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As part of the First Mile programme, Openreach supports the nationwide Chatterbox Challenge events (happening again in 2008). We also worked together in 2006/7 to produce and distribute the Chatter Matters DVD resource, designed to help parents, grandparents and other carers give the children they care for the best possible start.
Chatter Matters DVD Pack
The DVD pack is designed to help parents and carers understand a child’s typical development pattern, give advice on what to do if they are worried and provide simple information that will help them improve communication skill development by making the everyday interactions with a child really count.
The DVD pack includes:
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a DVD which can be watched alone or with other adults who care for pre-school children
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an attractive set of wall charts that show the important stages of a child’s communication skill development
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contact details of key professional organisations
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a karaoke section for the children to have a bit of fun!
From March the DVD pack will be distributed on a voluntary basis by Openreach employees and engineers.
More information about the DVD and how to order individual copies can be found on the I CAN website here.
“The DVD pack draws on the experience of early years professionals (and those with hands on experience) to show parents, siblings and grandparents how to make the most of everyday opportunities such as feeding, bathing and changing times to nurture the development of young children’s communication skills”. Dawn James, Director of PR and Marketing
Chatterbox Challenge Events
The annual Chatterbox Challenge is a fun way to engage pre-school children, early years professionals and families, to highlight the importance of communication development. Through these events young children develop their own speech and language skills while raising money for those who struggle to communicate.
Chatterbox Challenge events will take place again in February 2008 - primarily hosted by local nurseries, Early Learning Centres and pre-school groups. Timing doesn't really matter though and you could even hold your own 'family' version of the event at home.
This year the Chatterbox Challenge theme is 'favourite songs and nursery rhymes' and you will even see Ollie from Openreach making an appearance!
How to get your kids involved:
Anyone can host a Chatterbox Challenge event (you don’t have to run a nursery or play group). Simply download the flyer below to find out more or visit www.chatterboxchallenge.co.uk
| Type | Name | Size | Issue date |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Chatterbox Challenge registration flyer | 2.8 M | 26/10/2007 |
Pre-school pack
Following the success of the Chatters Matters DVD, Openreach and I CAN have launched a new Chatter Matters activity pack.
Called Ready, Steady, Talk, the packs contains a wide range of activities for children between two and three years old. Written by I CAN’s speech and language specialists, it includes advice for parents and carers and aims to prepare children for pre-school by focussing on developing listening and social skills.
The pack became available early in February and is proving to be immensely popular amongst Openreach employees who have been distributing it to friends, family and nurseries around the country. So much so that repeat orders are already flooding in and we are actively encouraging engineers to distribute to end-users who have pre-school children.
The packs are free to order – I CAN just ask that you pay postage and packaging.
To order your copy visit http://www.ican.org.uk/home/Resources/Ready%20Steady%20Talk.aspx
Wall of Words – highly commended
In March 2007 we launched a campaign that challenged the nation to build a mile long wall of words and unlock a £50,000 donation from Openreach to I CAN, the children's communication charity. Our target was reached in just seven days and the Wall of Words has since been 'Highly Commended' in the Third Sector Excellent Awards, 'Best use of Digital Media' category.
The challenge is now over, but you can still view the wall and see the nations favourite words at www.wallofwords.co.uk.
