Hundreds more children across the Bradford district will benefit from early speech and language support as phase two of the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme begins in the school year 2025–26.
Co-funded by the Department for Education and NHS England, the programme is being tested across nine regions nationwide and initially ran for one year with each region receiving approximately £1m. Following the success of Phase one, additional funding has now been secured for a further rollout.
The ELSEC pilot is being delivered by Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership with Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust leading delivery alongside nurseries, schools, and community partners.
Phase one of the pilot saw 65% of children screened in participating settings in the Bradford district being identified as having speech, language or communication needs. This was reduced to 36% of the cohort by Summer 2025 with various types of early support being provided in participating nurseries, schools and at home.
Nagina Javaid, Programme Director for Children, Young People and Families at Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, commented: “This programme is a great example of our local health and care strategy in action — bringing services together around what matters most to families. During the first phase, we saw real progress, with many more children developing the speech, language and communication skills they need to thrive. By identifying and supporting children early, we’re helping to build their confidence and set strong foundations for learning and wellbeing. The ELSEC pilot is all about prevention, inclusion, and giving every child the best possible start in life.”
During the school year 2025-26, the children in the eight original settings will continue to receive support, but the ELSEC team will also now be working with two to four year olds in a further 11 nurseries taking part across three targeted wards (Tong, Bradford Moor and Eccleshill) where 74% of children have been identified as having speech, language or communication needs.
Phase two of the pilot will be supported in part by the National Literacy Trust in Bradford. The charity’s
Bradford Stories Bus, a converted American school bus transformed into a story sharing space, will visit schools and nurseries throughout the Bradford district. Onboard, parents and carers will have the opportunity to take part in engaging storytelling activities with their children and receive additional resources and guidance to support children’s early literacy.
Imran Hafeez, Manager of the National Literacy Trust in Bradford, added: “Onboard the Bradford Stories Bus we are able to bring the magic of stories, alongside our advice, resources and support, direct to families. Our mission is to ensure every child grows up with the literacy skills they need to thrive, and provide opportunities to discover a lifelong love of reading, and this starts from the earliest years of a child’s life. By working with the ELSEC pilot we hope to reach children at the beginning of their language development journey to support them to change their stories.”
The ELSEC team will be training nursery staff to use the Bradford Speech and Language Therapy
screening tool to look at the understanding, talking, speech sounds and social communication skills of their children.
Staff are being supported to develop their interaction skills through a series of reflective video coaching sessions, and a training offer will be put in place to ensure that staff and parents know how to support children with the most significant difficulties whilst they wait for appointments from other services. The team is continuing to screen children in their home language and work with parents on ways they can support their children at home, in their home language.
Nichola Rogers, speech and language therapy clinical lead at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are thrilled to be able to continue our ELSEC pilot for another year. After fantastic results last year, we are keen to support more children and families during Phase two.”
The settings taking part this year are:
- Thornbury Primary
- Killinghall Primary
- Lapage Primary
- Knowleswood Primary
- St Columba’s Catholic Primary
- Woodlands C of E Primary
- Wellington Primary
- Tadpoles Nursery
The ELSEC team is also working with school nursing support workers to pilot the ELSEC model in three settings within the Dixons Trust – Dixons Allerton, Dixons Manningham, Dixons Marchbank.
If you are worried about your child’s speech, language or communication development, there is help and advice available for all. To find out about a wide range of services and support in the community visit the Talking Bradford interactive guide (for children aged 0-5) on the Families and Young Persons Information (FYI) Hub – https://fyi.bradford.gov.uk/speech-and-language-pathway-for-parents/
Findings from the ELSEC pilot will continue to shape local and national approaches to helping children communicate and thrive.
If you would like any further information about the programme please email elsec@bdct.nhs.uk
You can the news release about Phase one of the pilot on our website: New speech and language service for young children starts – Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership