A bit of background... The Communication Trust is a coalition of over 50 not-for-profit organisations that harness their collective expertise to support all those working with children, especially those with speech, language and communication needs. The Trust receives funding for the Department of Education for the Communication Commitment, which is also sponsored by Pearson Assessment.

What is the Commitment? It’s a free interactive website for schools, a tool and a resource that helps them develop a whole-school approach to supporting pupils’ communication skills

What is the Commitment? We developed it with teachers, speech and language therapists, and expert advisors, and tested it with a group of Trailblazer schools It includes a wealth of ideas and resources from The Communication Trust, members of the Communication Consortium, and others

Why is it needed? Because communication makes a difference for all, according to research: “There is a compelling body of evidence that highlights a connection between oral development, cognitive development and educational attainment.” National curriculum expert panel “The ways in which teachers talk to children can influence learning, memory, understanding and the motivation to learn.” Cambridge Primary Review

Why is it needed? Because communication makes a difference for all, according to Ofsted: In the most effective schools, inspectors saw teachers thread rich opportunities for speaking and listening into lessons. The most effective teachers worked explicitly to get children talking and, in particular, saw the development of their vocabulary as a central priority.

How does it work? The Commitment is designed for schools to use according to their needs, with lots of resources and suggestions for steps they can take to better support pupils’ communication throughout school. For schools that want to develop a comprehensive approach to this, there are three steps to help guide schools through developing a whole-school approach to communication:

How does it work? Step 1 – schools can assess their starting point using the review checklist, and then choose five actions that suit them in order to create their own personalised Action Plan Step 2 – they’re then directed to free resources and guidance to support them in completing each action and can record their progress Step 3 – once they’ve completed an action plan, we provide materials to help schools celebrate their achievements as well as information on taking their work on communication further

What’s happening now Over 1,800 registrations to date Featured in the September issue of nasen Special New videos added with more in the pipeline! We’ve received great examples and case studies from schools who have found the Commitment a really useful tool...

What Commitment schools have to say... "The Commitment is just the thing we needed to develop a whole-school strategy. It's helped to have a clear Action Plan, with very clear areas to work on. The Commitment has increased my confidence that we're on track addressing communication issues.“ "As a result of the Commitment we have had more sessions on talk and incorporated speech and language into planning. There has been more talk in the classroom, and more awareness among parents.“ “By focussing in on communication we’ve definitely seen a positive impact not just on communication skills but actually that then falls into reading and writing and other areas of the curriculum.”

What’s next Early years pilot – some early years settings in West Yorkshire are currently piloting the Commitment to see how it might be developed and expanded out to early years – more news on this soon! Schools joining up - we’re planning a focus group in the new year and other ways to help Commitment schools link up and share ideas and best practice around supporting pupils’ communication. Recognising schools’ achievements – at the next Shine a Light Awards there will be a special award for a school who has made the Communication Commitment!

Register to find out more! Getting involved Register to find out more! www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/commitment Then let us know what you’ve been up to! We’re always really interested in hearing about the work schools have been doing on the Commitment, and also how those not based in schools are getting the word about the Commitment out to schools they know of or work with. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions, suggestions or ideas about the Commitment! In Barking and Dagenham they recently held an event recognising the achievements of schools throughout the borough, including some who had completed their Commitment action plans, and we’d love to see more like this!

Thank you!