Olena joined Nursery in January. She was quiet, watchful, and rarely spoke. When invited to tell a Helicopter Story, she simply shook her head.

That pattern continued for weeks. Then Anna arrived, another child from Ukraine. Anna spoke more English and quickly became Olena’s best friend. With Anna beside her, Olena began to find her voice. She began to play. And soon, she was ready to tell her first story.

“Dinosaur. Mummy. Daddy is a dinosaur.”

We couldn’t understand every word she said, even with Anna’s help. Some parts of her story remained unclear, but Olena didn’t seem to mind, not at first. She chose to be the dinosaur and acted it out with joy.

But as the weeks passed, the stories she dictated remained difficult to follow. After one session, her face fell when she realised we hadn’t fully understood. She had something to say. We just weren’t hearing it yet.

That’s when we introduced Story Communication Mats, a tool with simple picture prompts: Characters, Actions, and Settings.

When we laid them out in front of her and asked, “Who is in your story?” Olena’s expression lit up. She pointed to the unicorn and fairy. Then she chose what they were doing and where they were. Her story came together, combining gestures, pictures, and a few carefully chosen words.

She was so proud. Nodding enthusiastically as the story was read back to her, it was as if she were reassuring us, “Yes, that’s it. You’ve got it.”

When she acted out the story, she played the unicorn. Anna, her fairy. Together they flew across the stage, inside a world Olena had imagined. It was the happiest we’d seen her.

What we saw that day wasn’t just a child learning to speak English. It was a child discovering how to communicate meaningfully on her own terms.

With the right support, Olena’s story became clear. And through the flexibility of Helicopter Stories, we finally heard what she’d been trying to say.

Olena’s Journey

As a result of using Helicopter Stories, Olena:

• Gained the confidence to begin storytelling through play
• Used a combination of gestures, pictures, and words to communicate
• Took ownership of her stories with pride and clarity
• Deepened social connection through collaborative role play
• Discovered a meaningful way to express herself in a new language