Adults who attend the Talking Partners training are drawn from existing curriculum support staff and volunteers already helping in school.

Talking Partners training can be used to support the work of teachers and teaching assistants in 2 ways. The training can:

•  provide a range of skills and strategies that will support good classroom practice in Speaking & Listening
•  be used to implement a targeted intervention programme to accelerate the learning of children with more specific Speaking & Listening needs (see below)

Talking Partners was originally designed to support children speaking English as an additional language. The target age group was reception to year 4. Talking Partners has since been developed too support children throughout the whole primary phase.

The programme can be used to support literacy and learning in other areas of the curriculum.

It is a flexible programme that can be used to support children with a wide range of Speaking & Listening needs e.g.

•  EAL Learners
•  Children who lack skills of confidence as speakers and listeners
•  Gifted and Talented
•  Strand wave 2/3 provision
•  Emotional literacy
•  Special Education Needs

Using Talking Partners strategies encourages pupils to: listen more attentively; ask questions for clarification; respond accurately to others; participate in role play and discussion; relate stories; and report to others on activities carried out. Pupils gain confidence in using English and become noticeably more engaged in their class work. They learn how to become good speakers and listeners and how to use these skills in all their learning.

The training opens with partners watching and then discussing an Education Bradford video: "Guiding Talk". This video highlights the speaking and listening needs of children who learn English as an additional language in school. It sets the context for their Talking Partners work. Partners are provided with:

1.  Progression of Activities booklet
2.  Range of talk frameworks
3.  Resource pack
4.  Training file with notes
5.  Planning and Recording pack

During the training, partners trial the activities themselves and have an opportunity to discuss ways of supporting the pupils back in school. The training also includes observations of Talking Partners sessions: teachers bring children to the training centre and demonstrate the programme while partners in training can analyse and discuss what they see. This is a proven and powerful aspect of the training.

Schools are encouraged to train a teacher co-ordinator who recieves the full 2-day training.

For the programme to be succesful:

1.  Teaching Assistants need to be effectively managed
2.  Al staff need to understand the benefits of the programme and some key strategies
3.  Senior management need to ensure the programme is strategically implemented and regularly  reviewed 

Talking Partners - Training for Staff from other LEAs

Advisory staff and teachers from many other LEAs in England , Wales , Northern Ireland , Scotland and abroad have expressed an interest in receiving training to enable them to run Talking Partners programmes. In response to this we have developed a three day training package to enable Teacher Advisers to organise Talking Partners on an authority wide basis. All essential resources for training are provided, together with information about developing and managing Talking Partners work.

The training includes:

• Introduction to Talking Partners activities
• Observation of Talking Partners work through a two-way mirror
• Introduction to planning and recording for Talking Partners sessions
• Visits to schools
• Information on evaluation and assessment of Talking Partners work
• Discussion about strategies for implementing and developing Talking Partners work

Participants are provided with full training notes, training videos and sample resources. The cost of the training, inclusive of teaching resources and training materials, is £700 + VAT.

Link to Training Courses and Dates