Launched this month, the three-year scheme, Natterbox Nook, is funded by a grant of more than £17,000 from education charity SHINE.
Three- and four-year-olds in Blackpool and their parents will be invited to take part in two free weekly activity sessions led by Bispham Endowed Primary school in the north of the town. One of the 45 minute sessions will involve music making, while the other will be story focused.
It has been created in response to children starting the school’s nursery with poor communication skills.
Children attending the sessions will be encouraged to interact, question and play with others. They will also provide parents with an opportunity to observe and participate in positive, successful interactions with their children.
The funding from SHINE will help pay for the additional teacher hours required to plan and deliver the sessions.
Nursery teacher and project lead Cath Anderton said, ‘This is a bespoke project we have created specifically to meet the needs of the children starting at our school. Some children upon starting nursery have poor communication skills and this programme is designed to improve children’s ability in this area.
‘Natterbook Nook is all about finding children’s voices, whatever kind of voice that is, and about making sure that they have fun.
‘Currently we find that lots of our children are reluctant speakers when they arrive at our school, which can hold them back in their development and education.’
As well as the two weekly sessions, the school will organise special activities in and around Blackpool each half term.
Dr Helen Rafferty, interim chief executive of SHINE, added, ‘We are delighted to be supporting this exciting project at Bispham Endowed Primary School. We know that music, storytelling and engaging cultural experiences are hugely valuable for children and families, helping to develop language skills, vocabulary and curiosity, and we are really looking forward to seeing the impact of this work in the coming years.’
It is hoped the Natterbox Nook scheme will be expanded in the future to other schools/areas.
