Strengthening the Foundations: Practice Priorities in Early Childhood Settings

With speech and language being a significant area of concern within England this research aimed to explore how indoor and outdoor play and learning spaces impact on young children’s communication and language development. 11 early years settings were asked to assess children’s baseline skills within this area (n=76), then undertake improvements to their environments through the use of an environmental audit tool (n=11). After the improvements were implemented and embedded, six months later children were re-assessed. Parents’ (n=10) and practitioners’ (n=29)’ views were also sought on the perceived benefits of the intervention. Through a mixed-method evaluation approach and by way of statistical analysis of observations (n=11), questionnaires (n=39), and interviews (n=11), both before and after the intervention, it was found that practitioner’s confidence in supporting speech and language development was enhanced (increase of 32-44 percentage points) and improvements made in the play and learning environments contributed towards a positive impact on speech and language outcomes (93-97% improvement). Parents noted improvements in their children’s development in this area. Although the small-scale study was undertaken in England, it is asserted that the findings may be applicable to a wider international context. This project highlighted that practitioners require support in utilising their environments in a supportive manner and it is recommended that there needs to be an approach moving forward that focuses on “strengthening the foundations” of Early Years practice.