Peep TALK (Talking and Listening Kit) is for practitioners to use with families. It helps parents support their toddler's or young child's speech, language, and communication development. The programme, developed by Peeple in collaboration with Speech and Language Therapists, focuses on everyday interactions that support communication and language development in the home learning environment. 

The Peep TALK programme:

• contains eight group or 1:1 sessions, along with ‘Talking at Home’ handouts, tips and video clips to share with parents and their children (included with the practitioner training)
• sessions are for children with an age or developmental stage from about 18 months to four years, and their parents or carers
• helps parents understand what they can do and how it benefits their child's speech and language development
• is suitable for a first in-house intervention or for families whose children are on a waiting list to see a Speech and Language Therapist
• provides an interactive, strengths-based and non-judgemental way of working with families
• focuses on simple, free or low-cost activities and everyday interactions that support communication and language development in the home learning environment
• sessions can be delivered flexibly to meet local needs, in one-to-one or group sessions
• aligns with our other Peep programmes

Feedback from Peep TALK parents:

"Since attending the Peep TALK group I've stopped asking my son so many questions, I now describe what he's doing instead. I give more time for listening and responding. I like learning new ideas each week and seeing that we aren't alone, every child is different. I share each session with my partner."

"I now feel more confident and relaxed about A's language development, and I think that's helping him make progress. The group has helped reassure me that we're doing the 'right' things."

Peep TALK Training for practitioners

We are currently taking expressions of interest in our Peep TALK practitioner training from September 2024, which has recently undergone successful pilots and evaluation. Please email training@peeple.org.uk for more information.

Feedback from Peep TALK Training delegates:

"Excellent training, plenty of time to look at all the session plans and it was lovely to see them come to life during the demos."

"The training gives lots of knowledge and also how to share it with parents and carers in a very accessible way."

"This was a brilliant training, with all the strength of the Peep Learning Together Programme, but well focussed on Talking and Listening. The session plans are well planned and thought out with a good mixture of activities."

CBeebies star Nigel Clarke joined our recent Family Fun Day at the Peeple Centre in Oxford. 400 parents, babies and children enjoyed a day of free activities with local partners including The Story Museum, Ashmolean Museum and Oxfordshire Libraries.

Nigel Clarke, a Peeple Ambassador, delighted children with a story session and chatted with families about the positive impact of everyday play and learning on children’s earliest years. Oxford University BabyLab shared information on early brain development and current research, and Oxfordshire Fire Service invited children to climb on board their fire engine and ask questions.

Families joined in lots of Peep activities including sensory and water play, singing and storytelling, parachute games, playdough and craft activities. Local community-based dance school Messy Jam performed for the crowds, and children enjoyed the free face painting, bouncy castle and snacks, kindly sponsored by MPD Print, Co-op and Asda.

As Peeple CEO Dr Sally Smith commented: ‘We have been embedded in the Leys and Littlemore community for over 25 years, supporting parents to recognise that the little, everyday things that they do with their children has a huge impact on their learning. Today is a thank you to families and a chance to showcase our work, and that of our local partners, to the wider community. It’s been a hugely successful day.’

The Family Fun Day kick starts a summer of free activities that Peeple will be taking part in across the county. Please email us at families@peeple.org.uk to find out more.

In the autumn, our CEO Dr Sally Smith and our National Training and Accreditation Manager Liz Ersoy visited our Peep partners in Melbourne. Playgroup Victoria hold the exclusive licence for training practitioners to deliver the Peep Learning Together and Peep Antenatal Programmes in Australia.

Claire Georgiou is Playgroup Victoria’s Peep National Manager and has been at the heart of Peep training and support in Australia for the last few years. By continuing to offer training online, establishing communities of practice and fostering valuable partnerships, the Peep programme is now being used in every state and territory across Australia!

This year Claire will be pulling on her travelling boots, thanks to securing government funding to train and support Peep trainers across five states: Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. You can find out more about Peep Training in Australia or contact Claire here: www.playgroup.org.au/for-professionals/peep/.

Peep was a focus of the Playgroup Victoria Conference, where 300+ professionals from a wide range of early years settings created a really lively atmosphere.
Sally gave a keynote speech about Peep, Claire led a workshop focusing on Peep and the home learning environment, and Liz participated in a panel discussion focusing on children’s agency in the early years.

The trip also gave Sally, Liz and Claire the opportunity to visit some brilliant Peep groups and have valuable discussions with families, professionals and researchers. These included the Parenting Research Centre, the Australian Catholic University, Thrive by Five, Monash University, the Tomorrow Today Foundation, Milla Milla Aboriginal Playgroup, and many other early years, family support and health organisations.

Images:  
Top right: Peeple CEO Sally Smith and Playgroup Victoria CEO Danny Schwarz
Above right (l-r): Panel host ABC broadcaster and writer Jacinta Parsons, Dorothy Scott AM, Playgroup Victoria Patron, Liz Ersoy, Training and Accreditation Manager, Peeple UK, Dominic Alford, Programs Leader, Relationships Australia VIC
Left: Liz, Sally and Claire Georgiou
Below: Playgroup Victoria staff and board, Sally and Liz

>  News: Peeple Family Fun Day

CBeebies star Nigel Clarke joined our recent Family Fun Day at the Peeple Centre in Oxford. 400 babies, children, parents and carers enjoyed a day of free activities with local partners including The Story Museum, Ashmolean Museum and Oxfordshire Libraries  - read more

>  Blog: 3 key messages from new Sure Start research for organisations using Peep Programmes 

Find out how and why the new research findings are echoed in Peep delivery - from engaging families who might most benefit, to having a joined-up approach, to narrowing the attainment gap - read more

>  News: our next free info session about Practitioner Accreditation

Find out how you or Peep Learning Together Programme-trained colleagues can complete the Practitioner Accreditation unit as part of your Peep delivery:
Join our next session on Wednesday 8th May 3.30 - 4.30pm
> Email us and we'll send you a Teams link for your calendar:  pa@peeple.org.uk

>  News: update on Peep in Australia – empowering families in every state and territory

A recent visit enabled our Peeple UK CEO and Training Manager to catch up with colleagues at Playgroup Victoria, the Peep Training licence holder in Australia - meetings lots of families and professionals, and presenting at their conference - read more

>  News: Remembering Sir Tim Brighouse - former Peeple Trustee

We were very sad to hear of the death of Professor Sir Tim Brighouse on 16 December 2023. Tim was one of the great minds behind Peeple, and went on to serve as a trustee - read more

>  Blog: Growing Minds - lessons learned and getting involved

Our third Learning Event enabled us to reflect on the last few months in our Growing Minds collaborative, community project that helps improve young children's development and outcomes - what we did, what changed within our communities, and what we learned - read more

> News:  Narrowing the attainment gap - Learning Together Study update

Further analysis of our RCT study has shown that Peep made the greatest  difference to children eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium - they made an additional 4 months' progress in core language skills and in communication, and 3 months' additional progress in early literacy development - read more

>  Blog: Everyday play with free, everyday things

Children love exploratory play, experimenting with the objects around them. When you harness this curiosity together, it might surprise you what fun you can have. Check out our list of everyday objects and ideas for how they can be used in play - read more

>  News:  Rod's Bicycling for Books campaign to get books into the hands of children is complete!

Cycling 745 miles in 90 hours to raise over £6,000 for Oxford Peep's Dolly Parton Imagination Library - helping to provide the gift of reading by providing a free book every month for local children - read more

>  Blog: Supporting the Peep Progression Pathway - England

Our Adult Learning Development Manager for England began her Peep journey back in 2010 as a Children's Centre teacher in Leicester. She's now supporting Peep practitioners to use the Peep Progression Pathway, enabling parents to gain qualification units - read more

>  Blog:  Ayrshire College's innovative early years offer

Early Learning and Childcare students at Ayrshire College are given the opportunity to support Peep sessions for families, alongside their Peep-trained lecturers - improving their skills and experience in communicating and engaging with parents - read more

We were very sad to hear of the death of Professor Sir Tim Brighouse on 16 December 2023. Tim was one of the great minds behind Peeple, set up in 1995 with the audacious plan to improve education outcomes of children at secondary school, by working with their parents from birth. Mike O’Regan, our founder, recalls how Tim (then Oxfordshire’s Chief Education Officer) responded to the idea with his characteristic enthusiasm and supportive energy and helped give PEEP (our former name) its confident start.

Tim went on to serve as a trustee until 2014. During this time, we benefitted from his kindness and warmth as well as his wisdom, extraordinary breadth of experience and, when needed, his firmness and authority. We were lucky to have him – clearly a feeling shared by (almost!) everyone he worked with or who enjoyed correspondence with him, judging by the personal and poignant comments shared recently in the press. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read this letter from a Nursery Teacher in the Guardian: “I once wrote to Tim in despair about the effect of some educational ‘reform’ on my nursery class. He replied by return post and advised me to collect all the relevant paperwork, set fire to it in the garden and dance around it. ‘It won't make any difference, but it might make you feel better’ he wrote. His letter certainly did.”

Sally Smith
Peeple CEO

Our third Growing Minds Learning Event in November enabled us to reflect on the last few months - what we did, what changed within our communities, and what we learned - helping us to plan for the year ahead. 

Growing Minds is a collaborative, community project that supports and improves young children’s development, school readiness and life chances. We do this by bringing together experienced organisations, local parents and carers, and tried-and-tested interventions.  It is led by a partnership of third sector organisations - Peeple, Home-Start Oxford and the Berin Centre – working together in the Littlemore and Berinsfield areas of Oxford and south Oxfordshire.

We really appreciate the positive and thoughtful contributions from everyone who attended, and the generosity of our hosts The Story Museum in Oxford.
Read on – and if you’d like to commission, fund, signpost, find out more, or attend any of our Growing Minds local provision for families - then do get in touch: becky.young@peeple.org.uk.

Here are some of our successes and challenges:

We’re proud of our new 5-minute Growing Minds video, which provides an overview of the project for families and professionals. It captures the voices of partners, practitioners and parents, reflecting on the impact that Growing Minds has had on their lives. Do watch it if you have a few minutes!

Expanding our reach across the communities:

There are now over 500 children registered with Growing Minds. A variety of support is offered, based on families’ interests and needs, ranging from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library books that are posted free of charge to any family wanting to sign up, to Stay and Plays, groups and 1-to-1 sessions for parents and children. Stories shared by Growing Minds parents about their own experiences highlighted the value of this ‘progressive universalism’ approach. For some families, the initial contact about the Imagination Library books provides the first step into accessing other local services. As Sally Smith, Peeple CEO explained, the latest findings from the Learning Together Study show that the Peep Learning Together Programme improves outcomes for all children but has the greatest impact for those living in disadvantaged circumstances.

School and community links:

Katie Screaton, Executive Headteacher of John Henry Newman Academy, enthused us all with her passionate presentation on the impact that Growing Minds is having in Littlemore. Before it began, there was scarce community support for children under five in Littlemore, so it marks a significant transformation.  She pointed out that Growing Minds is fostering a sense of community, diminishing isolation, and boosting parental confidence and enjoyment, helping more parents to see and value their role as educators.

Practitioners from the school and Growing Minds deliver a range of sessions with families, often combining topics from the Peep Learning Together Programme with a particular aspect of everyday life, all of which support children’s development and the home learning environment. Following conversations about cost of living issues, for example, the local St Mary and St Nicholas Church donated a number of slow cookers. These were given to families, who also attended a six-week course where parents and children had fun preparing dinner together (cowboy casserole, anyone?) then taking the food home to cook in their slow cooker.

Other groups include Nature Tots, a Special Educational Needs (SEN) parent support group, and Stay and Play sessions focusing on supporting school readiness.  For the Growing Minds children who started in Reception this year (aged 4-5), Katie's initial observations were that they have all settled well, and are confident explorers of the Early Years Foundation Stage. 

This is the first cohort of Growing Minds children to have started school. It’s exciting and we cannot wait to see the impact that Growing Minds has over the coming years, though we are cautious that this year group will have been most heavily affected by lockdowns and the lack of provision that was available during those periods. We are very fortunate to have such a community-focussed school on our doorstep, and we really appreciate the collaboration that has such a wide impact.

Impact stories from parents:

Gathering stories from families about their experiences is an important part of the project. Reading and discussing the stories in groups is always a popular part of the Learning Day. We pulled together common themes, which included the project being as meaningful for parents as it was for children, delivery being done with families not to them, reduced social isolation and easy-to-access support. Statutory services and professionals are stretched to the limit, often accompanied by long waiting lists, and finding an understanding and friendly face was always appreciated by families.
Below you can see a short version of one of the stories.

Local partnership work:

Staff from the The Story Museum took us into their small world area to deliver a section on their community outreach work with Growing Minds. After exploring the room, Victoria Jones, the Museum’s EYFS Co‑ordinator, gave us a captivating demonstration of their storytelling approach and the profound impact that it can have on people of all ages. Story Museum staff inspired families during a dozen Stay and Play sessions in Littlemore – our work shares numerous similarities, and it was a great opportunity to work together. Their sessions culminated in a visit by families to the Story Museum in early November, which went down a treat (and is well worth a visit!).

Lessons learned:

We reflected on what we had learned over the past few months, and our progress on the action plan from our independent evaluation. For example:

• We initially relied heavily on statutory services for recruitment or registrations of families. These referrals from birth registrars are very important as they allow families to hear about the local provision from very early in their child’s life. However, using a more mixed approach through social media, local advertising, schools, nurseries and other community groups means that our registration rate has significantly improved.
• Following feedback from families about the times of our Peep groups, we swapped the toddler group to the morning and babies to the afternoon, and attendance has improved.  
• We piloted a community Transition group in the summer for Littlemore families whose children would be starting school outside the local area. This was less well attended than most of our groups, partly for logistical reasons – more than half those invited said they worked during the week. However, we’d also had less interaction with these families when children were younger, due to Covid. This really speaks to the power of the earliest contact with families, building relationships and being able to support them sensitively from when their babies are small. Families were still interested though, with several saying they would have found this type of course useful before starting nursery as well as school. We were still able to offer every family support, and an ideas mat of appropriate activities in preparation for school transition. We will reflect further on our learning in the design of these sessions later in this academic year.

Partnership working and future opportunities:

• We were invited by the Sutton Trust to speak about Growing Minds at the Social Mobility All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) at the House of Commons in July. The theme was parental engagement as a tool for social mobility, and it was an honour to share our learning around engaging with parents as early as possible in children’s lives.
• Talking and working with other organisations to learn from each other is an important part of Growing Minds, both locally and further afield. Over the past few months we’ve enjoyed collaborating with organisations such as Oxford Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP), Oxford University's Brain Story and Thrive at Five in Stoke-on-Trent.

What next?  (how we can help you and you can help us)

We hope you agree that our services are valuable – but they need to be funded. We still need some funding for this financial year (2023/24) and the next. There are (as yet) no government-funded Family Hubs in Oxfordshire.

Do get in touch:

• if you are, or you have any contact with, a local commissioner of family support services or other potential funders (individuals, companies or charitable trusts), who may like to find out more about what we do, or to come along to our next event.
• if you’re a parent, carer or professional who lives or works in Littlemore or Berinsfield, and you want to find out more or come along to one of our sessions, or signpost other local families.
• if you’re part of a like-minded project elsewhere and would like to share ideas.

Becky Young, Growing Minds Manager - email  becky.young@peeple.org.uk  or  tel 01865 395145

Parent story (short version):

“I was a bit nervous the first time but everyone at Growing Minds and the Berin Centre was really welcoming. The first group I came to was a baby group. Each week is different, you learn so much and it's to improve your knowledge of certain things so you can enhance your child's life for the better. It was important for me to not just sit in the house with my little girl, it gets us out and interacting with people that we normally wouldn't be.

There's quite a lot of us who have similar ages of children, it's really good to see the same people every week, it helps us build the relationships. It's amazing, the other parents and their kids – it was really nice and friendly but if you're having a bad day like you can just tell someone and they'll try and help you. There won’t be any judgement which is really good because my life is chaos.

In the groups, we learn things to do with a child. There was something to do with the brain and I can see the image, that's really stuck with me. I'm quite a visual person so that really helped me. One week we also did about routines. I have difficulty with some of it and it was really reassuring that everyone goes through it which is a relief, and you can talk about it.

I also liked the making marks one that we did which was basically just like messy play. She didn't really get too dirty which was good for me, but she's done it since and she loves it, then I think oh I could do water play at home or I can do this at home - it's just fun.

This is somewhere that you're accepted and listened to.  I just think how amazing spaces are like this. I've always wanted a child, I will do anything for her. I just want her to have the best life and coming here definitely helped that and it helps me as well.  Parenting is hard, especially when social media says ‘do this’, ‘don't do this’ and it's so conflicting, you just want the best for you and your child. Mum guilt is so difficult but here they encourage you. I feel more connected with the other parents.”

During the Covid pandemic, delivery of Peep sessions switched to virtual as practitioners committed to finding new ways to reach parents who needed support. This way of delivery was very successful, with high levels of engagement reported. As restrictions have eased, some practitioners have flagged up anxieties, from themselves and families, about returning to face to face sessions. A common question has been about what measures to put in place to encourage group cohesion whilst still respecting personal feelings surrounding Covid.

Becky Robertson is a Family Support Worker at the Shetland Family Centre and moved back to face to face sessions in May 2021, before most of the country. Here is her experience:

I work in a family centre which is not registered with the Care Inspectorate; it doesn’t come under education or schools legislation either  – we are a bit of an anomaly really!  It means that our parent groups are considered to be under the ‘support group’ or ‘parent and toddler group’ umbrella, which enabled us to deliver in-person from May 2021. This was fantastic, but restrictions were still quite tight in some respects and anxieties around Covid were very high for staff and families.

We started with a pilot group of just three families and two workers, which still felt like loads of people to have in one room at that stage!  According to the restrictions relating to social distancing (then 2 metres), the room we were using could hold a maximum of eight adults, but even that amount felt really strange at first.

We adopted some subtle tools to social distancing, without it feeling awkward, and found these really helped to make people feel more relaxed in the ‘new normal’:

Invested in yoga mats for the families to sit on

At 1.5m long it meant that once the mats were spaced out on the floor people were distanced.  We also used name labels on the mats instead of on people, which meant a ‘safe zone’ for each family, and everyone stuck to their own mat.

Individual treasure baskets for each family and used washable shopping bags for ‘What’s in the bag?’

Having the individual trays of toys meant everything was washed after each session and we kept the same colour for each family each week; giving families a sense of security.

Laminated song lyrics

These were wiped down in-between sessions.  We even did our best to chant, instead of sing, to reduce concerns for all!

Individual reusable travel cups

I saw this in another Peep group and it worked really well.  Parents and carers could decorate them and write their names and preferences and we would have a cuppa ready when they arrived each week - they could also take them home at the end of the block.  It proved a great option for us as facilitators, not only because it cut out the anxieties around mug swapping, sharing spoons, etc. but also because we could have it ready in advance.

Small, individual snacks in decorated Tupperware tubs

We got the parents to write on any allergies and filled them with fruit/veg for the groups which clashed with snack time.

As well as these new ideas, we ensured that all rules around Covid were touched upon at the start of the session in the normal ‘housekeeping’ introduction, and hand sanitiser was available at various points around the room.

Now that we are living in a world of no masks, testing, or distancing that all seems pretty strict and historic… but some of the approaches are continuing into the new blocks which started in May:

We still use individual mats for the families, and label them, instead of the people.  It means less anxiety for families as they arrive as they don’t have to choose a space, know exactly where they are going and know what to expect. It also means that names are visible at all times; alleviating concerns around forgetting a name or a badge being obscured right in the middle of the 'Hello' song. We continue to work with small numbers, trying to facilitate more families by offering short blocks, as it still feels more comfortable to us at this time, but we now work on the principle of recruiting 5-6 families per block. 

My advice would always be to start small and see how it feels and progresses from there; it's always going to be easier once the first block is done and each block will flag up things that worked well, and things that didn’t!  Don’t overthink it, remember that the families have no idea if you’re ‘doing it right’ or not; plus they love it when you make a mistake or two - it makes them feel less pressured to be perfect themselves!

For Peep practitioners, head to the members area here for delivery support resources. 

School readiness is always a hot topic at this time of year, but especially now as the early years Covid cohort starts to transition into primary school. Many of these children will have spent a large proportion of their childhood in lockdown, missing out on the opportunity to socialise with their peers and develop key skills.  A recent survey conducted by YouGov suggested that half of all children are not ready to start school, and in some settings that has risen to 90%. 

But what does being 'school ready' actually mean? A few years ago Ofsted (who inspect schools and children's services in England) released a list of skills that would be helpful for children to have before starting school -  and parents may be surprised to learn that phonics, writing and maths are not on the list.

Here are some of the skills that are useful to practise with your child in everyday life: 

I can sit still and listen 

Schools don't expect children to sit still and listen for the whole day - that's hard even for grown ups - but developing listening skills is essential to communication, play, keeping safe and developing thinking and concentration skills. Model good listening with your child, chat with them and really listen to their responses. In order to become a good listener, children need to know what it feels like to be listened to. 

I am aware of other children 

Relationships with the people around us are so important and children learn a lot about appropriate behaviour and 'rules' which can help them get on with others. Children learn from everyone! Watch your child next time they play with others and talk to them about how they interact with their friends. Relationships are at the heart of leaning, whether it's in the playground or in the classroom. 

I can talk in sentences and I can speak to an adult to ask for help 

Talking helps children to develop their thinking and builds confidence - children get better at it when they have somebody who joins in, talks, listens and tries to understand. This confidence will seep into other areas: asking for help, communicating with friends and expanding language.

I am potty trained and can go to the toilet 

Everyday activities encourage children to learn how to look after themselves. Routines such as using the toilet, wiping, flushing, pulling pants up and washing hands is a sequence which can be repeated again and again. This in turn grows independence, and will save you - and school staff - a lot of time in the bathroom. If there is a part of the sequence that a child is struggling with, such as remembering to flush, it's worth breaking the routine down and focusing efforts on helping them master that particular part. 

I can recognise my own name 

Names are a core part of our identity and using children's names in a positive way builds confidence and self esteem. Help children to recognise their own name by celebrating it!  Make name placemats for dinner or write it in bubble writing and get them to decorate it - the added bonus is that having fun together with your child's name shows them that they are important. 

I can open and enjoy a book 

Have you ever had to read your child's favourite book over and over again? This familiarity with language, characters and pictures breeds confidence and encourages children to become 'readers' themselves. Knowing what happens next, joining in with the re-telling (made up or from memory, rather than reading the text themselves) and being able to name familiar things in pictures gives children a real sense of achievement. It's an important building block in learning to read and will spur them on to open, and enjoy, new books as well as old favourites.  

I can understand the word 'No' and the borders it sets for behaviour, and I understand the word 'stop' and that such a phrase might be used to prevent danger 

Children sometimes struggle to put into words what they are feeling, so their feelings come out in their behaviour. Support and encouragement is important, as is staying safe. Talk to your child about how words such as 'stop' may be used to keep them out of danger - explore songs and stories which will communicate this in a positive way. 

I can take off my own coat  and I can put on my own shoes 

Life skills such as taking off a coat and putting on shoes are often the first big steps towards independence for young children. We do these everyday tasks without thinking but children need us to break it down into chunks for them to be able to grasp them. Time and patience are needed here, and maybe a little bit of fun too. Have you ever seen the coat flip? Look it up, it's genius!  

Making these skills a part of daily life will help with the transition into school, and the familiarity of these tasks will underpin confidence at the start of the school journey. If your child isn't at this stage yet, do not worry - teaching and support staff will be there to encourage and help all children. 

If you are a Peep practitioner then log into your Members area and search transition or school readiness - you will find Peep resources to support each of the skills listed above.