Awards highlight children's communication
Catherine Gaunt
Monday, November 11, 2013
Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, schools, and all those working to develop children's speech, language and communication skills are invited to enter the 2013/2014 Shine A Light Awards.
The awards organised by the Communication Trust are designed to highlight excellence and best practice in supporting children and young people with support with speech, language and communication.
They are open to teams, settings and individuals throughout England.
This year, applicants will be able to submit their application either by video, poster or written format.
Last year, Haven 2000 Nursery in Bedford won the Early Years Setting of the Year for the nursery’s communication development strategy, which included staff using the signing system Makaton.
New categories for 2013/14 include the Working Together Award and the Children’s Workforce Award.
A new award has also been introduced to celebrate The Communication Trust’s new initiative the ‘Communication Commitment’.
The awards were launched in 2011 as part of the Communication Trust’s ‘Hello’ campaign to mark the national year of communication.
Anne Fox, director of the Communication Trust said, ‘Shine a Light is an important event in the speech, language and communication sector. It gives a platform for some of the fantastic work going on across the country to support children and young people to communicate to the best of their ability. From that platform, individuals, teams and settings can be recognised for the work they do and can act as an example to others. We know from previous years that the work we recognise through shine a light awards goes on to inspire activity in lots of areas and we look forward to seeing this continue this year.’
Chris Hall, managing director, Pearson Assessment, said, ‘We are delighted to see the return of the Shine a Light Awards for 2013/2014. The applications that have been submitted over the last two years have highlighted the exceptional work that is being carried out by teams, individuals, young people and services.
‘The Shine a Light Awards is an ideal time to promote the work that you do and thereby support others in doing the same. We encourage all schools, colleges, healthcare teams and young people to nominate themselves and others, and shout about their work.’
The awards website is now open for applications, and further details on how to apply can be found at www.shinealightawards.co.uk
- Applications close at 11.59 pm on the 10th January 2014. The awards ceremony will take place in March 2014 in London.
