Nursery World - Learning & Development: Communication

A children's centre in London has been working with its families,the local community and other providers to address language delays linked to social disadvantage. Julian Grenier shares strategies.

ICAN, the children's communication charity, estimates that up to half of all children in socially disadvantaged areas start school with delayed language. It is a worrying figure. But worrying will not help, so at Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre, in Newham, east London, we wanted to stop and think about what this finding might mean and, even more importantly, what we could do with the community and families to make a difference.

Sadly, it is common to abuse statistics like those from ICAN and find fault with parents or sections of the community. In December 2013, Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson scorned the idea that child poverty had anything to do with children's development, saying that instead it was 'poverty of being parked in front of the telly instead of having a bedtime story'.

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