Help Kids Talk
Help Kids Talk is a community project based in Lisburn and funded by Lisburn
& Castlereagh Council. Prevalence in Lisburn indicated that 32% of children
entering Primary 1 had a speech, language and communication delay, with
76% of these being boys. This project aims to reduce the number and in turn
tackle the long term effects of poor communication skills including mental
health difficulties, low levels of academic attainment and employability an
increased risk of young people entering the justice system.
The project is based in the community and aims to provide early intervention including advice to
parents at the antenatal stage. It works to promote key speech, language and communication
messages which have been co-designed with parents and other stakeholders. The key messages
and a range of other resources are promoted on the Help Kids Talk Facebook page and twitter
account (@HelpKidsTalkNI). A training strategy has been developed to provide training for
Early Talk Boost and Talk Boost to nursery and primary schools across Lisburn as well as a Basic
Awareness Training Package which has been delivered to stakeholders. Joint workshops have
also been delivered in partnership with ABCPip. The project officially launched on 4 March 2020 in
Lagan Valley Island Centre which was attended by a number of stakeholders including local elected
representatives. The project forms part of the Council's community plan.
The project works in partnership with a wide range of
stakeholders from the voluntary and statutory sector including
local schools, churches, childminders, SureStart, ABCPip,
community groups and parents. The logo for the project was
designed by local students from Forthill Integrated College in
Lisburn and the 12 key messages were co-produced by parents
and other stakeholders including Lisburn SureStart. Funding
has been secured for a project co-ordinator who will liaise with
stakeholders to progress the strategic aims of the project.
Basic Awareness training has been delivered across Lisburn with 100% of participants indicating
that after the session they had better understanding and awareness of speech, language and
communication development and were aware of strategies to use to support children to develop
communication skills. 100% of participants indicated that they could apply what they had learned to
their workplace or own family setting.
116 children have availed of the Early Talk Boost Programme in
nursery schools across Lisburn with 100% of children showing
an improvement in their communication skills prior to entering
Primary one.
292 children in foundation stage in Primary schools across
Lisburn engaged in the Talk Boost Programme with 96%
demonstrating improvements in their speech, language and
communication skills.
The feedback from staff and parents has been overwhelmingly positive.
• The next steps are to develop the training strategy and develop the role of the project
co-ordinator so the project can extend its reach into the community
• With the forth coming introduction of 'Encompass' the referral form will require further
development to allow cross trust referrals to be made electronically.
NEXT STEPS
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Goal 5: Integrating the Care - Community Care