- Home
- Organising work with parents
- Environmental Print
- Books
- Writing
- Oral Language
- Other ways of using ORIM
- About the REAL project
ESRC Award
At an Awards Ceremony in London on 14th May, Professor Cathy Nutbrown was presented with the ESRC Award for research which had an Outstanding Impact in Society (research that has made a contribution benefiting society more widely or a specific group of the public) for her Framework for Early Literacy Development with Parents project.
ESRC video "Outstanding Impact in Society: Professor Cathy Nutbrown".
ORIM Network News
Launch of ORIM Network
Free training days available from June 2013.
The Early Childhood Unit (ECU) at the National Children's Bureau has developed training based on its successful partnership project with the University of Sheffield, and Oldham and Sheffield local authorities. Funding from the DfE National Prospectus Grant (2013-2015) will enable a national roll out of free training. Bookings will begin mid-April. Click here for more details.
What is the REAL project?
The Sheffield REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) Project began in 1995 and was the largest preschool literacy intervention study in the UK. Central to the REAL project programme was the ORIM (Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction, Model) Framework. It is designed to think about ways in which families can help children’s early literacy development.
This website provides:
- Information about the ORIM framework.
- Examples of using ORIM with families.
- Things which those who work with families can do to help parents of young children promote their early literacy development in home and community contexts.
It includes original materials from the project developed in 1997 and work carried out since.
What is the ORIM framework?
The ORIM framework is based around parents providing four things for their children: Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Models of literacy (Parents’ roles in children’s literacy development). It also focuses attention on four key strands of literacy: environmental print, books, early writing and aspects of oral language (ORIM: A framework for practice).
Finding Resources
Use the links at the top of the page or the grid below to find resources.
Acknowledgements
Many of the materials on this site were developed in the REAL project funded jointly by the University of Sheffield, the Sheffield Local Authority and the Nuffield Foundation.
Photos and many ideas for current practice have been supplied by the National Children’s Bureau as part of ongoing development work ‘Making it REAL’ in partnership with the University of Sheffield School of Education, funded by the Big Lottery, and by practitioners on the project ‘A Framework for Early Literacy Development with Parents: Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Models’, funded by the ESRC.
The website was funded by the University of Sheffield HEIF4 Knowledge Transfer funding.
Webdesign: Paul Jinks
Content management: Cathy Nutbrown and Julia Bishop