Press Releases

CFS™ Bags for Families [August '10] Download PDF

Hitting the Right Note - Nursery World [June '10] Download PDF

Place to Talk Book Launch Event [September '09] Download PDF

Communication Friendly Spaces™ Inspiration Award [July '09] Download PDF

CFS™ Exhibition launch in Wales [May '08] Download PDF

CWDC Funding Award [May '08] Download PDF

Norland Press Release [Nov'08] Download PDF

Place to Talk Book Launch Event [September '09]
Held on 25th September 2009, Torbay

A Place to Talk – Four new titles in the series by Elizabeth Jarman

These much awaited new titles in the inspirational series by Elizabeth Jarman were launched at the Torbay Early Years Conference on 25th September '09.

Elizabeth Jarman and Rachael Williams, Torbay Early Years Consultant, at the book launch.

New titles include:

A Place to Talk in KS1

A Place to Talk Outside

A Place to Talk in My Home

A Place to Talk at My Childminder's

The books are bursting with ideas about creating spaces designed to encourage talk. The ideas reflect Elizabeth Jarman's Communication Friendly Spaces™ research into the role of the environment in supporting children's speaking and listening skills. The books are full of photos and observations of children interacting with the spaces created. They include key prompts to help practitioners audit their environments and inform change.

"Recognising children’s preferred spaces for talk, is really important. It helps practitioners to make meaningful changes to their environments so that children can engage more readily. I hope that these books inspire the kinds of spaces that will really encourage speaking and listening."
Elizabeth Jarman

Available now from www.elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk/store

Press enquiries:
Tanya Lester
01233 822193
tanya@elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk

Notes to editors:
Communication Friendly Spaces™ focuses on the role of the learning environment in supporting the development of speaking and listening skills. Elizabeth Jarman conceptualized and has developed the CFS™ approach over the last four years. It involves examining practice and changing approaches to teaching and learning, based on the following key areas:

• Resources
• Physical Environment
• Adult Input

CFS™ has drawn on global research evidence and so far over 10,000 delegates have accessed our CFS™ training programmes. Significant impact has been captured through hard and soft data. Feedback has been overwhelmingly, especially in terms of positive impact on speaking and listening skills, emotional well-being, engagement of EAL learners and better provision and understanding of boys preferred learning environments.

First Communication Friendly Spaces™ Inspiration Award presented to Trimdon Grange Infant and Nursery School [July '09]

Elizabeth Jarman presented the first Communication Friendly Spaces™ Inspiration Award to Trimdon Grange Nursery and Infant School at Exchange 09 held on Wednesday 8th July 2009.

The Communication Friendly Spaces™ Inspiration Award acknowledges the achievements of all the staff in a school/ setting who have made visionary changes to their learning environment, demonstrating clear links between pedagogy and the physical environment created.

Catherine Worton the head teacher of Trimdon Grange Infant and Nursery School, said: "We are delighted to accept the first of these awards and I’m looking forward to sharing it with all the staff in school as well as the children and parents."

Elizabeth Jarman, said: "This award recognises the significant impact that the learning environment can have on children’s speaking and listening skills particularly. It is essential to continue raising awareness of this so that practitioners and teachers can develop environments designed to effectively nurture and support children’s language skills- creating optimum conditions for learning. It is critical to understand how the physical space connects with and supports pedagogy. It is essential to observe, reflect and then make informed decisions about the way the children interact with the environment if a developmentally appropriate responsive learning space is to develop.

Trimdon Grange School has developed an outstanding learning environment which responds to the needs and interests of the children and importantly reflects the underpinning pedagogy developed there by the whole staff."

A DVD of Catherine Worton receiving the award can be viewed at: www.fictionfactory.co.uk/ejaward09.wmv

Press enquiries:
Tanya Lester
01233 822193
tanya@elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk

• Resources
• Physical Environment
• Adult Input

CFS™ Exhibition launch in Wales [May '08]

Jenny Randerson AM will launch a bilingual multimedia exhibition on 16 June entitled Communication Friendly Spaces™ in the Home Context, a project sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The exhibition at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, available to view between the 16 and 17 June, will celebrate the achievement of registered childminders who took part in an innovative project developed between the National Childminding Association (NCMA) and specialists in effective learning environments, Elizabeth Jarman Ltd.

The Communication Friendly Spaces™ Home Context project, developed by Elizabeth Jarman Ltd provided specialised training for childminders within NCMA Children Come First networks in Wales to support the development of children’s communication skills. Childminders learnt how children's physical environments impact on the development of children’s speaking and listening skills.

Liz Bayram, NCMA’s Director, NCMA said: "NCMA in Wales is very happy with the results of the partnership with Elizabeth Jarman Ltd with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

“NCMA knows that communication is a crucial area of child development, and a recent survey by the charity I CAN suggested that too many children across the UK are starting school without the vital communication and linguistic skills they need to be effective learners.

“We are keen to ensure that registered childminders in Wales continue to be involved in improving outcomes for children and are provided with continuous opportunities to develop their practice. Registered childminders provide a unique childcare setting within their own home, and the programme will be a useful tool in supporting the development of communication and language skills.”

Elizabeth Jarman, developing the project, said: “The award from the Welsh Assembly Government recognised the significant impact that the physical environment can have on children’s language development. It’s essential to continue raising awareness of this so that practitioners can develop spaces that effectively nurture and support children’s language skills. “The CFS™ Home Context training and development programme has been really effective and childminders are reporting a significant impact on children’s speaking and listening skills.

CWDC Funding Award [May '08]

Funding announced for training to improve children’s communication skills

Occupational Group Funding has been awarded by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to develop a creative partnership between Elizabeth Jarman Ltd, specialists in developing effective learning environments and the National Childminding Association (NCMA).

The project “Communication Friendly Spaces™: Improving children’s speaking and listening skills in the home context” will be a customised training and development programme for registered childminders and nannies. Improving speaking and listening skills is high on everyone’s agenda. A recent I CAN report suggests that over 50% of children in England are starting school with some form of language difficulty or disability.

Elizabeth Jarman, lead partner in developing the project said: “This award from the CWDC gives us a great opportunity to raise awareness of the significant impact that the physical environment can have on children’s speaking and listening skills. A review of the way that we have traditionally created learning spaces for children is long overdue. Potentially, this programme will make a huge difference to children’s speaking and listening skills. It’s really exciting!”

Marian Pearson, Director of Operations for NCMA said: “NCMA is delighted to be working in partnership with Elizabeth Jarman Ltd with funding from the CWDC. We are keen to ensure that our members across England and Wales, are provided with opportunities to develop their practice. This will provide an opportunity for registered childminders and nannies to find ways of using a home-based environment to develop opportunities to improve children’s communication and language skills. This will be a useful tool in influencing children’s learning.”

The project will raise awareness of the importance of the learning environment for registered childminders and other home-based childcarers, through:

• A training and development programme, designed to deepen understanding of the impact that the physical environment can have on children’s speaking and listening skills and demonstrate what this means specifically for the home context

• Establishing a pool of regionally based trainers, to help deliver the Communication Friendly Spaces™ training and development programme at a local level.

The intended future roll out of the training and development programme will help local authorities to achieve their ambitious Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets on improving speaking and listening skills. It will also complement the Early Years Foundation Stage focus on Enabling Environments.

CFS™Emotional Well Being Program [September '08]

Elizabeth Jarman Ltd is delighted to be working with Norland College to pilot a new training and development programme - Communication Friendly Spaces™: Emotional Well-Being.

The influences and pressures on family life today are varied and complicated. Conflicting media reports continually flag up what parents should and shouldn’t be doing with their children. Often ‘advice’ floods in from family and friends. Parents and carers see what others are doing and think that perhaps they should do the same. For many, it feels that everyone has an opinion and they are caught somewhere in the middle, trying to do their best and yet not feeling any sense of control, calmness or contentment.

All of this can affect family life; quality time spent together can become a rare event, parents might find it hard to recall the last time they had an uninterrupted conversation with their children, they might have less patience with the family and spend time ‘taxiing’ children from one activity to another.

Parents and carers say that it’s one thing knowing that they’d like to develop a greater sense of balance and well-being for their families, but another thing entirely knowing where and how to start achieving it.

In response, Communication Friendly Spaces™: Emotional Well-Being has been designed for parents and carers. The programme involves three training sessions (9th and 16th December, 5th January tbc), which will be delivered at Norland College in Bath.

The programme will help parents and carers to:

• Identify and align activities and experiences that add real value to family life

•Increase personal confidence and fulfilment as a parent or carer

•Support children to develop effective communication skills, develop creative thinking skills, share ideas and listen to others, be self-assured and content.

Elizabeth Jarman, developing the programme said, “We are keen to share both theory and practical ideas with parents and carers. The short term impact of this work will be documented and available on our website in January ’09.”

Thirza Ashelford, Principal of Norland College said,”Norland’s philosophy has always promoted the need to respect a child’s right to have access to space which they can call their own. We are delighted to be working with Elizabeth Jarman Ltd to develop this even further and to help communicate the benefits of giving children the space they need.”