Early Language Support Pilot Proves a Game-Changer for Jersey’s Youngest Learners

A pilot project funded by the Jersey Community Foundation has shown just how powerful early intervention can be when it comes to helping young children develop essential speech and language skills.

In 2022, thanks to a multi-year grant of £150,000 from the Jersey Community Foundation, Every Child Our Future launched a pilot to place experienced Speech and Language Therapists directly into selected nursery and early years classrooms to work alongside teachers, helping them build the skills and confidence needed to support children’s communication from the very beginning.

The project focused on two key areas: providing training and support for all early year’s staff and offering extra help to the children who needed it most. That meant more children got the right support at the right time — often before a specialist referral was ever needed.

The results have been so impressive - in one setting, the number of children achieving age-appropriate language levels rose from under 50% to 90% in just two academic years – that the charity has been able to secure official funding from the Government of Jersey to scale the model across the Island.

“This pilot shows what can happen when charities, government and educators come together to try something new,” said Anna Terry, CEO of Jersey Community Foundation. “We’re incredibly proud to have supported this work and to see it now growing into something even bigger.

“The ability to provide seed-funding to help charities test ideas before rolling them out at scale is just one of the many ways we can work with donors to address grass-roots issues in the community and make real change.”

The idea behind the pilot has been in the making for over a decade. Former headteacher and now CEO of Every Child Our Future, Cris Lakeman, believed there had to be a better way to support children’s language development — and thanks to this funding she was able to put that vision into action.

“We’ve shown that most children’s educational needs can be met through great teaching and early support — but only if staff are equipped and confident,” said Cris. “This project gave us the chance to prove what’s possible and now expanding this model across early years settings will improve communication, language, and literacy outcomes for all children.”