HELLO ‘SHINES A LIGHT’ ON CHAMPIONS OF COMMUNICATION

The Communication Trust, a consortium of nearly 50 voluntary and community organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership with Pearson Assessment has today (Wednesday 23rd November) named the winners of the Shine a Light 2011 Hello campaign awards – a national awards scheme focused on children and young people’s communication.

The Shine a Light awards, hosted by radio and TV presenter Vanessa Feltz at Pearson’s headquarters in London, were developed by The Communication Trust and Pearson Assessment as the flagship event of the Hello campaign (national year of communication).

Shine a Light was designed to honour individuals, teams, projects, communication friendly settings and communities that have demonstrated excellence in supporting the needs of all children and young people’s communication, including those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

Winners of the awards included Watercliffe Meadow Primary School in Sheffield, which won the Primary Setting Communication Friendly Award, as well as a special Outstanding Achievement Award, for their child-centred communication approach and excellent parent involvement and support.  The Play and Communication Team in Barking and Dagenham won the Team of the Year Award for creating a significant impact in engaging with parents in their target area. 

The Employee Support Award was won by The Co-Operative in Mansfield, Nottingham for their work with pupils from I CAN’s Dawn House Specialist School.  The Co-Operative was applauded for their strong leadership and commitment in supporting young people with SLCN and ensuring staff engagement. 

Anita Kerwin-Nye, Director of The Communication Trust, said: “Congratulations to the winners of Shine a Light for representing the very best of the work taking place across the country in support of children and young people’s communication skills. Each of these winners and ‘highly commended’ runners-up has provided an exceptional example, which we are delighted to share to improve practice in 2012, as part of the ongoing legacy of the Hello campaign, the national year of communication.

“Everyone who was nominated for an award went above and beyond to help children and young people and we are delighted to have had the support of Pearson Assessment for helping us to develop the awards, as well as sponsoring the Hello campaign. This is the first time a national award scheme has been held in communication and we hope its success will lead to Shine a Light becoming a regular event in the speech and language calendar.”

Chris Hall, Managing Director of Pearson Assessment, said: “The Shine a Light awards have truly shown the outstanding practice being carried out by dedicated professionals, organisations and individuals in supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. We have been overwhelmed by the passion and commitment each of the winners and highly commended finalists has shown, and congratulatethem on all their achievements.”

“Working with The Communication Trust to host these awards and being part of the national Hello campaign has been an incredible experience, which has tapped into our company ethos to support professionals and make a difference to their day to day practice. We hope the success of the year and all the outstanding practice, which has shone through these awards, continues into 2012 and beyond.”

Applications came in from a range of settings, professionals and individuals, who work directly with children or who are responsible for commissioning children’s services, as well as parents and young people.

40 judges representing some of the biggest voices in speech, language and communication were involved in Shine a Light. This included Dame Clare Tickell, who recently led a Government review of the Early Years Foundation Stage, Professor Neil Mercer from the University of Cambridge, Professor Geoff Lindsay of the University of Warwick, and Jean Gross, England’s Communication Champion for children.

The full list of winners is as follows:

• Communication Friendly Award: Early Years – University of East Anglia Nursery Team, Norwich.
• Communication Friendly Award: Primary Schools – Watercliffe Meadow School, Sheffield.
• Communication Friendly award: Secondary Schools – Preston Manor School, Wembley.
• Team of the Year Award – The Play and Communication Team, Barking and Dagenham.
• Team of the Year Award: Multi-agency – Early Years Teams Stoke on Trent City Council.
• Team of the Year Award: Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Service, Community Health Newham. Community Health Newham is part of the East London Foundation Trust.
• Communication Strategy Award – Every Sheffield Child Articulate and Literate, Sheffield.
• Commissioning Award: Worcestershire Council and NHS Worcestershire.
• Employee Support Award – The Clipstone Co-operative food store in Mansfield.
• The Hello Campaign Award – Bristol Hello Group.
• Hello Young Person of the Year Award – Jack Marshall.
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Stoke Speaks Out, Stoke on Trent.
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Watercliffe Meadow School, Sheffield.
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Holly Tadman.

TV and radio presenter, Vanessa Feltz, said: “Ensuring children and young people are supported as they develop speech, language and communication is essential. I could not do my job without my ability to communicate, so the work of the Hello campaign is vital. Hosting the first ever Shine a Light campaign awards has been fantastic. The sheer passion and dedication in this field is palpable and the winners and runners up should be very proud of their achievements.”

BT, which is sponsoring the Hello campaign, also sponsored the Young Person of the Year Award, and The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists kindly sponsored an award for the SLT Team of the Year.

To read detailed case studies of the winners and to watch the Shine a Light film, go to www.hello.org.uk/winners   

Runners Up of Shine a Light

About The Communication Trust and the Hello campaign

• The Communication Trust raises awareness of speech, language and communication issues amongst everyone that works with children and young people. It was founded by Afasic, BT, Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and children’s communication charity I CAN.
• It is a coalition of 40 leading voluntary sector organisations and an advisory group which includes the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Association of Educational Psychologists and the General Teaching Council.
• For more information, go to www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
• Hello is the national year of communication – a campaign to increase understanding of how important it is for children and young people to develop good communication skills.
• The campaign is run by The Communication Trust, in partnership with Jean Gross, the Government’s Communication Champion. Together we aim to make 2011 the year when children’s communication skills become a priority in schools and homes across the country.
• For more information, go to www.hello.org.uk

About Pearson Assessment

• Pearson Assessment is the world’s largest commercial developer and distributor of educational assessments and psychological testing materials with a 90 year history of commitment to researching and developing products to a reliable high standard.
• Pearson Assessment is dedicated to the pursuit of professional excellence, leadership, and growth through acquisition, development, publication, and the maintenance of quality assessment tools in order to anticipate and meet the needs of its customers.
• Pearson Assessment are sponsors of the 2011 Hello campaign for the national year of communication. www.psychcorp.co.uk

About BT

• BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, operating in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.
• BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.
• In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group’s revenue was £20,076 million with profit before taxation of £1,717 million. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
• For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt