Talking Partners is a programme designed to improve the way children communicate across the curriculum, enabling them to be independent and skilful speakers and listeners. It's a targeted, time-limited (10 weeks) intervention that can be used with the whole class, small groups or individuals.
By providing opportunities to practise and rehearse target language through a range of focused activities, pupils develop their independent skills to become good communicators. Talking Partners is a structured oral language programme providing part of an integrated approach to raise levels of achievement by improving children’s speaking and listening skills. Talking Partners also helps children to become more confident and competent users of English. It encourages them to listen more actively and talk for a range of purposes and draws particular attention to the links between oracy and literacy.
The programme is for pupils aged from 4 to 11 who:
- Lack skills and confidence as speakers and listeners
- EAL learners
- Emotional literacy
- SEN
- SEBD (mild)
- G & T
- Strand of Group and 1:1 provision
Experienced TAs ( Level 3 and above) and HLTAs attend 2-days of intensive training. A teacher (preferably SMT) who is also expected to attend the training, is appointed as the school coordinator. All participants receive a training pack, which contains full descriptions of activities, frameworks for teaching and assessment materials to support delivery and measure impact.
Trained partners work with groups of three pupils for twenty minutes three times a week for ten weeks, using activities that have been specifically designed to support the development of oral language skills required for academic success. Adaptations of this model can be made for EYFS where a 'little and often' approach would be more appropriate, i.e. 10 minutes 5 times a week for 10 weeks.
- Personal knowledge of the pupils
- Talking Partners observation sheet
- Summary of the child as an active speaker and listener
- Renfrew Action Picture Test
- Self-evaluation form
- Primary Curriculum - Literacy S&L levels
- APP in S&L
- Audio/visual recordings
- Writing samples
- Reading assessments
- Confidence scales
Two-Day Training for Partners
2 DAY TRAINING
- Observation of two lessons
- The importance of talk
- Developing questioning skills
- Practical activities
- Assessment tools
- Planning and record keeping
Education Works can provide training for experienced Teaching Assistants, Support Assistants, Learning Mentors and Teachers to work with 3 children with this successful intervention. It also provides practitioners with skills and strategies to deliver day to day quality first teaching in speaking and listening.
Three Day Trainers Course
As a National Trainer, our Consultant Clare Reed can also train Consultants, Head Teachers, Reading Recovery Teacher Leaders or other senior educational professionals to be a TP Trainer for schools in their Local Authority.
Contact Education Works to discuss your requirements.
Education Works Ltd provides two pathways for accreditation depending on your current role. If you are a Talking Partners Trainer, then trainer training is the first step towards becoming an accredited trainer. It gives basic background knowledge of the principles and practicalities of the intervention programme and the training necessary for training teachers and teaching assistants on the two-day BRP or TP course. The quality of the intervention depends on more than the 3 day trainer training you received; observations, data collection and follow up training are crucial.
The next step is Accreditation which would widen the scope of delivery to their consortiums or neighbouring authorities by negotiation, (this is to avoid trainers delivering courses in areas where there is already a trainer in situ). If you are a trained Partner, then there is the opportunity to gain a Level 4 academic accreditation from Edge Hill University. Please click on the link below for further details about both types of accreditation.
Find out more about Talking Partners Accreditation here.
For more information about our Speaking and Listening programmes, contact our lead Speaking and Listening consultant Clare Reed on +44 (0)7973 324335; or email
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