What's new on the website

Last updated 10 December 2008

We have launched a new training area on the main website that gives general information about the courses and how to enrol on them. This has also given us the opportunity to update all the pages and give some of the feedback from people who have been on the training courses. Incidentally, the training brochure is now out of date and has been taken off the website so please use the web pages for the latest information.

The training website (which is quite separate from the main website) has now become a resource for the trainers, giving them access to all the materials they need to run courses.

Some technical upgrades to the site will enable you to listen to all the web pages by using the 'click to listen' button at the top of the screen. This brings up a small player at the top of the screen so that you can skip to a section, go back, or stop. We've also improved the video player. The audio versions of the translated Background Information booklets are now easier to access, with a quick option to listen to the files or download them. The audio player has also been improved. See a sample page (Polish version).

The Supporting Children with Additional Needs and with Disabilities course is now available. This course is for families and for everyone who works in an early years setting.

We've added a PowerPoint presentation that gives a general overview of Early Support, its link with wider policy initiatives and how the programme is being rolled out nationally. This will be useful for anyone who needs to explain Early Support to newcomers. Save it to your own PC and you can edit it for local use.

The Early Support Background Information booklets are now available in ten languages other than English. Users can download a written translation or listen to an audio version from the website. Three of the translations are now available on DVD - French, Polish and Somali - use the order form to order these. Read the news page for more details.

We've also added guidance on using Early Support with families who don't speak English.

New content since May 2008

This website was relaunched in May 2008 to support the mainstreaming of Early Support across England. The following gives a brief outline of some key content and features for users who were familiar with the old website - if you're a completely new user you might prefer to start here.

Much of the new content is guidance for practitioners - Early Support in practice replaces the Professional Guidance issued in 2004.

We have also added additional information for families to enable them to find relevant pages more easily.

Your stories is a new section where parents and practitioners explain how Early Support has made a difference. We are still building this section so if you'd like to contribute, please email Hannah Tramaseur.

About Early Support has been substantially revised to take account of a whole raft of Early Support activity and related government initiatives.

New features

The guidance includes case study material and short videos (not more than 7 minutes playing time). If your computer doesn't have sound, switch on the sub-titles.

Look for this video symbol.

Talking web pages and documents allow users to listen - useful for anyone with difficulties reading English. You can listen to web pages where the 'Click to listen' button shows at the top right of the screen.

This is the symbol for talking documents. These include all the Background Information booklets, with more documents to follow.

Don't forget - you can change the size of the text to suit your needs - use the 'Customise' feature on the top toolbar.

You can print pages you need using the 'Print-friendly' feature, also on the top toolbar.

Feedback please!

We really welcome your feedback on the new site - both general comments on how we can improve it and specific issues like broken links. Please email comments to Hannah Tramaseur.