Explain how multi agency teams work together to support speech, language and communication.The term 'multi-agency teams' refers to the groups of professionals from different

organisations or 'agencies' who work together to support children through various

difficulties or challenges. These organisations may be health or social services-

based, or they may be related to other specialisms. There may be a variety of

professionals present at a multi-agency meeting, because the combined sum of their

skills and knowledge is considered to be the best way to support the child.

The contribution of support staff into these meetings is quite important, because

often they know the children relatively well, especially compared to the professionals

listed below who may only visit the school a few times each year. The meetings are

called in order to discuss and plan for the needs of individual pupils, and to set

progress targets for them into the school year. Review meetings are then called later

in the year, on a regular basis, to ensure that the pupils are monitored and that all

agencies are communicating with each other.

Mutli-agency teams

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School support services

Support staff

Sometimes you may be asked to work alongside another classroom assistant or

support worker, perhaps because a particular child may have a special learning

programme that requires a bit of extra support. You should always try to ensure that

communication between you and other support staff enables you all to support the

pupil well, and that you share relevant information with each other. This can be done

through regular meetings before or after a session with the pupil.

SENCO

It is part of the SENCO's role to coordinate the various professionals who work to

support a particular child – and there may be lots of different people involved with

different pupils, so this may be a big job. The SENCO also makes sure that all the

admin is up to date, and that appointments are booked when they should be. The

SENCO also liaises between agencies and individual professionals, and can call

meetings for progress reviews.

Local educational authority (LEA)

Sensory support

Pupils who are hearing- or visually-impaired do have specific communication

difficulties that should be addressed by the school. In order to help with this, the local

authority supplies a teacher who is a specialist in sensory support and this person

will visit the school regularly. Sometimes they also supply pupils with resources to

help them learn more easily, and they are likely to attend multi-agency meetings as

part of their support and monitoring.

Autism advisory teacher

Autism is a condition that affects children's ability to communicate and interact

socially. An autism advisory teacher is a specialist who will be able to advise

teachers and support staff on the best way to work with autistic individuals, and

especially in the area of communication.

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Educational psychologist

Pupils who continue to struggle with communication and language even after

interventions are provided by SLTs may be referred to be assessed by an

educational psychologist. They usually suggest activities and additional steps that

can be taken for individual pupils to improve their learning progress.

Health service

Speech and language therapists (SLTs)

If there is a lot of need for SLTs in a school, they may be based in an office there, but

otherwise, the school will have one or more SLTs who come to assess children for

speech and language issues. They will normally provide a diagnosis following

assessment, and will then either offer interventions, including exercises for the child

to do in between appointments, or advise school and parents about the best way to

support the child.

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