The  project  involved  the  creation  of  inclusive  sessions  where  the  programme  of  work  was  mutually  agreed  between  the  research  team  and  all  project  practitioners.  This  included:  • some  input  on  the  original  

research  and  the  ORIM  framework  

• practitioner-­‐led  sessions  • paired  discussions  • group  work  • practitioner  presentations  to  

the  whole  group  • ‘writing  spaces’  • open-­‐ended  and  flexible  

approaches  to  project  progress  • planning  for  future  work.  

 Practitioners  continue  to  use  ORIM  to  develop  practice:  • Incorporating  ORIM  into  a  school  

strategic  plan  for  family  involvement  in  learning.    

• Literacy  home  visits  using  ORIM  to  support  transition  into  school.    

• Regular  family  literacy  workshops  .  • Whole  team  development  to  

promote  family  involvement.  • Collaboration  to  extend  ORIM  to  

other  areas,  e.g.  environmental  artwork,  maths,  play.  

 The  20  project  practitioners  have  shared  ORIM  with  some  300  other  practitioners  and  6,000  families.  

School  of  Education,  University  of  Sheffield    388  GLOSSOP  ROAD,  Sheffield  S10  2JA,    http://www.real-­‐online.group.shef.ac.uk/framework.html  

Professor  Cathy  Nutbrown  

New  uses    of    ORIM  

Project  processes  

A  Framework  for  Early  Literacy  

Development  with  Parents    

Opportunities,  Recognition,  

Interaction  and  Models  

   

 

 

 

 

1

The  ORIM  framework  is  the  central,  original  concept  of  the  Raising  Early  Achievement  in  Literacy  ‘REAL’  Project  at  the  School  of  Education,  University  of  Sheffield.    

ORIM  focuses  attention  on  four  roles  that  parents  can  play  in  their  children’s  early  literacy  development:  providing  Opportunities,  showing  Recognition,  sharing  Interaction  and  acting  as  Models.      

ORIM  is  key  to  the  most  recent  project,  A  Framework  for  Early  Literacy  Development  with  Parents,  which  has  involved  a  new  group  of  twenty  early  years  practitioners  working  with  children  under  five  in  a  range  of  contexts.      

2

Key  aspects  of  early  literacy  are  given  attention  in  the  Framework:  Environmental  Print,  Books,  Early  Writing  and  aspects  of  Oral  Language.    

Project  practitioners  have  shared  ORIM  and  ideas  about  how  families  can  support  their  children’s  literacy  with  some  300  other  early  childhood  practitioners.      

They    have  worked  with  an  estimated  total  of  6,000  families  in  different  parts  of  the  country  (Dewsbury,  East  Sussex,  Leicestershire,  London,  Mansfield,  Peterborough,  Sheffield,  and  Tamworth).    

'How  can  practitioners  in  early  years  settings  make  meaningful  use  of  the  ORIM  framework  to  

support  their  work  with  parents  to  promote  early  literacy  development?  '  

Adapting  ORIM  

The  project  involved  twenty  practitioners  who  used  and  adapted  the  ORIM  framework.  In  so  doing  the  practitioners  used  ORIM      

• to  extend  their  existing  family  literacy  practices  

• to  initiate  such  practices,  where  this  was  new  to  them  

• to  try  the  ideas  in  relation  to  new  areas  of  work.    

 

©  University  of  Sheffield  2012