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Prosiect Pengwin Research Group

Introduction

Handheld penguins in cartoon style, looking at each other

The Prosiect Pengwin research group is working on behalf of Welsh Government to develop tools and resources that will support health, education and childcare practitioners to identify and support speech, language and communication skills in the early years.

This project is part of a Welsh Government plan to support and enhance the ways in which children in Wales develop their speech, language, and communication skills following emerging evidence of the impact of the public health restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information regarding the background of the project, click here.​

Inf​ormation for Parents

How can I get involved?

We are looking for a range of people who live in Wales to participate in the project. If you would like to help shape the way young children with speech language and communication needs access early support, take a look at the information below to see how you can get involved.

Are you a parent or carer of a child aged 5 years or under who lives in Wales?

Data collection will take place during 2024 and 2025

We are inviting children and their parents/carers from the following local authorities to participate:

- Gwynedd
- Ceredigion
- Carmarthenshire
- Cardiff

To register for the study please follow this link.

You can follow us on social media for updates.

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Email: prosiectpengwin@cardiffmet.ac.uk

We welcome you to join our parent/carer advisor panel.

We are keen to connect with you so we can invite you to talk to us about your experiences and share your views on our research decisions and plans. If you would like to join our parent/carer advisor panel, please complete the form below to give us some initial information. Your contact details will be kept on our system and we will contact you when there are opportunities for you to support us with our work.

What will I be asked to do?

Parent/carer advisors can support the project in many ways, for example:

  • Reviewing documents that will be used to recruit families to join workshops or test the newly developed tools
  • Attending online or in-person meetings to discuss current roles and ways of working in Wales
  • Having a conversation with one of the researchers on the phone or via a video call to give feedback on our plans and resources that we develop

This voluntary role is flexible in order to work around you. Each opportunity to support will be clearly explained to you so you can decide whether you are able to contribute. You do not need any previous experience in being an advisor, just a willingness to share your experiences and opinions as a parent.

Parent/carer Advisor Panel Expression of Interest Form

Information for Professionals

The Pengwin tool has been designed to fit with the Healthy Child Wales Programme Universal Scheduled contacts at 15 months, 27 months and 3 ½ years and identify children who are showing signs of speech, language and communication needs.

This tool is designed to be used by the health visiting workforce and early years practitioners to screen children for speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and help any child identified with a need onto the right pathway for support. As there is currently little data available for children’s milestones in the Welsh language, a large part of this study will require us to collect data on language abilities from a representative sample of children in Wales.

To support the new tool, we are also developing training for the tool users and a range of interventions to support children identified with speech, language, or communication needs. To ensure that these interventions are appropriate and equitable, we will co-produce them with parents, SLTs and Early Years Practitioners alike.

Do you work or volunteer within a health / education / childcare setting with young children and families who live in Wales?

We welcome you to join our practitioner co-design panel.

We are keen to make links with people who work with children under 5 and their families across health, education and home settings. If you would like to join our practitioner advisor panel, please provide initial information below and we will contact you when there are opportunities for you to support us with our work.

What will I be asked to do?

Practitioner advisors can support the project in many ways, for example:

  • Reviewing documents that will be used to recruit a sample of children to test the newly developed tools
  • Attending online or in-person meetings to discuss current roles and ways of working in Wales
  • Having a conversation with one of the researchers on the phone or via a video call to give feedback on resources that we develop

This voluntary role is flexible in order to work around you. Each opportunity to support will be clearly explained to you so you can decide whether you are able to contribute. You do not need any previous experience in being an advisor, just a willingness to share your experiences and opinions as someone with experience of working with children and their families in the early years.

If you have any questions you can e-mail: prosiectpengwin@cardiffmet.ac.uk​​