborough NHS Foundation Trust’s Early Talk for York programme has been shortlisted for an award in the ‘Delivering Better Outcomes’ category at this year’s prestigious Municipal Journal Awards.
The programme, which was rolled out across the city last year following a successful pilot in the west of York, aims to improve the communication and language outcomes for children aged 0 to 5 years.
Early communication and language development has been shown to be particularly important in helping to tackle inequalities between disadvantaged children and their peers. It’s hoped that the programme could play a key role in reducing the significant and longstanding attainment gap in outcomes between disadvantaged children and their peers in York, which is already significant by 5 years of age.
The programme focusses on providing specific language support training for staff in schools and early years settings, routinely assessing children to identify any speech or language problems, and working closely with specialist speech and language therapists.
Councillor Bob Webb, the council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said:
We’re already seeing the positive impact of the Early Talk for York programme on children’s development, with outcomes for disadvantaged children in York bucking the national trend of declining speech, language and communication attainment post covid.
"I’m delighted that the work of the project team, and the schools and early years settings they’re working with, has been recognised nationally."
The award winners will be announced on Friday 23 June.
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