Early Words Together for London

Early Words Together for London will work in three areas of London; focusing on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in year one. Last year, 1 in 4 (27.5%) children in Barking and Dagenham started school without the literacy skills expected for their age.

Early Words Together for London has been designed with adaptions to support children at three different stages of their development: ages 2, 3 and 4 to 5 years. Through the programme, parents learn simple daily activities such as shared reading, songs and mark-making.

Early Words Together for London is delivered in two ways: face-to-face, where nursery practitioners are trained to work with small groups of families for five to six weeks, and through digital content, where practitioners and families access videos supporting the programme.

Our Small Talk website further supports parents, adding an extra boost to the activities taking place in the settings. It also engages harder to reach families who may be facing barriers accessing the nursery sessions, such as low confidence, scheduling and transport issues.