Communication support for early years children… whose job is it anyway?

I’m Helen Rush, Lead for the Early Years Stronger Practice Hub for West and South Yorkshire. I’ve worked in children’s services for many years, with the last 15 focused on supporting children with early communication and language needs. I want to share some thoughts, tips and encouragement about how everyone can play a role in supporting children’s communication and language development.

Communication and language… still one of our biggest challenges

Communication and language needs are consistently highlighted by practitioners as one of the biggest areas where more support, advice and guidance is needed, both locally in our own surveys and nationally. I totally understand this, having spent most of my career working in this very area.

But this isn’t a new challenge. So why, after years of reports, research and campaigns, is it still so hard to address? Why is it so difficult to resolve, and more importantly, why does it still feel like we haven’t moved forward?

As I prepare to leave the Early Years Stronger Practice Hub at St Edmund’s to take on a new role leading “Talking Bradford”,  a co-designed, integrated pathway for early communication, I’ve been reflecting on these very questions. The fact that this work still needs to be driven forward, even three years into its development, highlights just how complex and entrenched these challenges are. It also reaffirms the urgent need for genuine collaboration if we’re to meet the needs of all children and families.

A national conversation still waiting for action

Back in 2008, the Bercow Review found that families and professionals across England were struggling to access timely, coordinated support for children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). A lack of integration across services and poor coordination between sectors were key barriers (Bercow, 2008).

Ten years later, Bercow: Ten Years On (2018) warned that these issues had not improved, in fact, inequalities in access and outcomes had grown. More recently, reports like Listening to Unheard Children (Speech and Language UK, 2021) have continued to highlight the scale of unmet need.

And yet, we now know more than ever about the importance of early language. The Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) Preparing for Literacy guidance (2022) makes clear that “developing communication and language is linked to other important outcomes including children’s self-regulation, socio-emotional development, and reasoning.”

Put simply: communication is the foundation for everything else.

So what’s getting in the way?

The answer is complex. But one thing is clear: the responsibility for supporting communication and language is still too often seen as someone else’s job.

Making communication everyone’s business

When Public Health England launched the Best Start for Speech, Language and Communication approach in 2021, it emphasised cross-sector collaboration, not just consulting with families but involving them as equal partners in designing services.

This whole-system model really resonated with me, because it recognised that everyone has a role to play. It’s not just about nursery staff or speech and language therapists. It’s about the receptionist, the library assistant, the museum guide, even the School crossing patrol officer.

One of my proudest moments during the Talking Bradford development was delivering training to all museum staff,  from security guards to the front desk team, on how they could support children’s language. That’s what a whole-system approach really looks like.

And it’s not a new idea. The original Bercow Review said it best:

“Communication is everyone’s business.”

I’ll never forget an anecdote from a training session I attended. A School crossing patrol officer saying hello to a baby in a pushchair might prompt the parent to respond - and suddenly, you’ve created a moment of shared attention, a chance for interaction that helps that child’s communication environment.
 

That is powerful. That is an everyday impact.

How language and Communication translates to improving outcomes for children

We all know it, but we don’t say it enough - communication is essential for all children. 

Roulstone, Law, Rush, Clegg & Peters (2011) found that a child’s early communication environment and language at age two strongly predict later educational outcomes, including language, literacy, maths and writing. 

It is clear from this evidence that strategies that target children’s language and communication skills are fundamental in improving their social and educational outcomes. 

The EEF’s EY Toolkit “Communication and Language Approaches” evidence summary highlights the importance of prioritising intentional communication strategies. Through implementing early reading and introducing new vocabulary to children, on average, they can achieve around +7 months of progress, this can be particularly positive for children experiencing disadvantage.

What can you do, as an Early Years educator?

The first thing? Do something.
The worst thing we can do is feel powerless or overwhelmed- and do nothing.

Need some tips? Here are two examples of new strategies to include in your practice straight away…

Recasting: When a child expresses a sentence or phrase, whilst playing,  repeat this phrase back to the child using the correct grammar. 

An example of this would be:

Child - “Make…car” 

Practitioner -  “You have made a car”. 

This allows children to learn the correct sentence structure and introduces them to new vocabulary. 

Questioning: Ask open-ended questions that encourage children to respond. Expand their language by asking questions that encourage children to use different tenses such as past and future (e.g. what happened when we? what do you think will happen this time?)

An example of questioning would be:

Marie asks, “Dylan what is your favourite toy at home?”

Dylan replies “My monster truck.”

Marie asks, “Can you tell us more about your monster truck?”

Dylan replies, “It is yellow, and it is big.”

Marie asks, “I wonder why it is called a monster truck?”

Dylan replies “because it has huge monster wheels!”

(The Early Years Evidence Store)

By asking open-ended questions to children who are ready, you encourage them to express themselves, develop their critical thinking skills, and become more engaged in conversation.

The next thing? Celebrate what you’re already doing.
 

You may feel you don’t have the skills or knowledge to support children with speech and language needs. But every conversation you have, every song you sing, every story you tell… it all contributes to a rich communication environment.

There are resources out there to help - and many are free!

Stronger Practice Hubs (like ours!) offer training, guidance and access to evidence-informed tools. At St Edmund’s, we supported many settings to access the TWiTCH programme. One Sheffield nursery told us:
 

“We would absolutely recommend the programme to other settings and professionals in our local area.”

• EEF Early Years Toolkit – Communication and Language Approaches EEF Toolkit
• 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five a free, localised app with play-based activity ideas. 50 Things
• Words for Life / Little Moments Together - Developed by Start for Life and the National Literacy Trust
• Tiny Happy People (BBC) Includes dedicated resources for early years educators: Tiny Happy People
• The Royal Foundation’s Shaping Us Campaign - New videos released to support language-rich environments.
• Talking Bradford (if you’re in Bradford!) Our co-designed, integrated pathway to support early communication in Bradford. Talking Bradford – Parent info

Final thoughts

Take time to reflect on how you support communication in your setting.
Every “hello”, every story, every conversation matters.
Because communication truly is everyone’s business.

References

Bercow, J. (2008). The Bercow Report: A Review of Services for Children and Young People (0–19) with Speech, Language and Communication Needs. DCSF.
 

Education Endowment Foundation (2022). Preparing for Literacy Guidance Report.
 

ICAN & RCSLT (2018). Bercow: Ten Years On.
 

Speech and Language UK (2021). Listening to Unheard Children.
 

Public Health England (2021). Best Start for Speech, Language and Communication: A whole-system approach.
 

National Literacy Trust & Start for Life (2023). Words for Life / Little Moments Together.
 

The Royal Foundation (2025). Shaping Us Campaign.
 

50 Things to Do Before You’re Five: https://50thingstodo.org