Children's language development - using the outdoors to support development of language so children can achieve their potential

Listening to Graham Spencer talk so passionately about the way nature can support the people's mental health and how the re-wilding of Allestree Park can achieve this, got me thinking about something I have worked on for many years ( in another area) - that is - supporting young children to develop adequate speech and language skills. Such skills are known to have an impact on how well a child does at school, how well they make friends and the extent to which they can make a positive contribution to their community.

In Derby, you have the Talk Derby initiative https://talkderby.org.uk/ which has these aims. As part of my team's research in another part of the country, we found that children talk more outdoors and there are more opportunities for adults to use a wider range of vocabulary with them. I am thinking that the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust could ensure that all its Engagement Officers and Volunteers have training in how best to support children's language development, so they are using the best techniques in their interaction to support the children's language, which will also then be modelled to families who attend their sessions. There is a lot of research about the techniques that can best support children's language development and it seems a golden opportunity to put these into place outdoors, where there are so many opportunities for interaction and where we can demonstrate the best techniques to our communities.

It would also be great to have a "Talking Walk" so families have a leaflet they can use when walking around the park that supports the things and ways they can interact with young children to capitalise on the language learning opportunities. I would be happy to develop one for Friends of Allestree Park if people thought this would be a good idea.

Both of these ideas would enhance the Forest Schools initiative already implemented by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. I believe https://talkderby.org.uk/ offer training to professionals, parents and volunteers about this and so it would be good to link up with them.

This children's language development initiative also has national profile following from the Bercow and Bercow10 reviews of children's speech, language and communication needs which identified that in some areas up to half of young children did not have adequate language development to support them to achieve their potential. So, the ideas above would sit well with the national and international standing of the Allestree Park re-wilding and would showcase the wider benefits to society of re-wilding our urban parks and helping people appreciate nature for nature's sake, not just to exploit it for more adventurous pursuits.

I will e mail FOAP to offer my help around this if you think this would be of benefit once the consultation is complete.