Clarks shoe shop staff to be trained to speak to children amid Government drive to improve language skills Clarks employees will be trained to speak to children as part of a drive to improve early language skills, the Department for Education has announced.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2019/01/29/clarks-shoe-shop-staff-trained-speak-children-amid-government/
Ivonne Holliday ● 2840d21 Comments
I totally agree with this. I think the more people children get to speak to in their pre-schoolyears the better.
Martine Guy ● 2840d
These things never fail to astound me, good for Clarks but, really??
Bunny Payne ● 2840d
Ivonne, why did you post this? I wondered why you made no comment.
Martine Guy ● 2838d
Hello Martine,I posted it with no comments because I was looking for a reaction, but it fell flat on the face!!While I have not hesitation in saying staff at Clark's do speak to the children while they are trying their shoes on, I find it quite extraordinary that the Department for Education is demanding that staff in Clark's be trained to speak to children as part of their development.... For one, why only Clarke's shoe shops? Also, the staff in Clark's aim to sell shoes as many shoes as they can. They are not experts in education. Of course they speak to the children, and have great fun at some of the responses too!In my view, this is a very ill thought out proposal, but of course, it is cheap.
Ivonne Holliday ● 2838d
Ivonne, thanks for the reply. I found it a strange post and then no further comment from you.Imo, Clark’s was one of the least chatty shops that I took my children into when they were pre-school. I think they are well placed during shoe fitting to have a little chat with children and help their social skills.I think talking to children in this way is a great idea.
This is utterly astounding. It is not a shop assistant’s job to teach a child how to communicate. If children are reaching primary school age without being able to speak in sentences, then surely it’s their parents who need training, not random shop staff.
Claire Longworth ● 2837d
Agreed, and it's been pointed out elsewhere by a parent that the rush to buy children's shoes before term starts is hardly a conducive environment to allow much work on the complex issue of communication.
Richard Carter ● 2836d
Also Clarks children's shoes are relatively expensive, and sad to say probably out of the reach of a lot of the demographic of children whose parents might benefit with extra help in teaching their children to converse properly?
Liam Jones ● 2836d
“Complex issue of communication”. What exactly are Clark’s staff going to be saying to them? Anybody know. A general bit of chat with a child will do them no harm. I doubt they will be trying to teach them words like discombobulate. I think that trying to talk to people everywhere we went made a big difference to my children’s vocabulary and confidence.
Martine Guy ● 2836d
@Liam, so what? What harm does it do to the children whose families take them to Clark’s?
What with fitting shoes involving sizes and measurement (and perhaps geometry?), perhaps Clark's could help teach mathematics instead?
David Ainsworth ● 2836d
I think you are being sarcastic, David? Trying to over complicate all of this. I didn’t know how to talk naturally to children until I had my own. I think if Clark’s staff are trained to talk to children to help socialise them and explain the process of measuring their feet, it’s all good to me. Maybe it’s a trial to see how it all goes.Some of you seem to think it’s all going to be terribly complex and highbrow, perhaps teaching the kids a bit of Ozymandias. I don’t think that is what it’s all about.
Sarcastic or stupid?Fgs what's the big deal here? Centuries ago I had a Saturday job (remember them?) in a shoe shop and it was absolutely necessary to talk to the customers, asking questions about how the shoe fits and feels etc. This communication was equally, and even more important to have with children, to make sure the shoes were suitable/not uncomfortable for them. Kids like to be involved in 'grown up' talk and it's a learning process so why not include them when you can? Conversation between adults and children is vital whether it takes place in a shop or in a classroom.
Sue Hammond ● 2836d
I find Clark's shoes very comfortable and good value. With regard to communication, some staff, young and old, do need training or guidance, eg Putney post office. In Sainsburys the other day I watched a shelf filler carefully walking around a milk spillage to do his job. I pointed out the spillage which was a serious hazard, he reluctantly acknowledged me with a grunt.
Adam Tripp ● 2836d
Tried to find out more info. and evidently the scheme is targeted at toddlers. Other retailers such as WH Smith appear to be taking part too.I can really see the difference in my children’s vocabulary and articulateness(?) compared to mine, as my pre-school years were quite isolated. I am very grateful to the staff in Putney’s shops and the bank we use for taking time to talk with my kids. I know it has made a real difference to them. My son is extrovert and loved to babble back to people, whereas my quieter daughter just used to listen and take it all in.
I really think some people are missing the bigger point here. I dare say that getting Clarks' barely - or untrained assistants to help inarticulate children won't do much harm, but what good to people imagine they can do? Dealing with communications difficulties is a job that only properly trained staff: psychologists, speech therapists, specialist teachers, etc, can do - or have we reached the point where "the British public have had enough of experts" extend into this area, too? The whole silly idea reeks of straw-grabbing by a government that, frankly, doesn't know its @rse from a hole in the ground.
Richard, I think you are the one missing the bigger picture here. Have you more details of the scheme? I hardly think it is as unrealistic or whatever it is you don’t like. Going into a shop and having other people than the child’s immediate circle of family and friends, talk interact with the child is a great way for the child to pick up a few more words and to socialise. I loved it when people in the shops High Fived my son and just had a little chat with him, I expect all they want retail staff to do is say Hello and take a little bit of interest, nothing complicated. You are moving onto another level when you talk about psychologists, speech therapists, etc, what has that got to do with Clark’s. You are over complicating what I would imagine is going to be a very simple scheme.
Complex issue of communication, lol. This scheme is aimed at toddlers. What’s complicated about Mummy, Daddy, Dog, Cat, Noddy, Buggy, Shoes, Milk, Chocolate, Book, Apple, Igglepiggle, Humpty Dumpty, etc?
This is the problem, as set out I'm the Telegraph piece:Damian Hinds, the education secretary, has previously said that children being sent to school unable to speak in sentences is a “persistent scandal”.In a speech last summer, he promised to tackle the "last taboo" in education by highlighting the fact that many mothers and fathers are failing to teach their children how to talk.And a short conversation with a barely-trained Clark's assistant is going to tackle this? It's pure fantasy, a half-baked idea as a substitute for proper action.
Richard, I read it’s only one small step (pun intended, Clark’s shoes), amongst other measures they hope to take to help children with their speech. I don’t see that having a little chat with a toddler during a shoe fitting is going to add on any time in the shop and may actually help a child learn some new words and improve sociability. I hope this scheme goes ahead, I know chats like this helped my children. You are expecting too much from what would appear to be a simple scheme.
I would have thought that any salesperson fitting children with shoes wouldn't sell many shoes if they didn't talk to the child. I can recall that - very many years ago - when I was a child you used to have your foot in the shoe Xrayed to see how the shoe fitted. I don't suppose that they still do this as Xrays have their dangers.Mind you, although it is important to talk with children, it is even more important to listen to children.
Caroline Whitehead ● 2836d