Our Work

Our Work

We're very proud of the success Elklan has had in helping the wider educational workforce to develop the speaking and listening skills of all children and young people, and especially those with particular needs.

We consistently receive feedback informing us that our courses are enjoyable, as well as extremely useful and informative.

We're also pleased to be key players in Government-funded programmes such as TALK Derby, where our training has supported major efforts to improve social mobility in the city.

Elklan Communication Friendly Settings - Early Years

Elklan's Communication Friendly Settings (CFS) programme is at the heart of a major national trial funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) as part of the Department for Education's Early Years Recovery Programme. This initiative supports 166 early years settings across England in enhancing children's speech, language, and communication skills.

The programme's impact is being independently evaluated by the Universities of York and Sheffield, focusing on language development outcomes for 3-4-year-olds. This trial underscores Elklan's commitment to evidence-based professional development, aiming to embed sustainable communication-supportive practices across the early years.

Elklan, funded by the EEF, delivered the Communication Friendly Home-Based Settings (CFHBS) programme to East Midlands childminders. They completed either Let's Talk with Under 5s or Speech and Language Support for 3-5s.

Evaluated by the Universities of York and Sheffield, the pilot showed CFHBS is feasible, well-received and valuable. 80% met all compliance levels. Childminders reported improved skills, confidence and changes in practice, with the strongest gains from the 3-5s course. They also noted positive impacts on children's expressive vocabulary.

An efficacy trial will run in 2026/27.

Elklan is proud to be collaborating with E-ACT, winners of Trust Team of the Year at the TES Awards 2024 and MAT of the year at the MAT Excellence Awards 2023, in their mission to "open minds and open doors" for their pupils, staff, and communities.

In line with E-ACT's core values of thinking big and showing team spirit to drive forward together, staff are completing Elklan training to support the communication and language development of all children and young people across their academies, with an aim to become entirely Communication.

Find out more about E-ACT. Find out how your setting can become Communication Friendly.

Elklan has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Essex County Council, working collaboratively on a range of programmes designed to support practitioners across all phases of education.

Since 2023, Elklan has been involved in supporting the council's Levelling Up Essex project in Tendring, Colchester, Canvey, Basildon and Harlow, with a focus on helping educational practitioners deepen their understanding of speech, language, and communication. This initiative aims to ensure that children in these areas achieve the best possible outcomes.

To date, the success of this collaboration has led to over 25 primary schools and early years settings achieving Communication Friendly Setting status, with more working towards this recognition of quality practice.

Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP)

Elklan is proud to have been funded by the Dept of Education in England to provide the training material for the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP) and to be key players in devising the programme and disseminating the training through our network of tutors to over 50 Local Authorities across England.

We are delighted that phase two of the programme, EYPDP – Building on Success, continued to use our training and tutors to deliver accredited courses to Early Years practitioners in a further 51 Local Authorities.

From 2019 to October 2021, Elklan delivered an extensive programme to develop the confidence and skills of Early Years workforce in Herefordshire in supporting children at risk of developing or with speech, language and communication needs.

Elklan Tutors based in the Hereford area delivered accredited training to 189 EYPs, and supported 51 pre-schools and nurseries to achieve Elklan’s Communication Friendly Setting (CFSe) status. 21 childminders worked hard to attain Communication Friendly Home-Based Setting (CFHBS) status

As part of the TALK Derby initiative, since 2019 Elklan has been providing training to practitioners and parents in Derby City, to enable them to support the speech and language development of children in the early years.

We have delivered training virtually and provided e-learning modules and telephone support for those who want to make the most of every chance to interact with children. We are proud of what we have achieved in making a difference for the children in Derby.

Evidence-Based Practice

Explore the links below to view the evidence which has been collated over the years by those who have used Elklan as their training of choice.

EYBIC

2024

Evaluating the impact of an Information Carrying Words based approach on preschool children’s language skills summary

Supporting preschool children’s language development: an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Elklan’s EYBIC Word Pack - full report

Funded by the Communication Consortium’s Grant Programme. Professor Judy Clegg, Dr. Sarah Spencer and Genna White - University of Sheffield. Henrietta McLachlan, Alex Hall and Heather Price - Elklan Training.