Children and families will benefit from better joined‑up speech, language and communication support from the earliest stages of life under a newly launched national Action Plan.
The Early Years Speech, Language and Communication Action Plan aims to strengthen collaborative support across health, education, and family support services.
Clear, practical advice on speech, language and communication will be targeted to families in disadvantaged communities, where children are more than three times as likely to have communication challenges.
This will be done through universal services such as health visiting, the Baby Box, and Bookbug. Professional learning for practitioners in health and early years settings will also be enhanced to help them deliver better support for families.
Children’s Minister Natalie Don‑Innes said: “We are determined to ensure that all children get the best possible start in life. Strong communication skills underpin every aspect of a child’s development – from building relationships and emotional wellbeing to educational success and future opportunities – yet too many children, particularly those growing up in poverty, face avoidable challenges.
“By focusing on prevention, empowering families with the right support at the right time, and further enhancing workforce skills, we can transform outcomes, close the developmental gap that disproportionately affects children in poverty, and enable every child to reach their fullest potential.”
The National Plan sits alongside ‘Chatting Together’ guidance, hosted on Parent Club, an online information hub offering advice for parents and carers. These are practical tips developed by speech and language experts with input from parents to help lead conversations with children from a very young age.
Staff at Ferryfield Nursery in Alexandria have embedded the ‘Chatting Together’ guidance into daily practice, to steer interactions with children and share ideas with parents about how to nurture speech and language at home.
Principal Officer at Ferryfield Early Learning and Childcare Centre Debbie Moore-Gilmartin said: “Families have really enjoyed the home learning opportunities provided to promote language development and have benefitted from taking part in the family engagement sessions.
“Feedback from practitioners and parents has been very positive about these early messages about language and communication development.”
Head of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ Scotland Office Glenn Carter said: “We welcome this plan from the Scottish Government, which recognises that communication is the fundamental building block for children to connect, play, learn, and access work later in life.
“Speech and language therapists understand just how critical early communication support is for children as well as the incredible difference close collaboration across communities makes. We look forward to working with the government, parents, carers, and partners to give Scotland’s children the best start in life.”
