Best Start in Life

The Best Start in Life campaign, led by the National Literacy Trust and funded by the Department for Education, and the Department for Health and Social Care, brings together all services, offers and support available to help guide and support parents from pregnancy, through their child’s journey into childcare, to starting school and beyond.

Our work encourages parents and carers to adopt positive behaviours to boost their children’s early speech, language and communication skills, ultimately aiming to ensure that all children start primary school with the recommended literacy and language abilities.

Find out more about the campaign by reading our blog explaining more about the importance of the home learning environment.

Support for parents

There are a lot of ways to support your child to learn to talk and develop their language and communication skills. You’re probably doing a lot of them already! Every smile, cuddle, chat and game makes a huge difference.

Parents with children aged 0 to 5 can visit our Words for Life website. Here you'll find a range of simple, free, fun activities to enjoy little moments together throughout your day.

The Best Start in Life website provides further support, including practical tools like a childcare checker, a breakfast clubs map, and links to local support, all designed to make the journey as a parent easier.

Support for early years settings and community organisations

We support staff to work with families, building parents’ confidence so that they can support their children’s communication, language and literacy skills at home. To get started, download our free resources below to share with families, or email hle@literacytrust.org.uk to find out how we can support in your area.