If you would like your early years setting to take part, please contact places@ncl.ac.uk 

If you agree to take part in the study, your staff will be trained to use the new programme to help children’s language development. You can decide how many staff will be trained. There are some extra activities to help us work out if the programme works for children in your area. These are the things that will happen:

1. Consent

Staff will sign a consent form to say they are happy to take part.

2. Training

Staff will be trained to use the new programme to help children’s talking and understanding.

3. Programme

Parents will be asked if their child can take part in the study to evaluate how well the programme works. Parents who want their child to take part will sign a consent form. The programme can be used with all children, not just those whose parents agree to them taking part in the study.

Staff will use the new programme with children for 5 months.

4. Assessments and Questionnaires

For children whose parents consent to taking part in the study, we will:

• Assess children’s language development 5 months before you start the programme, just before you start the programme and 5 months after the programme starts.
• Ask parents to fill in questionnaires on:
  • their child’s general development
  • their own wellbeing and stress
  • how often their child uses services such as the GP or Family Hubs

The questionnaires take about 20 minutes in total. We will help parents to complete them over the phone, face to face or give them a copy to take away. The questionnaires will help us to work out if the programme makes a difference to the families. We will ask parents to complete them each time we see their child to assess their talking and understanding.

We will ask your staff to keep brief records of how they used the programme.

We may ask you and your staff to talk to us about what you thought about the programme and what it was like to take part in the study.