To mark our 30th year as an independent charity, we have gathered 30 stories to celebrate the many ways that life stories have been changed by three decades of the National Literacy Trust. In this edition, we meet Julie, Senior Manager of Health Promotions at Newcastle-based community health charity Healthworks. Discover how our National Literacy Trust in the North East team partnered with Julie to help families have access to vital literacy resources.
Parents are children's first teachers
As a parent, you are your child’s first teacher. From singing along to your favourite nursery rhymes to reading a story at bedtime, we know that it’s the small everyday activities that have the greatest impact. Whether you’re chatting about your lunch, or playing a game of pretend with a favourite stuffed toy – all of these little moments together help your child to understand the world and develop their early language and communication skills. But for a lot of new and busy parents, accessing the resources and support they need to help their children to learn and grow isn’t easy.
That's where our work with Julie comes in. As a Senior Manager of Health Promotions, Julie has witnessed first-hand the social and economic barriers that can hinder families’ access to literacy resources.
"Many of our parents are low-income and must make tough decisions on what to do with the money they do have. Food, warmth and shelter has to come before books for the children."
Julie
Our Early Years activity in the North East
As part of our Early Years campaign activity funded by the Department for Education, our North East team partnered with Julie and the Healthworks team to help break down some of these barriers across Newcastle.
The Healthworks team partnered with the National Literacy Trust on the First Words Together programme when it launched in the North East in 2022, and now has seven members of staff trained to deliver First Words Together, including Julie.
Julie understood the challenges parents face with a newborn, with time together often limited by other household pressures, and worked to incorporate FWT into existing baby massage groups, offering parents the chance to take part in both sessions at once.
As a result, a range of regular, free early years activities and events were established across the region, with the goal of creating a bustling community space for families from all backgrounds.
Julie added, "The areas in Newcastle we work in are recognized as being largely disadvantaged, and people’s quality of life is reduced either by ill health or disability. These health inequalities are often because families are surviving on a low income, facing unemployment, and have poor housing provision. There's a lack of opportunity for many of these families, which also contributes to lower education outcomes, starting the cycle again. The cost of this inequality is substantial, both in years of life lost and costs to the economy, with families dependent on health and social care, along with other services."
Activities ranged from family fun days and breastfeeding socials to Boogie Bairns – a free sensory music and dance session. Books and resources were given to families to take away, providing them with practical tips on how to interact with their children from birth.
“I think that this has been a great success. It is not just the resources, but the background information the team have which has enabled the sessions to go down so well.”
Julie
What did the parents think?
As a result of these bespoke early years sessions in Newcastle, parents felt empowered to continue to support their child’s language and communication at home. One parent commented:
“I didn’t know that my baby would want to look at the book when I read to her. I was surprised to see that she looked at the pictures and reached to touch them, I didn’t think she would, she’s only four months old, but she really loved it.”
Why do early words matter?
There’s a strong link between a child’s development and their health and wellbeing. A child’s earliest years are crucial to their development and life chances. However, in 2023 over 185,000 5-year-olds started school without the literacy, communication and language skills they needed to thrive. Without this firm foundation not only will their learning, confidence and wellbeing suffer in their early school days, but they are much more likely to struggle with their GCSEs and be unemployed by their 30s. Every parent does the best they can for their children, but we know that they don’t always have the support or time they need to build their confidence to fully support their child in these areas. We work to develop fun and interactive advice and activities to provide parents with free, simple, everyday actions they can try at home to help tackle this.
You can be part of changing life stories
If you’d like to help us continue our work to empower parents to actively support their children’s development, you can donate today. Thank you for being part of our story and supporting families to help their children learn and grow.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for ways to support your child at home, , visit our Words for Life website. Here you’ll find activities and support to improve their language, literacy and communication skills from home.
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