Vocabulary is something we know Ofsted are focusing on during inspection, linked to the recent Oxford Univsersity 'word gap' research, so I wanted to dig a little deeper.
Gill referred to the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme (NELI) which has been produced by the DfE as an early language tool for reception class teachers in schools. It is a 20 week oral intervention programme and is not intended for use by early years providers, but Gill said it might be useful for early years to think about it, because the programme ‘highlights the role of everyday vocabulary’.
Gill went on to say that, in the NELI programme, ‘children are taught very specific vocabulary that they will need for later life. I suppose one way to define it would be general knowledge vocabulary, things like farm animals. We’re all familiar to introducing children to those concepts through baby books.’
The Nursery World article continued with this quote: ‘I think it’s probably worth having a look at the website and considering how we can help early years settings get children to where they need to be and to have that language. [The website] shows a headteacher talking about the gap in primary school and how they’ve tracked it back to a language and communication deficit in early life they are trying to fill. As I looked at it, I thought, “I wonder if we’re doing enough in early years settings to ensure that children remember and learn the basic vocabulary for later life?”'
In my opinion, this is yet another example of top-down pressure on early years providers:
**We read books, sing songs and rhymes every day;
**We have quality conversations with children throughout the day;
**We resource communication rich environments with resources to support learning;
**We play Letters and Sounds Phase 1 games with our pre-school children;
**We are aware of the importance of sustained shared thinking conversations;
**If a child doesn’t understand a word, we explain it to them;
**We take children on regular outings and talk about what we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste;
**We sit and play with the children, talking to them and modelling new words as they play;
**We introduce children to new ideas and concepts and think about what vocabulary we will introduce;
**We use Universally Speaking from the Communication Trust if we are concerned a child needs extra support;
**We know what children are doing and saying at home and chat about their home and community lives in the setting to further develop language and thinking;
**We provide parents with communication ideas such as, 'read books every day' and 'don't use removal of reading time as a punishment because it's so important we read to children every day' and 'we are learning about farms and our new words are ...;
**We don't just read books - we look at poems, rhymes, non-fiction books, the internet, magazines, leaflets, signs and labels as well;
**We have accessed communication and language training... and much more!
Do we need a DfE funded programme which consists of flashcards and lists of things to say and do to help us develop children’s vocabulary?
Some early years practitioners might find it useful to look at the NELI website – and now it’s been highlighted by Ofsted, I think it will be important to know what it’s about so, if asked during inspection, we can say, ‘Yes, I’ve looked at that and taken things from it’ ... but at £375 (price correct 12.2020) I think realistically it’s out of reach for most early years providers.
Beyond knowing about it, maybe listening to the short, informative videos on the NELI website and acknowledging that we already do so much to support early language, I think it’s up to each one of us to consider whether it’s useful for our practice or not.
UPDATED: 13.3.2021 after a conversation with Gill Jones from Ofsted
Gill Jones from Ofsted clarifies that ‘the NELI website shows what language delay looks like in later life’. If we use this as a starting point, we can ensure we are sharing the vocabulary children need to hear and learn in the early years.
The NELI research shows, for example, that there are children in school who do not know words like cow, duck, field, tractor etc and Ofsted wonder how children missed out on that knowledge.
In early years settings, the expectation is that we read books, sing songs, do jigsaws etc so the children hear, learn and remember the words. They might not have seen a tractor but they have learned the word and understand the meaning.
The question Gill was asking herself was: ‘Do we do enough to develop language before they get to school and could we do more?’ Ofsted are not suggesting that early years providers buy NELI or other intervention programmes.
As Gill says, ‘it is useful to see what some children don’t know’. Inspectors will look at how settings develop children’s language – Gill states: ‘We all need to make sure we don’t just leave too much to chance.’
Chat soon, Sarah
Links:
Nursery world article – https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/coronavirus-more-details-of-return-to-early-years-inspection-set-out
NELI programme – https://www.elklan.co.uk/neli/about-neli
Oxford word gap research report - https://www.oup.com.cn/test/word-gap.pdf
NELI is also noted as a useful tool for early intervention in this Education Endowment Foundation report on ‘Preparing for Literacy’ –
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Literacy/Preparing_Literacy_Guidance_2018.pdf
Universally Speaking –
https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/universally-speaking/