REAL project set to boost child literacy

Thursday 24 September 2009

The Early Childhood Unit began work on the Making it REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) project on 1 August 2009.

The REAL project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund Family Learning programme and will see eight children's centres in Sheffield and Oldham working with Professor Cathy Nutbrown at the University of Sheffield and the Early Childhood Unit over a three-year period.

A team of early years teachers, practitioners and local authority officers will receive
training in the Real approach, and families will be invited to receive a series of home visits and attend special events and workshop sessions.

The approach seeks to develop confidence, model practice and increase knowledge of how to interact with children and respond to their progress.

Real aims to build on what parents already do at home to help children learn, and provides support for families to ensure there are more opportunities for children to learn through books and stories, songs and rhymes.

Parents, practitioners and children will be directly involved in evaluating the effectiveness of the project.

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For more information on the Making it REAL project, please contact Helen Wheeler at hwheeler@ncb.org.uk, or visit the project page in the Projects section on this website.