COMMUNICATION FRIENDLY SETTINGS (Early Years)
PARENT/GUARDIAN INFORMATION SHEET
Dear Parent(s)/Carer(s),
Your child’s Early Years setting is taking part in a study of the
Communication-Friendly Settings programme with Elklan, the University of York and
the University of Sheffield. Communication-Friendly Settings is designed
to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence of all staff in the Early Years
setting and change practice so that the speech, language and communication development
of all children is supported during every activity.
As part of
the Department for Education’s Early
Years Recovery Programme, North East Hub and the Education Endowment
Foundation are working together to fund Early Years settings’ access to
evidence-informed programmes and study the programme’s influence on practice
and children’s outcomes. The aims of this funding are to support education
recovery following the pandemic, and to develop our understanding of effective
professional development in the early years.
This type of study is called a randomised controlled trial. This means that
half the settings will take part in the Communication-Friendly Settings
programme (the intervention group) and the other half continue as normal
without receiving the programme (the control group) in this academic year (2023/2024). This
is a wait-list design so if a setting is allocated to the control group they
will receive the Communication-Friendly Settings programme in the following
academic year (2024/2025). We really hope that you’ll agree for your child to
take part so we can see if the programme has an impact on children’s speech, language and communication. In order for your Early Years setting to
participate we need at least 12 parents of 3-4 year old children to consent to
assessments taking place.
Before agreeing to take
part, please read this information sheet carefully and let us know if anything
is unclear or you would like further information. When
you have read the information, if you are happy for your child to take part,
please return the form to your child’s setting by 14th September.
What does taking part
in the study mean for my child?
The
Communication Friendly Settings programme is designed to benefit all children
in the setting. The programme is
designed to be embedded into everyday practice.
You are consenting for your child to be part of the evaluation of the
programme.
If
you agree for your child to participate in this study, this will mean your
child may be selected to have two one-to-one assessments of
receptive and expressive vocabulary with trained researchers from the University of
York at the beginning and end of the current academic year 2023/24. These
assessments are short and designed especially for children of this age group so
they should enjoy taking part. Your
child’s responses will be recorded (in written and audio format) on tablets
used for administering the assessments. This will be carried out in the setting
and in the presence of setting staff. All
researchers who visit the setting and work with your child will be DBS checked
and fully trained to administer the assessments. If your child does not want to participate on
the day, they can say no. We will also ask the setting to share some additional
details about your child to help with our analysis, eg. your child’s attendance
at the setting, their EYPP status, date of birth and postcode).
Participation is voluntary
Participation
in the study is optional. If you would like your child to take part you will be asked to complete the
consent form on the next page and a copy of this information sheet will be
emailed to you. If you choose not to include your
child in the study, this will have no impact on the usual care your child
receives in the setting, or on whether the setting uses the Communication
Friendly Setting programme or not. If your setting is
allocated to receive the programme your child will still benefit from support
from staff who have received the training. If you change your mind at any
point during the study, you will be able to withdraw your child’s participation
in the evaluation without having to provide a reason. They will still receive the input from staff
that results from the Communication Friendly Settings training.
You may
withdraw your child from participating in the study at any point prior to
August 2024 by contacting Louise Tracey (email: [insert project email];
telephone: 01904 328160).
Anonymity and confidentiality
We assure
you that all information relating to you and your child will be treated in the
strictest confidence and processed in accordance with General Data Protection
Regulations (GDPR). Any dissemination of
the research findings (e.g. through reports, academic publications and presentations)
will be in an anonymous format. We will not use your Early Years setting or
your child’s name in any report or publication arising from the research.
Storing and using your data
All
information relating to the setting or your child will be stored securely by
code number on a password protected computer.
Any identifiable information will be stored separately from the data and
will be destroyed by June 2030.
Anonymous
data will be retained indefinitely. At the end of the study your child’s data
will be shared with the Department for Education, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), FFT Education (EEF’s data
processor for the EEF data archive) and potentially with other research teams.
This may mean the data is matched to the National Pupil Database data or other
datasets during any subsequent research.
Further
details relating to GDPR, third parties and confidentiality are provided in the
associated privacy
notice. Please read this information carefully. You will need to confirm
that you have read and understood this information before proceeding.
Questions or concerns
If you have any questions about
this participant information sheet or concerns about how your data is being
processed, please feel free to contact Dr
Louise Tracey (email:
cfs-evaluation-project@york.ac.uk; telephone: 01904 328160), or the Deputy Chair of Ethics Committee
via email education-research-admin@york.ac.uk. If you still have questions about the way your data will be
processed, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@york.ac.uk
We hope that you will agree to your child taking part. If
you are happy for your child to participate, please complete the consent below and submit.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
information.
Yours sincerely
Dr Louise Tracey (on behalf of the
Communication-Friendly Settings Research Team)
Senior Research Fellow
University of York
