The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is supporting the Stronger Practice Hubs in the following ways:
EEF Professional Development Programmes
Firstly, the EEF is providing a number of evidence-informed professional development (PD) programmes for the hubs to make available in their regions. Bristol & Beyond SPH has been allocated the programmes below. There is also the opportunity to identify local programmes that could become EEF pilot or development projects.
Tales Toolkit
Tales Toolkit gives children a means of exploring, creating and telling the stories that are important to them. Through the resources, children tell their own stories about the things that interest them, stories that use props and materials from their world. Keeping materials open-ended encourages imaginative play.
- Funded by SPH (usually £960)
- Light touch
- Videos to watch with team
- Online support network
- Backed by research
Resources are provided with online training to empower early years practitioners and on-going support to ensure progress across many areas of learning.
Tales Toolkit can be used with all children, working at their level, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities or English as an Additional Language.
You can read more about Tales Toolkit here: Download Information Leaflet
The SPH is now recruiting 10 settings in South Gloucestershire to participate in the 2024-2025 programme.
If you are from a setting in South Gloucestershire and are interested in the programme, please complete this Expression of Interest form by 30th April 2024.
Selection, confirmation and an online intro session will happen before the end of this academic year, with a view to settings starting in September 2024.
If you are interested in Tales Toolkit but are outside of South Gloucestershire, you can email the SPH to be added to a reserve list. Please email us at sph@beyth.co.uk.
Learning Language and Loving It (LLLI)
LLLI is high quality and internationally researched training that provides guidance for Early Years practitioners in promoting social, language and literacy learning in Early Years settings.
“A practical, research-based approach to promoting children’s social, language and emergent literacy development during everyday interactions… with the most current research in the field…geared to children at the earliest of stages of non-verbal communication development to those who can speak in complex sentences” – LLLI, The Hanen Programme
The SPH is recruiting now for 2 practitioners from 20 settings across our region.
- The course will run from October 2023 – July 2024.
- 9 x group workshops (majority online and a few face to face)
- 8 x 1:1 personalised coaching from speech and language therapists or early years experts
- Reflective video sessions and user friendly resources to support your learning.
LLLI provides you with research and evidence-based practical strategies for:
- Promoting every child’s language development using natural everyday activities, routines and play
- Becoming attuned to children’s interests so you can follow their lead, which is known to foster language development
- Adjusting the way you talk to help children develop more advanced language skills
- Promoting interaction among the children themselves
- Facilitating language-learning in pretend play
- Fostering emergent literacy skills
LLLI offers an approach which enhances the everyday language learning environment for every child in the setting, including children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs, those with or at risk of delay, second-language learners and typically developing children.
If you are interested please complete an Expression of Interest form by the end of June: https://forms.gle/C1Totm2fs8SysZ5z6
If you have any questions, email: sph@beyth.co.uk
Hanen designed the programme, and you can read more about it here.
Sound Play
The programme has been designed by our team at Bristol EYs Teaching Hub (BEYTH) and with support of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
We are looking for 12 early years settings in Bristol to participate in the Sound Play programme and provide feedback for future development. This programme includes:
- 3 x Training sessions (in person) for Reading Champions to support knowledge and practice in the teaching of phonological awareness through songs, rhymes, games, stories and books.
- Gap tasks to support implementation and advocacy
- An online support forum and ongoing facilitator support
- A toolkit of resources
Read more about the benefits of the programme for practitioners and children and what is involved in the EEF Sound Play – Summary document.
Complete an Expression of Interest form by the end of June.
Settings that deliver the programme and complete the required feedback will receive a thank you payment of £2,000 for their involvement, following the project.
For this recruitment round, we are only recruiting settings in Bristol. If you are from another area in our SPH region and would be interested in participating in future, please email: sph@beyth.co.uk
Privacy Notice
Read the EEF Sound Play – Privacy Notice for settings expressing an interest in Sound Play.
Early Words Together for Childminders
Early Words Together for Childminders is being developed by the National Literacy Trust, with support from the Education Endowment Foundation.
Early Words Together for Childminders supports the communication, language, and early literacy of young children age 2-4, through evidence-based activities which lead to improvements in their home learning environments.
The Bristol & Beyond SPH and the National Literacy Trust are recruiting 12 childminders from Swindon to deliver the programme and provide feedback for future development.
This programme includes:
- 2 x 2.5 hour training sessions
- 6 x Focused activity sessions to do with children
- Monthly network support meetings
- Coaching and mentoring
- Resources for childminders, parents and children
Go to the National Literacy Trust website to read more about the benefits of the programme, what it entails and to complete an Expression of Interest form by the end of June.
Settings that deliver the programme and complete the required feedback will receive a thank you payment of £2,000 for their involvement, following the project.
For this recruitment round we are only recruiting childminders from Swindon. If you are from another area in our SPH region and would be interested in participating in future, please email: sph@beyth.co.uk
Coram’s SCARF Programme
Building the Foundation of Emotional Wellbeing: SCARF Early Years Coram Life Education
A programme created by Coram Education and SCARF (Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, and Friendship) – the UKs leading charity on personal, social, and emotional development. The programme is for EYs settings working with 3-4 year olds, aims to build strong foundations for self-regulation. By enabling children to understand their own feelings, and those of others, and begin to regulate their own behaviour accordingly.
The programme has been designed by Coram and SCARF, with support from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the Stronger Practice Hub.
We are looking for 12 early years settings across Gloucester and South Gloucester to join the programme- ‘Building the foundations for emotional wellbeing: SCARF Early Years’ and provide feedback for future development. The programme provides settings with:
- A 90 minute in-person staff training session for all practitioners
- A day of Coram Educator-led workshops and commitments
- Pupil workshops with 3-4 year olds and an early educators and puppets
- A review of self-regulation and how to implement resources and activities into your practice
- Follow- up training and webinars
- 1 Year’s access to full suite of resources, including, whole-class introduction, adult guided activities, enhancements for continuous provision, assessment and Early Years mapping
- A thank you payment of £2,000
Read more about this programme, what it involves and the benefits to practitioners and children; and complete an expression of interest here: Building the foundations of emotional wellbeing: SCARF Early Years (coramlifeeducation.org.uk)
Setting that deliver the programme and compete the required feedback will receive a thank you payment of £2,000 for their involvement, following the project.
For this recruitment round we are only recruiting settings in Gloucester and South Gloucester. If you are from another SPH region and would be interested in participating please email: sph@beyth.co.uk
Privacy Notice
Read the Coram Life Education Privacy Notice: How we use your data for settings expressing an interest in Building the Foundations for Emotional Wellbeing.
Coram Life Education and EEF are working in partnership to develop and evaluate resources to support self-regulation in the Early Years.
EEF Evidence Toolkit
Secondly, the EEF is providing accessible information on their Evidence Store about the evidence around Early Years pedagogy and processes that support practice change.
The Evidence Store has been designed to support Stronger Practice Hubs work with early years providers, but it can be used by everyone working in the early years.
The Evidence Store currently includes two key themes. These areas have been prioritised due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s learning and experiences in these areas. More themes will be added over time.
The Early Years Evidence Store is a summary of evidence-informed approaches to help educators to understand and reflect on their practice. The approaches are illustrated with practices that typically make up the approach and a range of examples of what these might look like in practice.
Other Evidence-based CPD Programmes
The Bristol & Beyond Stronger Practice Hub also works with other established early years training providers.
