Language for Literacy Awards presented to 11 education settings

Friday 05 July 2024

The States Early Years Team has presented 11 Early Years settings or reception classes with the Language for Literacy Award.

The award was by presented by Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committeefor Education, Sport & Culture, and Jodie Hearn, Head of Children & Young People's Services at Guille Alles Library.

Early Years settings in the Bailiwick have been taking part in the Language for Literacy training programme to build children's early literacy skills. Practitioners attended five training modules on Oral Language and Vocabulary, Books, Phonological Awareness, Environmental Print and Mark Making. These five areas underpin literacy and provide children with these vital skills before they start reading and writing. The focus of the training was on empowering settings to run events with parents to share these key messages about early literacy.

To receive this award the settings needed to attend all five sessions and run four or more parent/carer events sharing the key messages. They also needed to show how the knowledge gained in the training was used in their everyday practice to support children's early literacy skills.

Over 250 families across the Bailiwick have benefited from these sessions. The feedback from the sessions has been extremely positive, and over 90% of parents/carers said they would like to attend more events in settings to gain ideas about how to support their child at home.

The settings/schools receiving the award are:

• Vale Primary - Reception Classes
• Butterflies Preschool
• Elizabeth College Preschool
• La Mare de Carteret Primary - Reception Classes
• Blanchelande College Nursery
• Monkey Puzzle - Les Cotils
• Bright Beginnings Nursery
• Woodlands Nursery
• Willow Nursery
• St Anne's School - Reception Class (Alderney)
• St Anne's Preschool (Alderney)

Settings and Reception Classes that have not yet gained the award will have another opportunity next academic year.