SLC Toolkit for Schools [Feb 2020]- FINAL · The toolkit is a guide to the whole process of supporting SLC skills within ... category of ‘communication and interaction’. However,

March2020

Speech,LanguageandCommunicationToolkitforSchools|Version1–March2020 Backgroundinformation

2

Contents

Background 3Welcometothetoolkit 4Section1:Introductiontothetoolkit 51.1 Universal,targetedandspecialistsupport 61.2 TheSENDCodeofPractice 71.3 ImportanceofSLCforotherareasofdevelopment 81.4 SLCattheheartofeveryaspectofyourschool 91.5 SharingthepriorityofSLCwithfamilies 10Section2:Identifying&planningsupportforSLCN 112.1 FactorstoconsiderwhenidentifyingSLCN 12-132.2 Usingtheprogressiontools 142.3 SENsupport 152.4 Assess-plan-do-reviewcycle 162.5Person-centredoutcomes 17-182.6ParticipationofCYPandparentssettingoutcomes 19

Section3:Outcomes&resources 203.1 Universalsupport 213.1.1 Physicalenvironment 223.1.2 Highqualityclassroomtalk 23-243.1.3 Vocabularyteaching 253.1.4 Adultuseoflanguage 263.2 Targetedsupport 273.2.1 Understandingspokenlanguage 28-303.2.2 Understandingandusingvocabulary 31-323.2.3 Sentences 33-343.2.4 Storytelling&narrative 35-363.2.5 Speech 37-383.2.6 Socialinteraction 39-403.2.7 Adviceforrunninginterventons 413.3 Specialistsupport 423.3.1 Whentorefertospecialistservices 433.3.2 Decisionmakingchartfollowingtargetedsupport 443.3.3 Whatdowemeanbyfunctionalimpact? 453.3.4 Collatinginformationforonwardreferrals 46

Section4:Appendix 474.1 FAQ’s 48-504.2 SLCNdiagnoses/labels 51-544.3 Readingabilitiesdiagram 554.4 Linkstoorganisations&publishedreports 564.5 Tools 574.5.1 TalkingMats 584.5.2 SLCNindicatorschecklist 59-604.5.3 EALvsSLCNindicatorschecklist 61-63


3

Background

WhereitbeganThedevelopmentofthetoolkitstartedwithCentralBedfordshireSchoolForumreleasingfundsforearlyinterventionprojects.Bydefinition,earlyinterventionmeansidentifyingneedattheearliestopportunityandprovidingsupportattherightlevel.Therehasbeensomegreatworkinsupportingchildrenandyoungpeople(CYP)intheearlyyears.However,asrecognisedintheBercow:TenYearsOnreport(2018)“Thegoodworkthathashappenedforyoungerchildrenneedstohappenforolderchildrentoo”.Schoolsaskedforsupportwithregardstohowtohelppupilswithspeechandlangaugecommunicationneeds(SLCN)andthisbecameoneoftheprojects.Yousaid,welistened,wedid…..ParentsandschoolswerebecomingincreasinglyfrustratedwithnotbeingabletoeasilyaccesssupportforCYPwithSLCN.Thisreflectedtheservicemodelbeingtooheavilyfocusedonthespecialistlevelandnotenoughfocusontheuniversalandtargetedlevelsofsupport.InresponsetoschoolswantingtoknowhowtheycouldbettersupportCYPwithSLCNintheirschool,wehavedevelopedthistoolkitwhichsitswithinawidertrainingmodel.Thetoolkitandtrainingmodelarebuiltontheevidencebaseandwhatweknowtobegoodpraticefromtheliterature.InpartnershipwithBedfordandLutonThetoolkithasbeendevelopedinpartnershipwithBedfordBoroughCouncilandLutonCouncil.Asaresultoftheircommitment,wehavebeenabletoextendtheuseofthistoolkitacrossmoreschools.Withdifferentorganisationsworkingtogetherbetter,moreCYPwillgetthesupporttheyneed(Bercow,2018).NHSPadiatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshireworkwithCYPacrossallthreelocalauthoritiessojointpartnershipandvisionisevenmorepivotal.

Co-productionwithprofessionalsThistoolkithasbeenco-producedwithacoregroupofprofessionalsacrosshealthandeducationincluding:EducationalpsychologistsSENDCosSpeechandlanguagetherapists(SaLT)ThetoolkithasalsobeenthroughanengagementprocesswithotherteamswithintheSENDservice,YOSandSNAPparentcarerforum.AlltogetherThedevelopmentofthistoolkitwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthecommitmentandvisionfromCentralBedforshireCouncil,BedfordBoroughCouncil,LutonCouncilandNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire.Weareproudtobeworkingtogether–throughaPANBedsapproach,todevelopthistoolkitandawidervisionforspeech,languageandcommunication(SLC)support.ThisensuresalevelofconsistencyacrossthecountyforourCYP.

“Thegoodworkthathashappenedforyoungerchildrenneedstohappenforolderchildrentoo”.Bercow:TenYearsOn(2018)


4

WelcometothetoolkitWhyatoolkit?TheaimofthistoolkitistoprovideschoolswithinformationandresourcesrelatedtoSLC.WehopeitwillgiveyouastrongknowledgebaseandtheconfidencetosupportallpupilstodevelopthenecessarySLCskillstosucceedinlife.Thetoolkitisacentralresourcewhichsitswithinawiderframeworkoftrainingandsupport.Whoshouldusethetoolkit?WerecommendSENDCosusethistoolkitastheyhavealeadroleinco-ordinatingsupportforpupilswithSLCN.However,wewouldencourageyoutoshareitwithothermembersofstaffasappropriate.Thetoolkitwillbemostusefulformainstreamschools.Thetoolkitincludes:ThetoolkitisaguidetothewholeprocessofsupportingSLCskillswithintheschoolenvironment.Here,youcanfindinformationabout:• MakingSLCapriorityinyourschool• HowtoidentifySLCNandplansupport• Strategiesthatcanbeusedwithintheclassroom• Additionaltargetedsupport• Sourcesoffurtherinformation.ThetoolkithasbeendevelopedtositalongsideTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontools.ThisisatoolwhichschoolscanusetohelpidentifyingpupilswithSLCN.Schoolswillneedtopurchasetheprogressiontoolsdirectlyfromtheirwebsite,atalowone-offcost:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/progression-tools-primary/

LayoutofthetoolkitTherearefoursectionstothetoolkit,withanintroductionatthebeginningofeachtoexplainwhatwillbecovered.Youcannavigatethepagesbyclickingontheheadingsinthecontentspage.Lookoutforasummaryofinformationintheboxes.Clickonprofessionaldevelopmentresourcestotakeyoutoexternallinksforfurtherreading.Green,orangeandredcolourshavebeenusedtoshowuniversal,targetedandspecialistlevelsofsupport.

QuickdefinitionsSLC=Speech,languageandcommunication.AllCYPdevelopthesenecessaryskillsaspartoftypicaldevelopment.SLCN=Speech,languageandcommunicationneeds.AnumbrellatermtodescribeCYPwhohavedifficultyinsomeaspectofSLCskillsandwhomayrequireadditionalsupport.SaLT=Speechandlanguagetherapist.Ineducationsettings,alittle‘a’isinsertedintothetitletoavoidconfusionwiththeabbreviationforseniorleadershipteam.CYP=ChildrenandYoungPeople/ChildandYoungPersonCYPwillsometimesbeinterchangedwiththeterm‘pupils’Parents=InlinewiththeSENDCodeofPractice(2014),thetermparentswillbeusedwhichincludesallthosewithparentalresponsibility(parentsandthosewhocareforthechild).

Keymessages

Section1:Introductiontothetoolkit Speech,LanguageandCommunicationToolkitforSchools|Version1–March2020

5

Section1:IntroductiontothetoolkitThissectionofthetoolkitwillsetthesceneforsupportingSLCskillswithinschools.Itwillgiveyouanunderstandingofhowimportanttheseskillsare,thelevelsofsupportneededbydifferentpupilsandhowtomakeSLCapriorityinyourschool.


6

1.1Universal,targetedandspecialistsupportTheBercowreport(2008),identifiedthatCYPshouldbesupportedacrossthreelevels–universal,targetedandspecialist.TheSENDreforms(2014)statethatallchildrenwithSLCN(withorwithoutEHCplans)shouldbesupportedinschoolsandthereshouldbeaninclusiveapproachtopractice.HereweexplainwhateachlevelmeansandwhatitlookslikeforCYPwithinschool.

UniversalLevel–allpupilsshouldhavesupporttodevelopSLCskillswithintheclassroomandschoolsettingaspartofgoodpractice.Sometimes,itisreferredtoas‘qualityfirstteaching’or‘wholeschoolapproaches’.Thislevelshouldalsoenableeffectiveearlyidentificationofpupilswhomaybestruggling.ThismaybeknownasWave1inschools.TargetedLevel–forsomepupilsrequiringadditionalsupport,whenaneedisidentified.Pupilsmaybeincludedinindividualorgroupinterventions.ThismaybeknownasWave2inschools.SpecialistLevel–afewpupilsmayrequirespecialistsupportinordertomakeprogress.Pupillsarelikelytobeknowntothespeechandlanguagetherapyserviceandreceivesupportintheformofanassessment,advice/recommendationsorintervention.ThismaybeknownasWave3inschools.

10% of pupils have long-term, peristent SLCN and may need specialist support to make progress

50% of pupils have identified SLCN in some areas of deprivation and may need targeted support

100% — All pupils benefit from universal good practice in the classroom to develop these crucial skills

PupilsSLCNshouldbeidentifiedattheearliestopportunityandsupportshouldbegivenattherightlevel.It’simportanttorecognisethatnotallpupilswithSLCNwillrequirespecialistprovision.Equally,thelevelsofprovisionarenotmutuallyexclusive.Forexample:• Pupilsattargetedor

specialistlevel–willalwaysrequireuniversalsupporte.g.stafftoadapttheirlanguageandusevisualsupportwithintheclassroominorderforpupilstoaccessthecurriculum.

• Pupilsatspecialistlevelmayalsorequiresometargetedsupporte.g.smallgroupinterventions.

Thistoolkitwillhelpyouidentifywhichlevelofsupportapupilneedsandhowtosupportthem.

AdaptedfromTheCommunicationTrust‘CrackingtheCode’

Keymessages


7

QuickdefinitionsSLCNisanabbreviationforSpeech,languageandcommunication• Speech–sounds,voice,intonation&fluency.• Language–understanding(receptivelanguage)andtalking(expressivelanguage).Includesvocabulary

andgrammaticalstructures.• Communication–howweshareinformationandinteractwithotherpeople.Includesnon-verbal

communication(e.g.gestures,eye-contact,bodylanguage)andconversationalrules.

Professionaldevelopmentresources:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/600981/ite_resource_1.pdf

1.2TheSENDCodeofPracticeSpecialEducationalNeeds&DisabilityCodeofPractice:0-25years

TherearefourbroadareasofneedasdescribedintheSENDCodeofPractice(2014).SLCNfallsunderthecategoryof‘communicationandinteraction’.However,thesebroadareasofneedarenotdefinitive;andtheSENDCodeofPractice(2014)recognisesthatindividualchildrenoftenhaveneedsacrossalloftheseareasandthattheseneedsmaychangeovertime.Itisalsoclearthatthepurposeofidentificationistoworkoutwhatactionisneeded,nottofitachildintoacategory.

Thecommunicationtrustreport‘Don’tgetmewrong’identifiedthatsomegroupsofCYPareatanincreasedriskofSLCN,including:• Pupilswithdyslexia• Pupilswithdyspraxia• PupilswithADHD• Pupilswithemotionaland

behaviouraldisorders

Furthermore,inanotherreport‘Agenerationadrift’,thecommunicationtrustidentifiedthatsomeCYPwithSLCNcanbe:• Missed–Withoutpolicy

andpracticethatenablesconsistentidentificationofallchildrenwithSLCN.

• Misinterpreted–BecauseSLCNcanbedifficulttospotwhenthereareassociatedacademic,emotionalandbehaviouraldifficulties.

• Misunderstood–Whensupportisprovidedbydiagnosisorcategory,ratherthanprofilingandmonitoringneeds.

Keymessages


8

1.3ImportanceofSLCforotherareasofdevelopmentSpeech,languageandcommunicationskillsunderpinotherareasofdevelopment.Forexample,languageisthevehicleforlearningandvocabularyisastrongpredictorofeducationalattainment.

LearningLearningisoftenasocialandinteractiveprocess.Forexample,informationfromtheteacherisreceivedverbally,andpupilsareencouragedtoexpresstheirideasinwholeclassorgroupdiscussions.

Vocabulary-Vocabularyisimportantforunderstandingkeyconceptsinsubjects,suchas‘multiply’inmathsand‘osmosis’inscience.Pupilswillneedtounderstandandusevocabularyinordertoextendtheirlearning.Itisimportanttoremember,thatacademiclanguagediffersfromconversationallanguage.

Literacyskills(reading&writing)-Therearemanyskillsneededforreading&writing,includinggoodspokenlanguageskillsandphonologicalawareness.SeethereadingmodelbasedonSnowlingandStackhouse(1996)inappendix.

BehaviourBehaviourcanbeaformofcommunication.

Higherlevellanguageskillsarealsovitalforthinkingandreasoning.Forexample,toproblemsolve,makepredictionsandconsideranotherperson’sperspective.

SocialdevelopmentSpeech,languageandcommunicationskillsunderpinallofourinteractions.Forexample,weneedtoshareourexperiences,interpretnon-verbalcuesandrespondtoeverchangingsocialdynamics.

EmotionaldevelopmentVocabularyisvitalforbeingabletounderstand,recogniseandexpressourownemotionsaswellasotherpeople’s.Emotionalvocabularygoesbeyondthebasic‘happy’and‘sad’descriptions,forexample‘proud’,‘content’and‘hurt’.It’sbecomingincreasinglyimportantforpupilstobeabletomanageandself-regulateemotions.

IfachildhasSLCN,confidence,self-esteem,empathyandresiliencecanallbeimpacted.


9

SchoolLeadership WorkforceDevelopment

Promotehighqualityclassroomtalkanduniversalstrategies

EffectiveearlyidentificationofSLCN

1.4SLCattheheartofeveryaspectofyourschoolAsyouhaveseen,SLCskillsarevitalforpupilstosucceedinlife.AllpupilsneedtodevelopSLCskills,withCYPrequiringdifferentlevelsofsupporttoachievethis.ItisthereforeimportantforschoolstoconsiderhowtheycanmakeSLCapriorityintheirschool.Herearesomeprinciplestowardsachievingthis.

Headteachersandseniorleadershipteamarevitalformakingsuccessfulchangestowholeschoolapproachesandpolicies.

Professionaldevelopmentresourceshttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/31961/tct_genadrift.pdfhttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/526748/1._tct_workforce_development_report_final_online.pdf

OnlyathirdofstafffeelveryconfidentinsupportingSLCdevelopmentwhichreflectsalackofinitialtraining.

Lessonsareoftendominatedbyteachertalkwhichrarelyimprovesspokenlanguageskillsorenhanceslearning.

PolicyandpracticeisneededtoenableconsistentidentificationofallchildrenwithSLCN.


10

1.5SharingthepriorityofSLCwithfamiliesConsiderinvitingparentsintoschooltosharetheschool’spriorityforSLC.Parentswillbeinterestedtoknow:• MilestonesfortypicalSLCdevelopmentandtheimportanceoftheseskills• WhattheschooldoestosupportSLC• Howtheycanhelpandsupporttheirchild’sSLCathome.Themajorityofachild’sschoolyear(includingholidays)arespentathomeorinthewidercommunity.So,it’simportantforparentsandschooltoworktogether.

InformationshouldbesharedwithparentsabouthowtheschoolpromotesandsupportsSLCskills,including:• reasonswhytheschoolisfocusingondevelopingSLC

skills.Forexample,linkswithliteracyandacademicachievement.

• theprocessesformonitoringandassessingpupil’sSLCskills.Forexample,thismayincludeassessingallpupilsusingtheprogressiontoolsuponentryintoschool.

• wholeschoolapproachesandwhytheyareused.Forexample,thismayincludeusingvisuals,carefulplanningofteachingvocabulary,orusingtalkwithintheclassroom.Considerinvitingparentsintotheclassroomtoobservewhatyoudo.

• additionaltargetedsupportwithinschool.Forexample,thismayincludeinterventionsforpupilswhoneedadditionalsupportforashortperiodoftime.

Atschool Athome

Parentshaveanimportantroleinsupportingtheirchild’sSLCskills.Parentsneedtoknow:• whattoexpectintermsofSLCdevelopment• howtheycansupporttheirchild’sSLCathome,forexample:

o UsingeverydayactivitiesandroutinesasopportunitiestosupportSLCskills.

o Makingtimetotalkwitheachotherwheredistractionsareminimised.

o Explainingvocabularyandphrasesthatthechilddoesnotunderstand.

o TryingsimpleactivitiesathomewhichspecificallyfocusonSLCskills.

Parentinformationleaflets:https://www.afasic.org.uk/resources/free-downloads/schools-and-learning/

It’simportantforCYPtohavecommunication

supportiveenvironmentsbothatschooland

athome.

Section2:Identifying&planningsupportforSLCN Speech,LanguageandCommunicationToolkitforSchools|Version1–March2020

11

AnyprocedureforidentifyingSENshouldbestatedintheschool’spolicy,includingtheuseofchecklistsandprogressiontools.It’simportantforallstafftohaveanawarenessoftypicalSLCdevelopmentandtolookoutforpupilswhomaybestruggling.Remember,SLCNmaynotbeasobviousastheeffects.Pupilsmayhaveassociatedacademic,emotionalorbehaviouraldifficulties.

Keymessages

Section2:IdentifyingandplanningsupportforSLCNUnderidentificationofSLCNisstillaprominentissue(Bercow,2018).ThissectionofthetoolkitwillcoverhowtoidentifySLCN,includingtherangeoftoolsthatareavailableforschoolstouse.Oneofthesetools,isTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolswhichhelpsschoolstospecificallyidentifywhichareasofSLCpupilsarestrugglingwithandwhatlevelofsupporttheyneed.Theseareavailabletopurchasedirectlyfromtheirwebsite.Wewillalsodiscusshowidentificationfitsintothegraduatedresponsethroughan‘Assess-Plan-Do-Review’cycle.AswellashowtoplansupportforpupilswithSLCN,includingSENDsupportplansandoutcomes.


12

2.1FactorstoconsiderwhenidentifyingSLCNHearing

HearingiscriticalforthedevelopmentofSLCskills.Thetwomaintypesofhearinglossinclude:

• Sensorineuralhearingloss-damagetotheinnerear(e.g.cochlear).Thisisapermanenthearingloss.• Conductivehearingloss-soundwhichcan’tpassefficientlythroughtheouterandmiddleear.Oftencausedbyblockagessuchaswaxorglueear

(abuild-upoffluid).Itisusuallytemporary;however,itcanbepermanentinsomecases.

Itisalsopossibletohavebothtypes–knownasamixedhearingloss.Deafnesscanoccurineitherone(unilateral)orboth(bilateral)ears.Ifthereareanyconcernsregardingachild’shearing,considerareferraltoaudiologyforahearingtest.

Professionaldevelopmentresources:https://www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/

Overalllevelofdevelopment

ACYPmayhaveSLCNaspartofawiderdevelopmentaldelayorspecialeducationalneed.Ifthisisthecase,itisimportanttolookattheirgenerallearningprofile.Wemayexpecttheirlanguageskillstobeinlinewiththerestoftheirdevelopment.Tomakethesejudgements,considerusingassessmentscreens(e.g.progressiontools)andtypicaldevelopmentnorms(e.g.universallyspeaking)whichareclosertotheCYP’sdevelopment.

Workingmemory

Workingmemoryistheabilitytotemporarilyholdinformationinourmindswhilstmanipulatingit.Informationcanbelostfromworkingmemoryiftherearedistractions,ifthereistoomuchinformationorifthetaskistoodemanding.Ifinformationislostfromworkingmemory,itcannotberetrieved.

Workingmemoryhasasignificantimpactonlearningacrossthecurriculumandwithinsocialopportunities.PoorworkingmemorycapacitycanbeseeninarangeofpupilsincludingthosewithDLD,dyslexia,ASDandADHD.EALpupilsmayalsotemporarilyhavegreaterdemandsontheirworkingmemoryastheyarecopingwithunfamiliarvocabularyandgrammar.

Professionaldevelopmentresources:https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WM-classroom-guide.pdf


13

Professionaldevelopmentresources:EALbestpracticecasestudies:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/eal-case-studies/Examplesofinteractionstrategies:https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/Understanding%20the%20Stages%20of%20Learning%20for%20Children%20with%20EAL.pdfEALtoolkitanduseofTA’stosupportEALstudents:https://literacytrust.org.uk/(someoftheseresourcesareformembersonly)

WhatyoucandotosupportpupilswithEAL:• Encourageparentstospeaktotheirchild

intheirhomelanguage.Thisbuildsafirmfoundationforlearninganadditionallanguagee.g.English.

• Considercarefulplacementofchildrenwith

EALwithintheclassroome.g.sittingnexttoaproficientspeakerorabuddysystem.

• PupilswhoarenewtoEnglishmay

experienceashort‘silentperiod’.Involvetheminactivitiesandcommentonwhattheyaredoing.Butavoidputtingpressureonthemtospeak.

KeymessagesEnglishasanAdditionalLanguage(EAL)

Thefacts:

• LearningmorethanonelanguagedoesnotcauseSLCN.• PupilswithEALareatnogreaterriskofSLCN.

However,weknowitcanbedifficultforschoolstoidentifySLCNinEALpupils.UsetheEALvsSLCNindicatorschecklistintheappendix.

WhatistypicalforEALpupils?

Itistypicalforpupilstomixwordsfrombothlanguages(codeswitch)andinitiallymakegrammaticalerrors,forexamplewithpasttense.

IfapupilisnewtoEnglish,itcantakeupto2yearsforthemtolearnbasiclanguage(e.g.fordailyconversations)andupto5-7yearstodevelopmorecomplexlanguage(e.g.foracademicpurposes).


14

LevelofsupportTheprogressiontoolswillhelpyoutoidentifywhatlevelofsupportthepupilneeds,usingtheRAGratingsystem.• Green=Thepupil’sSLCskillsaredevelopinginlinewith

theirdevelopment.TheywouldbenefitfromuniversalsupporttocontinuedevelopingtheirSLCskills.

• Amber=ThepupilhasidentifiedSLCN.Theywouldbenefitfromadditionaltargetedsupportinschool,intheformofeitherindividualorsmallgroupinterventions.

• Red=ThepupilhasSLCNthatmayrequirespecialist

support.Discussionandconsentshouldtakeplacewithparentsandareferralmadetospecialistservicesfollowinglocalprocedures.

StrategiesandinterventionsIncludedinthetoolkitisasectiononstrategiesandinterventions.Atuniversallevelthisincludesstrategiestosupportacommunicationfriendlyenvironmentbyconsidering:• physicalspace• highqualityclassroomtalk• vocabularyteaching• adultuseoflanguageAttargetedlevelthisincludesspecificstrategies,publishedprogrammesandresourcesrelatedtotheareaofSLCNidentifiedintheprogressiontool.

2.2UsingtheprogressiontoolsTheprogressiontools,producedbyTheCommunicationTrust,areeasytouseandareusefulforspecificallyidentifyingwhichareasofSLCthepupilisstrugglingwith.Theyshouldbeusedalongsideothersourcesofinformation,tobuildacomprehensivepictureoftheCYP’sabilities.Whentousetheprogressiontools?Theprogressiontoolscaneitherbeusedasabaselinemeasurefor thewholeclass/yeargroup,orasatargetedscreenforindividualpupilswhenaconcernarises.Theprogressiontoolscanberepeated(afteratleastaterm)tomeasurepupil’sprogress.Whatdotheprogressiontoolsassess?Theprogressiontoolscover6areasofSLCskillsincluding:• Understandingspokenlanguage• Understandingandusingvocabulary• Sentences• Storytelling&narrative• Speech• Socialinteraction Professionaldevelopmentresources:WerecommendyouwatchthisfreevideoproducedbyTheCommunicationTrustonhowtousetheprogressiontools:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/how-to-use-the-progression-tools-video/Topurchasetheprogressiontools,pleasevisit:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/progression-tools-primary/


15

Toptipsfortalkingtoparentsabouttheirchild’sSLC:• Empathyandunderstandingbeforeadvice–itisimportanttoopenlylistenandacknowledgeparents’viewsandconcerns.Besensitivetothe

factthatsomeparentsmaynothaveanyconcernsatall.CYPmayalsopresentdifferentlyatschoolcomparedtoathome.• Includepositives–letparentsknowwheretheirchildisdoingwell,aswellaswheretheymaybestruggling.• Behonestaboutconcernsandgiveexamples–supportwhatyouaresayingwithexamples.• Besolutionfocussed–includepositivestatementse.g.‘yourchildneedsto....’ratherthan‘yourchildcan’t....’.• Allowtimetodigest–Besensitivetothefactthatsomeparentswillneedtimetoprocessthattheirchildishavingdifficultyinsomeaspectof

SLCskills.Letparentsknowwhentheycancomeandspeaktoyouagain(open-doorpolicy)orscheduleafollowupmeeting.

Professionaldevelopmentresource:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/professional-development/a-professional-development-video-talking-to-parents/

2.3SENsupportSENsupportmaybeneededwhenaCYPisnotmakingprogressdespitehighqualityteachingatuniversallevel.TheSENDCodeofPractice(2014)statesthatwhenaCYPrequiresSENsupport,thisshouldtaketheformofafour-partcycleof‘Assess-Plan-Do-Review’(seediagramnextpage).Thisisknownasthe“graduatedresponse”.

WhenmightanEHCneedsassessmentbenecessary?

• WhenaCYPfailstomakeprogressdespite“relevantandpurposefulaction”• WhereaCYPdemonstratessignificantdifficultiesanditisclearthatanEHCneedsassessmentmaybenecessaryfromthestart.

Professionaldevelopmentresource:http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/362431/ctc-6-schools.pdfhttps://www.rcslt.org/-/media/Project/RCSLT/childrens-families-act-guidance.pdf

CYPandparentsatthecentre

ItisimportanttoputtheCYPandtheirparentsatthecentreoftheworkthatyoudo,ensuringthatateachstageoftheprocessthereiseffectiveparticipation.Thisincludeshavingearlyconversationstodiscussneedsanddesiredoutcomes,sharingwhatiscurrentlyworkingwell(bothatschoolandhome)andkeepingtheminformedofprogress.


16

Bealert• Schoolassessments• Observations• SLCNindicatorschecklist

(Seeappendix)

SENDsupportplanRecordinformationonyourlocalauthoritySENDsupportplan(Seeappendix)

UseschoolexpertiseLiaisewithyourschoolsCommunicationChampionTeam

InvestigatefurtherUsetheprogressiontoolstoinvestigateSLCskillsinmoredetail(Seeappendix)

Reflect• Arethereotherfactorsto

consider?(Seesection2.1)• Checkobservations/

informationagainsttypicaldevelopmentalnorms(Seeappendix)

PutthesupportintoplaceRefertotargetedsupportadvice(Seesection3.3)

Considerallenvironments&additionallanguagesEALvsSLCNchecklist(Seeappendix)

DecidethelevelofsupportneededUseinformationfromtheprogressiontools(RAGsystem)alongsideotherobservations&information(Seesection2.2)

Setappropriateoutcomes• Outcomesshouldbe

relevant,functionalandmeaningful.(Seesection2.5)

• ParticipationofparentsandCYP(Seesections2.5)

PlanthesupportandprovisionneededRefertotargetedsupportadvice(Seesection3.3)

CloselymonitorReviewingprogressshouldbeanongoingprocess,ratherthananannualevent

2.4Assess-plan-do-reviewcycleAvarietyoftoolsareavailabletosupportschoolsinthe‘assess’partofthecycle(indicatedbynavytextinthediagram).TheseincludechecklistsandTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontools.Somepointsaredescribedinfurtherdetailwithinthetoolkit(indicatedbybluetextinthediagram)

ReviewlevelofsupportResponsetosupportandinterventionwillinformnextsteps(Seesection2.7and3.3.2)


17

ThedifferencebetweenobjectivesandoutcomesTheSENDCodeofPractice(2014)representsachangeintargetsetting.Schoolsusedtoset‘objectives’whichfocusedontheproblemandlinkedtoacademicachievement.NowtheyarerequiredtoinvolveCYPindiscussionsaboutwhattheywantforthefuture.

TheSENDCodeofPractice(2014)definesanoutcomeas“thebenefitordifferencemadetoanindividualasaresultofanintervention”.ItshouldcapturewhatisimportanttotheCYPnowandhowthiswillbeimportanttotheminthefuture.Itisthenuptoallthoseinvolvedtothinkhowbesttoachievethis.

CYPoftenwanttoseeimprovementinthefollowingareas:• Friendships• Understandingandmanagingemotions• HowotherpeopletalktothemandtreatthemParentsoftenvalueoutcomesfortheirchildwhenrelatedto:• Independence• Socialinclusion

Professionaldevelopmentresources:InvolvingchildrenandyoungpeoplewithSLCN:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/601694/involving_children_and_young_people_-_a_brief_guide.pdfEngagingwithparents:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/362425/ctc-4-engagingparents.pdf

AspartoftheSENDreforms(2014)thereisnowastatutorydutytofindoutfromtheCYP:• Whattheirviews,wishes,feelings,interests

andaspirationsare• Whatoutcomesorgoalstheywanttoachieve• Whatsupporttheyneedtodothis

Keymessages

Outcomesshouldbe:• Aspirational• UniquetoeachCYP• Relevant,functionalandmeaningful• SMART(specific,measurable,achievable,

realisticandtimebound).Thismeansprogressagainstthemcanbemeasured.

• Focusedonthelong-termbutbrokendownintosmallerstepsforhowthiscanbebestachieved

OutcomesshouldbemadeforeveryCYPonthespecialeducationneedsregister,whethertheyhaveaneducationandhealthcareplanornot.OutcomesandprovisionshouldberecordedontheSENDsupportplanapplicabletoyourschoolorlocalauthority.

2.5Person-centeredoutcomes


18

Aspirations Needs Outcomes Provision

Startwithhopesandaspirations

Breaklong-termoutcomesintosmallersteps

Planprovisiontohelpachieveoutcomes.

Identifywhattheneedsare

Beingabletochatwithfriendsandfamilyisimportanttome.

Long-term:IcantalkaboutaneventShort-term:Icansequencea3-partsequence

Embeddingstrategiesintotheclassroom:

Adultstorepairconversationsbymodellingbackthesentencee.g.adjustingtheorder.

Adultstousevisualtimetablesandreferenceexplicitlytoeventse.g.“Firstit’smaths,nextit’slunch”.

Targetedsupport:

In1:1sessions,Iwillpractisesequencingphotographsofeventsthatarerelevanttomeintheorderof‘first’,‘next’and‘last’.-Teachlanguagesuchas‘yesterday

IhaveSLCNandfindnarrativeskillsparticularlydifficult

Example:


19

2.6ParticipationofCYPandparentsinsettingoutcomesOneofthekeyprinciplesaspartoftheSENDreforms(2014)istheimportanceofinvolvingtheCYPandparentsinsettingoutcomes.Theywillthereforeneedtobeprovidedwiththeinformationandsupportnecessarytoenablethemtoparticipateindecision-making.

Parentsvoice• Listen(usingtheOARSapproach)–It’simportantforparents

tofeelthattheyarelistenedtoandunderstood.StartbyusingOpenquestionstogiveparentsanopportunitytoexpresstheirconcernsandaspirationsfortheirchild’sfuture.ContinuewithAffirmations,ReflectivelisteningandSummaries.

• Clearinformation–Bemindfulofparents’ownlanguage/literacylevelsandensurediscussionsarejargonfree.

• Jointgoalsetting–Agreeongoalswhichyoucanworktowardstogether.Helpparentstounderstandwhattheirchildisworkingtowardsandwhysothattheycanseethebenefitsforprovidingsupportatschoolandhome.

PupilsvoiceTheverynatureofSLCNmaymakeitchallengingforaCYPtoparticipateeffectivelyifappropriatesupportisnotgiven.Themostimportantprinciplesareto:• AsktheCYPhowtheywantyoutosupportthem• KnowthepupilwellTheadultshouldbeabletofacilitatetheirparticipation,bytakingintoaccounthowthepupilbestcommunicates,makingsureinformationisaccessibleandcheckingtheyhaveunderstood.

Generalstrategies:Strategieswillbeindividualtothepupil,butthefollowingshouldbeconsidered:• Adultuseoflanguage&visualsupport–Somepupilsmayfindithelpfulfor

adultstousesimplelanguage,avoidjargon,buildinpausestogivetimeforprocessingandusevisualsupport.

• Demonstration&practice–Somepupilsmaynothavemuchexperienceofbeinginvolvedinthistypeofdecisionmaking.Theymaythereforefindithelpfultohavedemonstrationsorpractisetheskillsbeforehand.

Specificconsiderations:• Talkingaboutfutureaspirations–Thiscanbeaparticularchallengefor

somepupilswithSLCN.Ifthisisthecase,startbytalkingaboutthenowe.g.whatisgoingwellnowandwhatcouldbebetternow

Professionaldevelopmentresources:DevelopingOutcomes:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/362422/ctc-3-developingoutcomes.pdfInvolvingchildrenandyoungpeoplewithSLCN:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/449470/involving_cyp_with_slcn_toolkit.pdf

Section3:Outcomes&resources Speech,LanguageandCommunicationToolkitforSchools|Version1–March2020

20

Section3:Outcomesandresources

ThissectionofthetoolkitwillcoveruniversalstrategiesforsupportingallpupilstodevelopSLCskills,targetedstrategiesforsomepupilsidentifiedwithSLCNandprocessesforreferringafewpupilstospecialistservices.EvidencebasedpracticeThestrategiesandinterventionsmentionedherearebasedonevidencefromclinicalexpertiseandresearch.Pleasevisitthefollowingdatabasesforuptodateevidence-basedinterventions:• TheCommunicationTrust-WhatWorkshttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/whatworks• EEF-EducationEndowmentFoundationhttps://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/Theremaybeotherprogrammeswhichyouarefamiliarwiththataren’tmentionedbelow.It’simportanttoconsiderwhichaspectsofSLCskillstheytargetandhowstrongtheevidencebaseisfortheseprogrammes.FurtherinformationEachsectionwillcontainlinkstofurthersourcesofinformation.WehaveincludedpagereferencestotheELKLAN‘Languagebuilders’(yellowbook)and‘Secondarylanguagebuilders’(redbook).Thesebooksareavailabletopurchase,ifyouhaven’talreadybeenonanaccreditedELKLANcourse:• https://elklantraining.worldsecuresystems.com/5-11s/language-builders• https://www.elklan.co.uk/11-16s/secondary-language-builders


21

3.1Universalsupport(allpupils)Acommunicationfriendlyenvironmentconsidersboththeclassroomandtheschoolsettingasawhole.Itshouldprovideopportunitiesforeveryonetounderstandandtakepart,inordertosupporttheiracademic,socialandemotionaldevelopment.Thefollowingkeyfeaturesofacommunication-friendlyenvironmentwillbediscussed:

Physicalenvironment

Highqualityclassroomtalk

Vocabularyteaching

Adultuseoflanguage

Thesestrategiessupportthedevelopmentofallpupil’sSLCskillsbutarealsoparticularlybeneficialforpupilswithSLCN.WehaveincludedquotesfrompupilswithSLCN,takenfromtheChildren’sConsultationreport(2018)–theseareindicatedinpurpleitalicse.g.“...talkinghelpsmeunderstand”.


22

3.1.1PhysicalEnvironmentIfyouwouldliketoknowmoreaboutcommunicationfriendlyspaces™,thenvisit:https://elizabethjarman.com/ Space,layoutandseatingarrangementsHowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?Examples:• Theclassroomshouldbearrangedsothatallpupilscanseetheteacher,board,displaysetc.• Payparticularattentiontoseatingarrangementsforpupilswhoneedthegreatestaccess.

Forexample,pupilswithpoorattentionsskillsshouldsitatthefrontofclassorawayfromdistractions.Pupilswithahearinglossshouldbeabletoseetheteacher’sface,particularlyiftheyuselippatterntosupportunderstanding.

• Giveconsiderationtohowpupilsareseatedtosupportgroupworkanddiscussions.• Makesurethattheenvironmentisnottoo‘busy’intermsofcolouranddisplaysto

avoidsensorychaos.

LightandnoiselevelsHowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?Examples:• Beawareofbackgroundlighte.g.fromwindows.• Keepbackgroundnoiseanddistractionstoa

minimumandmanagethisonaconsistentbasis.Bemindfulofnoisefromequipmentandconsidersoftfurnishingtoabsorbsound.

VisualSupport

Whatisit?Theuseofsigns,symbols,pictures,diagrams,objectsandcolour-coding.Italsoincludesnon-verbalcommunicationsuchasnaturalgestures,facialexpressionandbodylanguage.Whyuseit?“Thingsaroundmeinschooltohelplikesymbolsandpictures,itmighthelpyoutolearn”Visualsupportcanhelppupils’understandingby:• Maintainingfocusofattention.• Reducingloadonmemory.• Supportingwrittentextandspokenlanguage.• Condensinginformationorhighlightingkeyideas.HowithelpspupilswithSLCN:CYPwithSLCNparticularlybenefitfromvisualsupport.Forexample,theycanbenefitfromtheextraprocessingtimethatvisualsupportallows.

HowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?Examples:• Uselabelswithphotographsandwordstosupportunderstandingof

location.Forexample,ontrays&cupboardstoshowwhereresourcesarekeptorabovepegstoshowwherechildrenhangtheircoats&bags.

• Inprimaryschools,usevisualtimetablestoshowthestructureofthewholedaye.g.maths,literacy,break.Insecondaryschools,consideradaptingpersonaltimetables,forexamplebyusingcolour(e.g.tocorrespondtothecolourofexercisebookofaparticularsubject)apicture(e.g.torepresentthesubject)oraphotographoftheteacherforeachsubject.

• Usetaskplanstoshowwhatthepupilneedstodoforaparticularactivity.Thiswillhelpsupportindependencebygivingthemstepbystepinstructions.

• Usecolour-codingtoshowthestructureofsentencesandquestions.• Usepromptcardstoteachandreinforcerules.• Usedemonstrationstoexplainnewactivities.


23

TalkforlearningWhatisit?Creatingopportunitiestousediscussionandtalktosupportlearning.Itcantakeplaceineitherwholeclassdiscussionsorsmallgroups.Thetwomaintypesoftalkare:• DialogicTalk-enablespupilstoexploreand

buildupontheirownideasandother’s.Asupportiveenvironmentfortalkingiscreated.Forexample,talkingopportunitiesareequal(e.g.‘nohandsup’policy)andpupilslistentoeachother.Theaimistoachieveacommonunderstanding.

• ExploratoryTalk-enablespupilstolistencriticallybutconstructivelytoeachother’sideas.Reasonsaregiventojustifyanswersifanyviewsarechallenged.Theaimistoreachanagreement.

Whyuseit?Talkingallowspupilstoformulatetheirthoughts,communicatetheirideasandreflectupontheirlearning.Italsohelpsteacherstounderstandandclarifypupilsthinking.

HowithelpspupilswithSLCN:“...talkinghelpsmeunderstand”

HowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?• Questionso Useopenendedquestionso Askprobingquestionssuchas‘how?’and‘why?’tofacilitatedetailedanswersbeyond

re-call.• Extendpupilsthinkingo Encouragedifferencesinopinionsanddifferentviewpoints.o Tentativelyoffersuggestionswherenecessaryandsignpostachangeoftopic

e.g.“haveyouthoughtabout….?”or“haveyouconsidered….?”.• Givepupilsopportunitiestotalko Validateeffortsfromclassroomdiscussions.o Setexpectationsandrulesforclassroomtalk.o Allowsufficienttimeforfeedbackfollowinggroupwork.o Considerhowpupilsareseatedintheclassroomdependingontheformat

ofdiscussion.

Workingwithparents:Parentscanbeencouragedtogivetheirchildtimetotalktothem.Theycanstartbyaskingopenquestionslike“tellmesomethingyoulikedabouttoday?”andgiveeveryoneinthefamilyaturntotalke.g.atmealtimes.

Formoreinformation,pleasevisit:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/267029/strategies_for_every_classroom-_classroom_talk.pdf

3.1.2HighqualityclassroomtalkHighqualityclassroomtalkfacilitatesspokenlanguageskills(sometimesreferredtoas‘oracy’skills).Researchindicatesthattheseskillsarejustasimportantasreadingandwritingskillsandrequireexplicitteachingandpractice.Ifyouwouldliketoknowmore,thenvisitthefollowingwebsites:

• https://languageresearch.cambridge.org/images/Language_Research/CambridgePapers/CambridgePapersInELT_Oracy_2018.pdf

• http://www.nsead.org/downloads/Effective_Questioning&Talk.pdf

•

• https://www.esu.org/oracy/• https://literacytrust.org.uk/


24

‘Thinkingtime’ruleWhatisit?Allowingpupilsmoretimetoansweraquestion.Theteachermaywaitupto10secondsbetweensettingthequestionandrequiringananswer.Italsolinkstothe‘nohandsup’ruleand‘talkingpartners’.Whyuseit?Researchshowsthatincreasingwaittimeincreasesthelengthofresponsesandparticipationfromlessablestudents.Italsodecreasedthenumberof“Idon’tknow”ornoresponses.HowithelpspupilswithSLCN:“peopletalkingwhenI’mthinking–that’snotgood”CYPwithSLCNneedmoretimetoprocessspokenlanguageandarticulatearesponse.

HowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?• Introducethinkingtime–letpupilsknowabouttheconcept.• Alertpupilsthatyouwillbeaskingaquestion.• Givemorethinkingtimewhenaskingcomplexquestionse.g.‘why?’questionsorquestionsthat

requireprediction/problemsolving(verbalreasoning)suchas“whatwillhappenif…?”.• Usethinkingtimeinthefollowingways:o Independenttime–allowpupilstimetoprocessthequestionandthinkthroughtheiranswer

independently.o Paireddiscussiontime-allowpupilstothinkaboutthequestionwithapartner.o Writingtime–allowpupilstoputtheirthoughtsonpaperfirst.

• Adjustthelengthofwaitingtimedependingonthepupilsinyourclass.Workingwithparents:Encourageparentstopauseafterspeaking,togivetheirchildanopportunitytorespond.Formoreinformationpleasevisit:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/253202/3_1_think_time_rule_final_july_2014.pdf


25

3.1.3Vocabularyteaching

Whatisit?Aframeworkforteachingvocabularyeffectivelyinschool.Forexample,WordAwaredevelopedbyParsonsandBranagan(2010).Whyuseit?Vocabularyisfundamentaltolearning–itislinkedtoreadingcomprehensionandacademicattainment.Inadditiontoindirectapproaches(e.g.arichreadingexperience),pupilsalsoneeddirectapproaches(e.g.selectingandteachingspecificwords)inordertolearnvocabularyeffectively.HowithelpspupilswithSLCN:CYPwithSLCNoftenhavedifficultystoringandretrievingvocabulary.Thismeanstheymayhavevaguemeaningsofthewordormakeminormispronunciations.Theywillneedmoreexposuretonewwordsandforvocabularlytobespecificallytaught.

HowdoIimplementitintheclassroom?Teachingvocabulary:• Identifycorevocabulary.Thesewillbewordsthatareessentialtounderstandingthetopicand

willbeencounteredagainbutarenottooeasyandnottoohard.Youmaywishtosortandselectwordsbasedonthesystemof:anchorwords,goldilockswordsandsteponwords.Beawareofcross-curricularvocabuarlyusedinexamquestionssuchas‘compare’,‘discuss’or‘summarise’.

• Discussdefinitionsofnewvocabularyanduseawordmap/wizardtoteachphonological(sound),semantic(meaning)andsyntactic(grammar)features.Don’tforgettoincludediagramsorpictures.

• Reinforcewordsinclass:o Writevocabularyontheboardandrefertoitexplicitlyduringthelesson.o Linkvocabularytoactivitiesinclass.Vocabularyisbesttaughtincontextandwithrealexperiences.o Arrangefrequentencountersinmultiplecontexts(atleastsixexposurespernewword).

• Reviewvocabularyattheendofthelesson,day,weekorterm.Considerhavingacentralvocabularywallinclassorpupilscreatingtheirownglossaryforeachtopic.

Workingwithparents:• Sharevocabularylistswithparentsonaregularbasissothatwordscanbepracticedandreinforcedathome.• Forparentswithyoungerchildren,encouragedthemtosupporttheirchildtolearnnewwordsand

conceptsusingeverydaytasks.• Forparentswitholderchildren,encouragethemtouseandexplainhighlevelwords.Leafletsforparents(withprimaryorsecondaryagedchildren)canbefoundhere:https://www.afasic.org.uk/resources/free-downloads/schools-and-learning/Formoreinformation:http://thinkingtalking.co.uk/word-aware/https://literacytrust.org.uk/ELKLANlanguagebuilders(yellowbook–page50-69,redbook–page54-70)


26

3.1.4Adultuseoflanguage

Toptips:• Useaslowerpacewhenspeaking.

• Pausetogivepupilsextratimetoprocessaquestionorinstruction.• Encouragepupilstoaskforhelpandseekclarificationwhentheyhavenotunderstood.• Simplifylanguagewhenneeded(e.g.rephrasingorexplainingkeywords).• Tryandlinknewvocabularytoinformationthepupilisalreadyfamiliarwith.

• Beawarethatsarcasm,ironyandimpliedmeaningmaynotbeunderstood.

• Keepinstructionsconcise(chunking)andgivethemintheorderyouwantthemtobecarriedout.

• Beawareofthecomplexityofquestions(e.g.blank’slevels).


27

“TheBetterCommunicationResearchProgrammehighlightstheimportanceofapersonalisedapproachtoteachingandlearning,reflectinganunderstandingofapupil’slanguagelearningandliteracyneeds,socialandcommunicationdifficultiesandacademicprogression”Agenerationadrift(2013)

3.2Targetedsupport(pupilsidentifiedashavingSLCNneeds)Byusingthechecklistandprogressiontools,youwouldhaveidentifiedwhichareasofSLCthepupilhasdifficultywithe.g.

Understandingspokenlanguage(page28-29)

Understandingandusingvocabulary(page31-32)

Sentences(page33-34)

Storytelling&narrative(page35-36)

Speech(page37-38)

SocialInteraction(page39-40)

Nowyoucansupporttheindividualbyembeddingstrategieswithintheclassroomandprovidingtargetedinterventions.

StrategiestoembedwithintheclassroomRegardless,ofwhichtierofsupportthepupilsneeds(e.g.targetedorspecialist)strategiesshouldbeembeddedwithintheclassroomtoensureasupportiveenvironment.Thisincludes:• Adultuseoflanguage• Visualsupport

Someofthesestrategiesmayalreadybefamiliartostaffiftheschoolareimplementinguniversalstrategiessuccessfully.

TargetedinterventionsInaddition,pupilsmayneedtargetedinterventions(eitherindividualorgroup)outsideoftheclassroom,topracticetheirSLCskills.Includedinthissectionofthetoolkit:• Aimsfortargetedintervention.• Listofprogrammeswhicharehighlystructuredandincludessessionplans,resourcesandtraining.• Listofresourceswhichcanbeusedifplanningyourownsmallgroupsorindividualintervention• Adviceforrunninginterventions


28

3.2.1Understandingspokenlanguage

Apupilmustbeabletounderstandwhatisbeingsaidtothembeforetheycanexpressit.Understandinglanguagecanencompassotherskillssuchasattention&listening,understandingvocabulary,verbalreasoning,problemsolvingandworkingmemory.Pleaserefertoothersectionsofthetoolkitformorespecificrecommendations.Indicationofdifficulties• Maygiveirrelevantanswersornotrespondtoquestions.• Mayhavedifficultyunderstandingimpliedmeaning.• Mayonlyrememberpartofaninstruction.• Mayneedyoutorepeattheinstructionseveraltimes.• Maywatchotherchildrensothattheycanworkoutwhattodo.Impact• Mayhavepoorreadingcomprehension.• Mayshowdisruptivebehaviour,becomequiet/withdrawn,orlooklost,

astheyareunabletounderstandwhatisbeingaskedofthem.• Mayappearliketheyhavenotpaidattention.• Maynotrecognisewhentheyhavenotunderstoodanddon’taskfor

clarification.• Mayavoid,optoutorabandontasks.

Strategiestoembedwithintheclassroom

VisualsupportstrategiesInstructions,questionsandexplanationsshouldbesupportedvisuallyreferredtoexplicitly• Usecolourcodingsymbolsandsignstosupport

understandingofquestionse.g.‘why?’,‘when?’and‘how?’

• Useavisualtimetabletoshowthestructureoftheday• Usevisualtaskplansforpupilstoeasilyreferbackto.• Usenaturalgestureorpointtopictureswhilespeaking

tohighlightkeywords/messages.• Demonstratewhereverpossible.• Writekeypointsandvocabularyontheboard.


29

AdultuseoflanguageFocusattention• Makesureyouhavegainedthepupil’sattention(e.g.byusingtheirname)beforegivinganinstructionorintroducinganactivity.

Questions• Beawareofthecomplexityofquestions.Forexample,‘how?’,‘when?’and‘why?’questions(Blank’slevel3and4)requireinferencingskills,

whichmaybeparticularlychallengingtoanswer.• Givethepupilenoughtimetorespondtoquestions.

Considersimplifyingyourlanguage• Useshortersentences.• Usesimplervocabulary(e.g.“mixtogether”ratherthan“combine’).• Usepositivestatements(e.g.“walk”ratherthan“don’trun”).• Avoidusing‘if’(e.g.“Tom,youhaveschooldinners,ratherthan“Ifyouhaveschooldinners).• Emphasisetheimportantwordswithinasentenceandrepeatkeyinformation.• Explainnon-literalorambiguouslanguage(e.g.“pullyoursocksup”)• Beexplicitwithinstructions,ratherthanusinginferredlanguage(e.g.“pleasecanyouclosethewindow?”ratherthan“it’sabitcoldinherenow”)

Recordingkeypoints• Provideopportunitiesforthepupiltoeitherdraworwritedownkeypoints.

Instructions• Saythingsintheorderyouwantthepupiltodothem(e.g.“Packawayyourbooks,thengotolunch”ratherthan“Beforeyougotolunch,pack

awayyourbooks).• Breakinformationintosmallerchunks.• Repeatinformationasrequired.

Slowerrateofspeech• Slowdownyourownrateofyourspeechandpausemoreoften,toallowmoretimeforthepupiltoprocessinformation.

Checkunderstanding• Checkunderstandingbyaskingthepupilsimplequestionsoraskingthemtorepeatkeypoints.• Encouragethepupiltosaywhentheyhavenotunderstoode.g.“whatdoesitmean?”or“canyourepeatthequestionplease?”.


30

Principles/aimsofprogrammesPrinciples/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:• Forpupilstolearnhowtolistene.g.lookingatthespeaker.• Forpupilstolearnhowtoidentifywhytheyhavenotunderstood.Forexample,becauseitwassaidtooquickly,theydidnotunderstandthewords

usedorbecausetheinstructionwastoolong.• Forpupilstolearnphraseswhichtheycanusetorepairconversationbreakdowne.g.“canyousayitagainplease?”,“canyouwriteitontheboard

please?”,“canyousayitslowerplease?”• Forpupilstolearnandpracticememorystrategiessuchas,countingonfingers,rehearsal,visualisationandnote-taking.• Forpupilstoknowwhichstrategiesaremosteffectiveforthemsothattheycanusethemindependently.Pleasenotethatsomeofthememory

strategieswillonlybesuitableforchildrenof8yearsandolderandtheywillonlybeabletospontaneouslyusethemfromthisage.

Targetedinterventions(individualorsmallgroup)

PublishedProgrammesComprehensionmonitoringActiveListeningforActiveLearninghttp://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/our-approaches/speech-therapy-approaches/active-listening-active-learning/

ResourcesAuditorymemoryBlacksheeppress‘Auditorymemory’https://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/product/auditory-memory-2nd-edition/ELKLANLanguagebuilders(yellowbookpage32-37)ComprehensionmonitoringELKLANLanguagebuilders(yellowbookpage99-102,redbookpage90-93)BlanksLevelshttps://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/8-a-Abstract-language-and-verbal-reasoning-BLANKs-level.pdf


31

Aspecificareaofvocabularyisword-findingdifficulties(storingandretrievingwords).Thismeansapupilmayfinditdifficulttorecallawordwhichtheyknowbutcannotretrieve.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y7TJ7Th8cYIndicationofdifficulty• Mayhavealimitedrangeofvocabularyordifficultylearningnewvocabulary.• Maystruggleto‘find’wordstheyknow.• Mayusethewrongwordsormadeupwords.• Mayover-usegeneralwordse.g.“thingy”,“that”.• Mayusealotoffillersorhesitationse.g.“um”,“er”.

Impact• Maybecomewithdrawnorfrustratedaspupilsareoftenawareoftheirdifficulties.

3.2.2Understandingandusingvocabulary


Adultuseoflanguage• Emphasisekeywords/conceptswhenspeaking“Themouseisunderthebox”• Reinforcenewvocabularyindifferentsituationsandcontexts–withplentyof

repetition.• Tryandlinknewvocabularytoinformationthepupilisalreadyfamiliarwith.• Givephonologicalorsemanticcuestosupportword-retrieval.Forexample,o thebeginningsoundofthewordo thefirstsyllableofthewordso anassociatedwordo Canthepupildescribeitortalkaboutwhatthewordmeans?

Visualsupportstrategies• Usepictures/symbols/objectstosupportunderstanding.• Usetoolssuchaswordmaps.• Useamulti-sensoryapproachwhenteaching,ratherthan

relyingonspokenlanguagealone.• Forthepupiltocreatepersonalwordglossaries,with

diagramsandpictures.


32

PublishedProgrammesVocabularyReception–‘NuffieldEarlyLanguageIntervention’https://www.elklan.co.uk/neli/about-neli(alsoworksonnarrativeskills,attention&listeningandphonologicalawareness).ReceptionandKeyStage1–‘TalkboostKS1’https://ican.org.uk/training-licensing/i-can-programmes/talk-boost-ks1/(alsoworksonlistening,sentences,storytellingandconversations).Secondary–‘VocabularyEnrichmentProgramme’https://www.routledge.com/product/isbn/9780863887987?source=igodigital

ResourcesVocabularyandconceptsRhodestolanguage(pupilsinKS2–KS4)https://www.elklan.co.uk/5-11s/rhodes-to-languageELKLANLanguageBuilders(yellowbookpage79,82)CategorisationandwordretrievalstrategiesSemanticLinkshttps://www.elklan.co.uk/5-11s/semantic-links

Targetedinterventions(individualorsmallgroup)Principles/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:• Forpupilstodeveloparangeofwordsincludingnouns,verbs,prepositions(e.g.‘in/on/under’)andadjectives/adverbs(e.g.‘heavy’,‘little’).• Forpupilstobeabletoidentifyandusesynonyms.• Forpupilstobeabletosortwordsintocategoriesandidentifysimilarities/differences.• Forpupilstobeabletodescribeawordbasedonitsattributes/functionsorprovideadefinition.• Forpupilstobeabletousewordfindingstrategieswhenunabletoretrieveaword.


33

3.2.3SentencesIncludesproblemsolvingandverbalreasoningdifficultiese.g.explanation,justificationandprediction.Indicationofdifficulty• Mayhavedifficultywithusingwell-formedandlongersentences.• Maymakeerrorsormissoutpronounsandtensemarkersetc.• Maymixupthewordordermakingspokenlanguagedifficulttounderstand.• Mayhavedifficultywithhypothesisingandpredicting.• Mayrelyalotonpointingorgesturestogettheirmessageacross.Impact• Mayhavedifficultywithliteracy(thesameproblemstheyhavewith

spokensentenceswillbeevidentintheirwrittenattempts).• Mayhavedifficultydevelopingvocabularythroughreading(forexample

theymaynotbeabletoworkoutthemeaningofanunknownwordfromthecontextofthesentence).


Adultuseoflanguage• Modelthecorrectresponse(ratherthancorrectingmistakes)o Repeatbackwhatthepupilsaysusingthecorrectvocabularyandgrammar–

sothattheyheargoodexamples.Sometimesreferredtoasre-casting.o Expandthesentencebyaddingafewwords-toshowhowtheycanmake

theirsentencelonger.Sometimesreferredtoasexpansion.o Emphasisekeywords–todrawthepupil’sattentionto.

VisualsupportstrategiesUsecolourcodingapproachese.g.• Usecolourtohighlightmissingwordsinwrittenwork

e.g.bluelineforlocationwords.


34


Principles/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:• Forpupilstodevelopgrammaticalstructures.Forexample:o pronouns(e.g.‘he/she/him’)o pluralendings(e.g.regular‘-s’andirregular‘sheep’)o auxiliaries(e.g.‘is/are’)o pasttense(e.g.regular‘-ed’andirregulare.g.‘break’)o futuretense(e.g.‘will/isgoing’)o comparatives(e.g.‘better’)o conjunctions(e.g.‘and/but/because’)o connectives(e.g.‘firstly/therefore’)

• Forpupilstodevelopverbalreasoningskills.Forexample,prediction,evaluation,justificationandexplanation.

PublishedprogrammesVerbalreasoningLanguageforThinking:AStructuredApproachforYoungChildrenhttp://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/our-approaches/speech-therapy-approaches/language-thinking/

ResourcesQuestions(blankslevels)–level4ELKLANLanguagebuilders(yellowbookpage46-47,redbookpage50-51)GrammaticalstructuresELKLANlanguagebuilders(redbookpage76-80)Colourcoding**ItisrecommendedthatyouseekadviceandsupportfromaSpeechandLanguageTherapistwhenusingcolourfulsemanticsandshapecoding,particularlyifthepupilpresentswithsevereorcomplexSLCN.• AnintroductiontotheseapproachescanbefoundinELKLANlanguagebuilders

(yellowbookpage76-77).• ColourfulSemanticspack:https://www.elklan.co.uk/5-11s/colourful-semantics• Shapecodingaccreditedtrainingcourses:https://www.moorhouse.surrey.sch.uk


35

3.2.4Storytellingandnarrative

Aspecificareaofnarrativeissequencing.Sequencingistheabilitytoorganiseandorderevents.Indicatorsofdifficulty

• Mayfindcommonsequenceshardtoremembere.g.daysoftheweek.• Mayhavedifficultytalkingaboutevents,retellingstoriesormakinguptheirownstories.• Narrativesmaybeshorter,maynotbeorganised/coherent(e.g.difficultysettingthescene,

eventsnotlinkedtogether),mayincludeirrelevancies.

Impact

• Maybedifficultforsomeonetounderstandandfollowwhattheyaresaying.• Mayhavedifficultywithpeerrelationships(e.g.notbeingabletotalkaboutthingsthathave

happenedorexplainthingsclearly).• Mayhavedifficultywithliteracyskills.

Adultuseoflanguage• Ifthepupilmakesamistakeintheirsentence,helpthemtorepair

itbymodellingbackthesentence.Youmayneedto:o Adjusttheordero Addmissingvocabularyo Addgrammaticalstructures

Visualsupportstrategies• Usefirst,nextandlasttemplatestohelpstructureevents.• Usestoryplanners/narrativeframeworkstohelpstructurestories

e.g.‘beginning’,‘middle’and‘end’.• Usevisualtimetablesandreferenceexplicitlytoevents

e.g.“Firstit’smaths,nextit’slunch”.• Usecolourcodingapproachestoshowthatquestionwordsrelate

tostorycomponentse.g.who=characters,whatdoing=whathappened(events),where=location(places),when=time,whatlike=descriptionofcharacters/settings.

• Usetimelinestomakeconceptsofpasteventsexplicit.



36

Principles/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:• Forpupilstounderstandconcreteunitsoftime(e.g.timesofday,daysof

theweek,seasons)andabstractconceptsoftime(e.g.earlier,soon,later).• Forpupilstoorderanddescribeasequenceofevents.• Forpupilstobeabletousesequentialconcepts(e.g.‘nowandnext’,

‘beforeandafter’,‘fist’,‘then’,‘last’).• Forpupilstohaveanincreasedawarenessofthecomponentsofastory

(e.g.beginning,middleandend)andunderstandingofquestionwords(e.g.who,whenandwhere,whathappened?).

• Forpupilstobeabletore-tellstories(beforetheycangeneratetheirownnarrative).

PublishedprogrammesStorytelling&NarrativeBlackSheepPress• Reception–‘ReceptionNarrativePack’

https://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/product/reception-narrative-skills-age-3-5-years/

• KeyStage1-‘SpeakingandListeningThroughNarrative’https://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/product/speaking-listening-narrative-ages-5-7/

• KeyStage2–‘FromOraltoWrittenNarrative’https://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/product/oral-to-written-narrative-ages-7-11/

Speechmark• Secondary–‘NarrativeInterventionProgramme’(developedbyVictoriaJoffe)

https://www.routledge.com/product/isbn/9780863887970?source=igodigital

ResourcesStorytelling&Narrative(narrativegrids)ELKLANLanguagebuilders(yellowbook88-94,redbook87-88)SequencingSequencingcards-WerecommendyouphotographsequencestomakeitpersonalandmotivatingforCYP.However,ifyouwishtopurchaseresources,SpeechmarkColourCardsproducearangeof2,3,4,6-8stepsequences.https://www.routledge.com/products/search?keywords=sequences+colorcardsELKLANlanguagebuilders(yellowbookpage85-86,redbookpage86)Questions(blankslevels)–level2and3ELKLANlanguagebuilders(yellowbookpage39-45,redbook44-49)



37

Underliningprocessesareinvolvedwiththedevelopmentofspeechskills.Thereisasubconsciouselement,knownasthe‘speechprocessingsystem’andaconsciouselementknownas‘phonologicalawareness’.Phonologicalawarenessistheabilitytoreflectonthewordstructuresincludingrhyme,syllablesandphonemes.Indicationofdifficulty

Speech:• Mayhavedifficultyproducingspecificsounds/substitutesounds/missoffpartsofwords.• Mayhavepoorphonologicalawareness.• Mayhavespeechprocessingdifficultiessuchassequencingmulti-syllabicwords.

Stammering:• Mayrepeatsoundsorpartofwordse.g.“b-b-b-but”.• Mayprolongsoundse.g.“mmmmmum”.• Mayblocke.g.nosoundcomesout.• Mayhavetensionintheirfaceormakeextramovementse.g.blinking.

Voice:• Mayhaveanunusualvoicequalitye.g.hoarse,husky,breathy,roughorweak.• Maylosetheirvoiceoritcutsoutwhilstspeaking.Impact

Speech• Maybeunintelligibletounfamiliarlisteners.• Mayhavedifficultywithphonicse.g.unabletotellthedifferencebetweensounds.• Maybeathigherriskofreading,spellingandwritingdifficulties(ifhaveweakphonological

awareness).• Mayhavedifficultylearningnewvocabulary(ifhavepersistentspeechprocessingproblems).• Mayavoidspeakingincertainsituationsoravoidcertainwords.

Stammering• Mayavoidcertainsituations(e.g.socialeventsorrespondingtoquestionsinclass).• Mayavoidcertainsoundsorwords.• Mayadoptstrategiestohidetheirstammeringe.g.changewhattheyweregoingtosay

mid-sentence.• Mayfeelfearfrustratedorembarrassedbecauseoftheirstammering.

3.2.5Speech(speechsounds,stammeringandvoice)

AdultlanguageandcommunicationSpeechsounds• Focusonwhatthepupilissayingnothowtheyaresayingit.• Repeatbackclearlywhatthepupilhastriedtosay–sothatthey

heargoodmodels.• Avoiddirectcorrectionanddon’tmakethepupilrepeatafteryou.• Ifyouarefindingitdifficulttounderstand,askifthey

canshowyou.Don’tpretendtounderstand.Stammer• Focusonwhatthepupilissayingnothowtheyaresayingit.• Don’tinterruptorfinishtheirsentenceforthem.• Slowdownyourownrateofspeech• Encourageturn-takingtoavoidpupilfeelingrushedorinterrupted.• Giveplentyoftimeforthepupiltoanswerthequestion,toavoid

thepupilfeelingunderpressure.• Don’tgivedirectadviceabouthowtomanagetheirstammer.

Forexample,it’softennothelpfultotellthemto“hurryup”,“slowdown”or“takeadeepbreath”.

Voice• Encourageturn-takingtoavoidpupilsshoutingovereachother.• Ensurevoicerestperiodsbyhavingabalancebetweenactivitiesthat

requirevoiceandactivitieswhichdon’t.



38

Principles/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:ReferraltoNHSspeechandlanguagetherapyservicemayberequiredforspeech,stammeringandvoice.Forexample,theymayprovideaspecialistassessmentandanindividualprogrammewhichwillshowwhichsoundstotargetfirst.However,becausephonologicalawarenessskillsarefundamentaltoliteracydevelopment,itisworthconsideringifthepupilhasdifficultyinthisareaandprovidenecessarytargetedsupport.

PublishedprogrammesSpeech(phonologicalawareness)Speechmark• Reception-‘Schoolstart’(alsohassectiononlanguage)

https://www.routledge.com/School-Start-Year-1-Targeted-Intervention-for-Language-and-Sound-Awareness/Bedoyere-Lowry/p/book/9781138573956

• Year1–‘Schoolstart’(alsohassectiononlanguage)https://www.routledge.com/School-Start-Year-1-Targeted-Intervention-for-Language-and-Sound-Awareness/Bedoyere-Lowry/p/book/9781138573956

ResourcesSpeech(phonologicalawareness)ELKLANLanguageBuilders(yellowbookpage108,redbookpage119-122)



39

ManyCYPexperiencedifficultieswithsocialinteractionincludingpupilswithASDandlanguagedisorders.• pragmaticskills–referstohowaCYPusescommunicationinasocialsituation

e.g.non-verbalcommunication,turn-taking,initiatingandmaintainingconversation.• socialthinking(atermdevelopedbyMichelleGarciaWinner)referstotheprocess

ofhowweunderstandourownandotherpeople’sthoughts/feelings/intentions.Indicationofdifficulty

• Mayfinditdifficulttounderstandanddiscusstheirown/otherpeople’sfeelings.• Mayfinditdifficulttoseethingsfromanotherperson’spointofview.• Mayfinditdifficulttostart,joininandmaintainconversations.Forexample,theymayinterrupt,

givetoomuchinformation,mayswitchtopicwithoutsignalorpersevereonafavouredtopic.• Mayfinditdifficulttounderstandandusenon-verbalcommunication

e.g.bodylanguage,eye-contact,personalspaceandtoneofvoice.• Maynotunderstandnon-literallanguagee.g.jokes,idiomsandmetaphors.

3.2.6SocialInteraction

Adultlanguageandcommunication• Supportthepupiltomaintaintopicsofconversation.Forexample,ifthepupilchanges

subject,remindthemofthetopicandencouragethemtotalkabouttheothertopicafterwards.

• Supportthepupilingivingtheappropriateamountofinformation.Forexample,letthepupilknowiftheyhavenotgivenyouenoughinformation.

• Modelappropriatesocialphrasessuchaswhengreetingsomeone.• Talkaboutyourownfeelingsandmodelappropriateresponses.• Usereallifesituationsasanopportunitytodiscusssolutionstoaproblem

e.g.“Wehaven’tgotenoughchairs.Whatshouldwedo?”• Itmaybenecessarytolabelthefeelingforthepupilinthesituation.

Visualsupportstrategies• Reinforceexpectedsocialskillsintheclass

byusingsymbols• Helpstudentsto‘check-in’andsayhowthey

arefeelingusingvisualsupport.


Impact

• Mayshowdisruptivebehaviour.• Mayhavedifficultywithpeerrelationships.• Mayfinditdifficulttojoininand

playwithotherpeers.Unstructuredactivitiessuchas‘breaktime’maybeparticularlychallenging.

• Mayhavedifficultyparticipatingingroupwork.• Mayhavedifficultyadaptingtonewor

unfamiliarsocialsituations.


40

Principles/aimsofpublishedprogrammesandresources:• Forpupilstodevelopawarenessofusingdifferentregsisterswhentalkingtodifferentpeople.• Forpupilstodevelopsocialskillsimportantforinteractionandgroupworke.g.turn-taking,followinginstructions,problemsolvingandcollaboration.• Forpupilstodevelopanunderstandinganduseofnon-verbalcommunicationskills(e.g.bodylanguage,eye-contact,proximity).• Forpupilstodevelopemotionalliteracy(e.g.vocabularyrelatedtoemotions).• Forpupilstodevelopemotionalregulationstrategies(e.g.strategiestoregulateormovebetweendifferentemotionstates).


PublishedprogrammesPragmaticsTALKABOUTseries(developedbyAlexKelly)https://www.routledge.com/products/search?keywords=Talkabout&page=2&page=1‘SociallySpeaking:apragmaticsocialskillsprogrammeforprimaryschools’(developedbyAlisonSchroeder)https://www.ldalearning.com/product/social,-emotional-and-mental-health/social-skills/games/socially-speaking/admt00416Emotionalliteracyandregulation‘Thezonesofregulation’(developedbyLeahKuypers)http://zonesofregulation.com/index.htmlSocialskills‘Legobasedtherapy:howtobuildsocialcompetencethroughLEGO-basedclubsforchildrenwithautismandrelatedconditions’(LeGeoff,2014)Introductionvideo:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-tS6zIr50U

ResourcesPragmaticsReception–KS1‘Talkingaboutfriends:situationalunderstanding’(Blacksheeppress)https://www.blacksheeppress.co.uk/product/talking-about-friends-situational-understanding/ELKLANlanguagebuilder(yellowbookpage105-106,redbookpage96-100).EmotionalliteracyELKLANlanguagebuilder(redbookpage101-103).Non-literallanguage‘MystifyingMetaphors’https://www.elklan.co.uk/resources/mystifying-metaphors‘120idiomsatyourfingertips’https://www.elklan.co.uk/11-16s/120-Idioms-At-Your-Fingertips


41

3.2.7AdviceforrunninginterventionsWhyshouldschoolsruninterventions?ResearchshowsthatwhenTA’srunone-to-oneorsmallgroupinterventions,itcanhaveapositiveimpactonpupils’attainment(whenTA’sreceivehighqualitysupportandtraining).Professionaldevelopmentresource:https://educationendowmentfoundation.or.uk/tools/guidance-reports/making-best-use-of-teaching-assistants/

Selectinganadulttoruntheintervention• Oneadulttoconsistentlyleadtheintervention/group.Othersupportstaffmayalsobeneeded.• Theadultleadingtheinterventionshouldbeappropriatelytrained(e.g.Level3)andsupported.

Specifictrainingforpublishedprogrammesisadvised.TheyshouldknowthepupilsfairlywellandunderstandSLCN.

• Itispreferableiftheadultalsospendstimewiththepupilinclasstopromotethegeneralisationofskills.

Planning• Interventionsshouldbeplannedintothe

timetabletoensureconsistentrunningofinterventions,availabilityofstaffandrooms/spaces.Spacesshouldbeclearofdistractions.

• Sufficienttimeshouldbeallocatedtostaffleadinginterventionsinordertoprepareresourcesbeforethesession,recordprogressafterthesessionandtofeedbackandliaisewithotherssuchasclassteachers.

• Thecontentofinterventionsshouldbeconsistentwithorextendlearningfromtheclassroom.Forexample,selectingvocabularytopre-teach.

Duringthesession• Re-caprules/expectationsatthestartofeachsessione.g.

listeningtoothers.• Useavisualtimetabletoshowwhichactivitieswillbe

coveredinthesession.Includetheaimoftheactivityaswellasthegame.

• Remember–interventionsareforpracticingandworkingtowardstheaim.So,givethepupilthesupporttheyneedinordertolearnanddon’tovertestthem.

• Usedifferentactivitiestopracticeeachskill.Activitiesshouldbeengagingandincorporatethegoal.Forexample,ifworkingontheconcept‘in’-dropwaterballoonsinthetray.Forinspiration,watchthisvideobyGinaDavies:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbsKmMH0XjI

• UsevisualsupportandlanguagewhichsupportstheirSLCskillse.g.chunkinformation,repeatnewvocabularyetc.

Choosinggroupmembers(ifapplicable)• Groupstypicallyconsistofamaximumofsixchildren.• Considerhowwellthepupilswillworktogether.Itcanbehelpfultoincludesomechildrenwho

willactasgoodrolemodels(e.g.forlanguageorbehaviour).

Monitoringofprogress• Useascreenbeforeandaftertheperiod

ofinterventiontomeasureresponseandprogress.Mostpublishedprogrammeswillhavetheirown.

• Eachprogrammewillhaveaimsfortheperiodthattheinterventionruns.Theleadingadultwilllikelyselect2-3aimstoworkonpersession.

• Usearecordformtorecordprogressaftereachsession.Reflectonwhetherthepupilshaveachievedtheaimandiftheyneedtomoveontoadifferentaimthefollowingsession.

Lengthandfrequency• Thelengthofeachsessionwilldependontheattention

abilitiesofthepupil(s).However,asaguide,mostinterventionsforschoolagedchildrenrunbetween20-45minutes.

• Typically,interventionsoccur2-3timesaweek,butthiswilldependontheprogrammeandotherpracticalities.

• Mostinterventionswillrunforaminimumof20sessions(e.g.equivalenttoaschoolterm).


42

3.3Specialistsupport(pupilswithlong-termandpersistentSLCN)Thissectionofthetoolkitwillsupportschoolstobetterunderstandwhenitisappropriatetorefertospecialistservicese.g.NHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire,forassessment,adviceorintervention.Inthissectionofthetoolkit,wealsodiscusswhatinformationtogathertomakeeffectivereferrals.


43

3.3.1WhentorefertospecialistservicesTwooptions:• ReferraltoNHSspeechandlanguagetherapyserviceafteridentificationofSLCN.Forexample,theCYPmayscorewithintheredzoneonthe

TheCommunicationTrustprogressiontools,indicatingthatspecialistservicesmayberequired.

• ReferraltoNHSspeechandlanguagetherapyservicefollowingtargetedinterventionsandmonitoringofprogress.Thiswouldbeanoutcomeofthereviewphaseinthe‘Assess-Plan-Do-Review’cycle.Forexample,iftheCYPhasmadelessprogressthanexpectedwithtargetedintervention,theymayneedspecialistsupportinordertomakeprogress.Seesection3.3.2

Inbothcases,itisrecommendedthatyoufollowlocalproceduresbylookingatreferralguidelines.PleasevisittheNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshirewebsite:https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/how-to-refer/


44

3.3.2DecisionmakingchartfollowingtargetedsupportSteppinguporsteppingdownsupport:workoutthedegreeofprogress,considerthepupilprofileandmaketheappropriateresponse

Responsetointerventions

Pupilmakesprogress

Aimsoftheinterventionmet

MayneedfewerpromptstosupporttheirSLCskills

ChildnowhastypicalSLCskillsfortheirdevelopment

Pupilmakeslessprogressthanexpected

Aimsoftheinterventionnotmet

MayneedmorepromptstosupporttheirSLCskills

Childdoesnothavetypicalspeechandlanguagefortheirdevelopment

Otherobservations

Nofurtherconcernsaboutunderliningcausee.g.DLD

Limitedfunctionalimpacte.g.accessingthecurriculum,

socialskillsoremotionalwellbeing(Seesection3.3.3)

Concernsaboutunderliningcausee.g.DLD

Functionalimpactevidente.g.accessingthecurriculum,socialskillsoremotionalwellbeing(Seesection3.3.3)

Indicationofneed

Thepupil’slanguagedifficultymayhavebeenduetolimitedexposureorEAL

ThepupilmayhavepersistentSLCN

Nextsteps Maystepdowntouniversallevelofsupportonly.

Continuemonitoringinschoolasnecessary.

Asapupilprogressesthroughschool,thelanguagedemandsincreasesotheCYPmayneedsupportagainatalatertime

AreferraltoNHSspeechandlanguagetherapyservicemaynotberequiredatthistime.

Thepupilmayrequirespecialistlevelofsupportinordertomakeprogress.Thepupilmayneedanassessment,specificrecommendationsandpossiblyanindividualprogrammefromaspecialist.Schoolsshouldcontinueprovidinguniversalsupport.

ConsiderreferringtoNHSspeechandlanguagetherapyserviceusinglocalreferralprocedure.


45

3.3.3Whatdowemeanbyfunctionalimpact?Functionalimpactrelatestohowwellachildcanparticipateineverydayactivities.WhilsttherearecurrentlynoformalassessmentmeasuresoffunctionalimpactforSLCN,thefollowingaspectsaretakenintoaccount:Accessingthecurriculume.g.• Literacy.• Attention&Listening.• Participationinlanguage-basedtasks.• Learningnewinformation.Socialskillse.g.• Solitaryplayordifficultyingroupsituations.• Difficultywithpeerrelationships.Emotionalwellbeinge.g.• Internalisingdifficulties.• Externalisingdifficulties.


46

1. Relatedneedsandchallenges• Sensoryneeds(e.g.visual,hearing)• Cognitiveprofile(e.g.memory)• Mentalhealth• Learningdifficulties

4. Communicationprofile-whichareasofSLCdoestheCYPhavedifficultywith?

• Includeexamplesandattachappropriateinformationfromassessmente.g.progressiontools.

• Itisvaluabletousecommonlanguagewhenreferringtospecialistservicestoensureinformationisnotmisunderstood.

2. Responsetostrategiesandinterventionse.g.• Lessthanexpectedprogress.• Requireslotsofpromptingandrespondswellto

strategiese.g.visualsupportorverbalcues.

3. FunctionalImpact• Accessingthecurriculum• Socialskills• Emotionalwellbeing

5. Otherprofessionalsinvolvede.g.• Educationalpsychologist• Childdevelopmentservice• CAMHS

“Evidencesuggeststhat…decisionsaboutallocationandtypeofintervention[shouldbe]basedonthenatureofSLCN,howitimpactsonfunctioningandtheyoungperson’sresponsetointervention”ChildrenwithsevereSLCN(2011)

3.3.4CollatinginformationforonwardreferralsWhenoutcomescontinuetonotbeachieveddespitesupportbeingprovided,orwhenamoresignificantdifficultyisidentified,thistoolkitprovidestheopportunitytocollateevidencetosupportonwardreferralsifrequired.NHSspeechandlanguagetherapyAssessmentandadvicefromaSaLTmaybeneededwhenthepupilhasSLCNandneedsoneofthefollowing:• anindividual/specialistcommunicationsystem(thisisknownasAAC).For

example,PECSorvoiceoutputcommunicationaid.• adifferentialdiagnosise.g.DLD.• specialistsupportinordertomakeprogress.

WhenreferringtoNHSspeechandlanguageservices,theinformationprovidedbyreferrersisinvaluable.Includeinformationon:

Professionaldevelopmentresource:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/making-effective-referrals/

Section4:Appendix Speech,LanguageandCommunicationToolkitforSchools|Version1–March2020

47

Section4:AppendixInthissectionofthetoolkitisadditionalinformation,linkstoorganisationsandtoolstousetosupportidentificationandplanningforpupilswithSLCN.


48

4.1FAQ’sToolkitCanIusethetoolkitwithchildrenwhohaveASD?Yes-forsomeaspects.ThetoolkitisintendedtosupportCYPwithSLCN.Bydefinition,SLCNcoversallpupilswhomayneedadditionalsupport,basedonneedratherthandiagnosis.WhilstthetoolkithelpsidentifyandsupportSLCskills,itdoesnotcovereveryneedthataCYPwithASDmayexperiencee.g.sensorysensitivity.CanIusethetoolkitwithchildrenwhohaveawiderdevelopmentaldelayorlearningdisability?Yes.ThetoolkitisdesignedtosupportallchildrenwithSLCN,regardlessofdiagnosisorcondition.However,youmaywishtouseaprogressiontoolwhichisclosertotheCYP’sdevelopment(Seesection2.1‘factorstoconsiderwhenidentifyingSLCN’).CanIusethetoolkitwithreceptionagedchildren?Yes.Inadditiontothistoolkit,thereisalsoan‘EarlyYearsCommunicationandLanguageToolkit’producedbyNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire.Pleasevisittheirwebsite:https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/Considerwhichisthemostappropriateforyoursetting.Itmaybethatyouusesomeresourcesfromeach.CanIusethetoolkitwith16-18yearoldse.g.insixthform?Yes–althoughsomesectionsmaynotbeasapplicable.

Identification-ThereisaCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolforthisagegroup,inordertosupportidentificationofSLCN.

Universal/Targetedsupport-Whenselectingappropriateuniversalandtargetedstrategies,youwillneedtoconsiderthepupil’sage/developmentassomemaybemoreappropriatethanothers.ICANhasproducedatargetedprogrammewhichsupportspupilsgettingreadyfortheworkplace,whichyoumaywishtoconsider.Thisisdesignedforpupilsaged14-18years,moreinformationcanbefoundhere:https://ican.org.uk/training-licensing/i-can-programmes/talk-about-talk-secondary/

Specialistsupport-Bemindfulthatthereferralpathwaytospecialists’servicesmaydifferfor16-18yearolds.Canthistoolkitbeusedbyspecialschools?Yes–althoughsomesectionsmaynotbeasapplicable.Forexample,theschoolenvironmentandhowthecurriculumistaughtmaydiffertoamainstreamschoolinordertosuittheneedsofpupils.PupilsarealsolikelytoalreadyhavetheirneedsidentifiedandhaveanEHCplaninplace.However,wewouldwelcomespecialschoolstousethetoolkitastheydeemappropriate.


49

TheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolsWhocanusetheprogressiontools?Theprogressiontoolsaredesignedtobeusedbynon-specialistse.g.SENDCo’s,teachersorhighlytrainedTA’s.TheCommunicationTrustrecommendsthatthememberofstaffknowsthechildwellasthiswillmakeiteasiertointerprettheresponsestheygive.WhichprogressiontoolshouldIuse?Inmostcases,youcanchoosetheprogressiontoolwhichmatchesthepupil’sage.Useyourjudgmentifapupilisin-betweenages.Forexample,ifapupilis8yearsand11months,the9-10yearsprogressiontoolmaybethemostsuitable.Insomecases,youmaydecidetouseaprogressiontoolwhichisclosertoapupil’sdevelopment(Seesection2.1‘factorstoconsiderwhenidentifyingSLCN’).HowoftencanIrepeattheprogressiontools?TheCommunicationTrustrecommendsleavingatleastatermbeforeyourepeatitagaininordertomonitorprogress.CanIusetheprogressiontoolswiththewholeclassoryeargroup?Yes.TheprogressiontoolscanbeusedinthiswaytoenableconsistentidentificationofSLCN.ThegroupprofileformandRAGratingsystemallowsschoolstoeasilymonitorallpupilsSLCdevelopment.CanIusetheprogressiontoolsalongsideotherbaselineassessmentsortools?Yes.Ifconcernsarisefollowingaschoolbaselinemeasuree.g.receptionbaselineassessment(RBA)orphonicstest,werecommendyouinvestigatethepupilsSLCNfurtherusingtheprogressiontools.

ForguidanceinusingtheRBAwithpupilsalreadyidentifiedashavingSLCN,pleasevisit:http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/382086/tct_beyondmeasure.pdf

ForguidanceinusingthephonicsscreenwithpupilsalreadyidentifiedashavingSLCN,pleasevisithttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/18865/communicating_phonics_final.pdfInadditiontotheprogressiontools,youmightfindithelpfultousethefirstlanguagescreenandspeechscreenerdevelopedbytheNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire.Pleasevisittheirwebsite:https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/how-to-refer/


50

Isthereanytrainingonhowtousetheprogressiontools?Eachprogressiontoolcomeswithwrittenguidance.TheCommunicationTrusthasalsoproducedashortvideoandTopTipsguidewhichcanbefoundhere:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/how-to-use-the-progression-tools-video/Whydoesthetoolkitpromotetheuseoftheprogressiontools?ThetoolkithasbeendevelopedanddesignedtositalongsideTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontools.TheprogressiontoolsenablesschoolstospecificallyidentifywhichareaofSLCthepupilmaybestrugglingwith.Inthetoolkit,thesameheadingshavebeenusedintheoutcomesandresourcessection,whichmakesiteasierforschoolstothenplansupport.TheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolsarebasedontheoreticalinformationabouttypicaldevelopment.Theyhavebeendevelopedincollaborationwithschoolstaffandhavebeentestedonalargenumberofmainstreamschools&CYP.Pleasevisittheirwebsiteformoreinformation:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/293654/progression_tools_faqs.pdfWerecognisethatthereareotherotherassessmentormonitoringtoolsavailable.However,werecommendtheTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolsbecausewefeeltheyofferschoolsgoodvalueformoney.TheCommunicationTrusthavealsoproducedarangeofpublicationsandresourceswiththeaimtosupportCYPtocommunicatetothebestoftheirability.FurthersupportWhocanIcontactifIhaveanyfurtherquestionsaboutusingthetoolkit?PleasecontactyourNHSspeechandlanguagetherapistforyourdedicatedarea.ContactdetailsforNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshirecanbefoundonthebackcoverofthistoolkit.DoIhavetousethetoolkitorcompletetheprogressiontoolsbeforemakingareferraltospecialistservices?ThetoolkithasbeencreatedinpartnershipwithNHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire.WethereforerecommendyouusethetoolkitandprogressiontoolstosupportyourreferralandtoputimmediatesupportinplacefortheCYP.Pleaserefertoguidancedocumentsandreferralformsontheirwebsite:https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/how-to-refer/WherecanIfindmoreinformation?Thetoolkitisdesignedtobeapracticaltool–youwillthereforenotfindareferencelisttowardsthebackofthisdocument.Insteadwehaveinserteddirectlinksthroughoutthetooklitforeasyaccesstopublicationsforfurtherreading.Thesearesignpostedas‘professionaldevelopmentresources’orfoundintheappendix(seesection4.4)Otherinformation,suchasSLCstrategiesarecommonknowledgewithinthespeechandlanguagetherapyfield.


51

Professionaldevelopmentresource:https://www.rcslt.org/-/media/Project/RCSLT/language-disorder-briefing-paper.pdf?la=en&hash=3711F04A1EE6CCDFD9488FED6C076B6FB73E89E5

• Speechandlanguagetherapistsplayavitalroleindiagnosingmostoftheseconditionstogetherwithotherprofessionals.

• Weexpectschoolstobeawareoftheseconditions,butnottolabelordiagnosethemselves.

Keymessages

4.2SLCNdiagnoses/labelsSpeechandlanguagetherapistsworkwitharangeofchildrenwhohaveSLCN.Inthissection,wewilldescribeSLCNdisordersinrelationtothefigurebellow.Toseeafulllistof‘whospeechandlanguagetherapistsworkwith’,pleasevisit:https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy#section-6

ForinformationpurposesForinformationpurposesONLY


52

Languagedisorderassociatedwith/inthecontextof…Thistermisusedwhentherearedifferentiatingbiomedicalconditionssuchas:• Autismspectrumdisorder(ASD)*.• Down’ssyndrome• Cerebralpalsy.• Sensori-neuralhearingloss.(Bishopetal,2016)

*Autismspectrumdisorder(ASD)

Autismisalifelong,developmentaldisabilitythataffectshowpeoplecommunicateandinteractwiththeworld.Thecharacteristicsofautismvary,butusuallyconsistsofpersistentdifficultieswith:• Socialcommunication&interaction(e.g.understandingfacialexpressions,jokes&sarcasm,emotions,ortherulesofconversation).• Restricted&repetitivebehaviours(e.g.theneedforpredictableroutinesorstrategiestosupportchange&transitions).

Itcanalsobecommonforapersonwithautismtoexperiencesensoryprocessingdifficulties,forexampleover-or-undersensitivitytosounds,touch,tasteetc.PeoplewithAutismmayalsoexperiencedifficultieswithsocialinteraction&communicationaswellasrestrictive/repetitivebehaviours.Itcanalsobecommontoexperiencesensoryprocessingdifficulties(alsosometimesreferredtoassensorysensitivity).Approximately1%ofthepopulationhaveAutism.

LanguageDisorderAlanguagedisorderisthetermusedforchildrenwithSLCN,wherethereisanindicationoffunctionalimpairmentandpoorprognosis.• Functionalimpairmentmeansbarrierstoeverydaylifeactivitiessuchascommunicationandlearning.• Poorprognosismeanstheirlanguagedifficultiesarelikelytopersist.Inotherwords,theirlanguagedifficultiesareunlikelytoresolvespontaneously,andtheyare

unlikelyto‘catchup’withtheirpeers.Ifachildstillhasseverelanguagedifficultiesbythetimetheyare5yearsold,theirlanguagedifficultiesarelikelytopersist. Developmentallanguagedisorder(DLD)DevelopmentalLanguageDisorder(previouslyknownasspecificlanguageimpairment-SLI)affectsthewaythatchildrenunderstandanduselanguage.Itisasevereandpersistentneedthatinterfereswitheverydaylifeandschoolachievement.ItisnotassociatedwithaknownbiomedicalconditionsuchasASDordown’ssyndrome.However,childrenwithDLDcanhaveco-occurringconditionssuchasADHD,dyslexiaandspeechdifficulties.Approximately7.5%ofCYPhaveDLD.

Childrenwhohavereceptivelanguagedifficulties(understanding)anddifficultiesacrossmanydomainsoflanguagearemorelikelytoneedspecialistsupportinordertomakeprogress.Areasofimpairmentinclude:• Grammar(e.gsyntaxandmorphology)• Semantics• Wordfindinghttps://radld.org/https://www.afasic.org.uk/about-talking/types-of-slcn/what-is-sli/https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/clinical-information/developmental-language-disorder

• Pragmatics• Verballearning/memory• Phonology

https://www.autism.org.uk/

ForinformationpurposesONLY


53

Speechsounddisorder(SSD)Speechsounddisordersisanumbrellatermandtheycanoccurinisolationorco-occurwithlanguagedifficulties.Belowisasummaryofthecategoriesandsomeareexplainedinfurtherdetail.Functionalspeechsounddisorders(noknowncause):• articulationdisorder(errorswithindividualspeechsounds)• phonologicaldisorder(errorswithspeechsoundprocesses)Motorspeechsounddisorders:• dysarthria(weakmuscles)• dyspraxia(difficultywithco-ordinatingspeechmuscles)Structuralspeechsounddisorders:• cleftpalateandotherorofacialdefect

DysarthriaDysarthriaiscausedbybraininjuryandresultsindifficultymovingthemusclesneededforspeech.Dysarthriacanbedevelopmentale.g.cerebralpalsy,oracquirede.g.astroke.Featuresmayinclude:• “Slurred”or“mumbled”speech.• Nasal-soundingorbreathy.• Errorsmaybeaffectedbytirednessandposture.https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/dysarthria/

Orofacialstructuraldefects(e.g.cleftlip/palate)Asplitoraseparationofthecleftlipand/orpalate.Itcanaffectoneorbothsides.Featuresmayinclude:• Velopharyngealdysfunction(VPD)e.g.hypernasalityand/ornasalairemission.• Articulationand/orphonologicalerrors.https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589942918&section=Overview

VerbaldyspraxiaAlsosometimesreferredtoas‘childhoodapraxiaofspeech’.Itisaconditionwherechildrenhavedifficultyinmakingandco-ordinatingtheprecisemovementsneededtoproduceclearspeech.Featuresmayinclude:• Alimitedrangeofconsonantandvowelspeechsounds.• Overuseofonesound(favouritearticulation).• Inconsistentproductionandunusualerrorpatterns.• Breakdowninsequencingsoundsinwords,particularly

asthelengthofwordsincreases.http://licensing.ican.org.uk/sites/licensing.ican.org.uk/files/pdfs/Verbal-Dyspraxia-Factsheet-May-2016.pdf

ArticulationandphonologicaldisordersArticulationdisordersfocusonerrorsofindividualspeechsounds(phoneticdevelopment).Whereasaphonologicaldisorderfocusesonrule-basederrorse.g.fronting,finalconsonantdeletion(phonologicalprocesses).Allchildrenwillmakespeecherrorsaspartoftypicaldevelopment(normscanvarybetweensources).However,mostchildrenareabletouseclearspeechsoundsbetween5-6yearsofage,withafewexceptionssuchas‘th’and‘r’.https://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=119



54

OtherareasofSLCN

VoiceAvoicedisordermaycausechangestothevoiceorcompletelossofvoice.Itmaybecausedbyhowyouuseyourvoiceoranothermedicalcondition.ENTdoctors(ears,noseandthroat)playanimportantroleindiagnosingandtreatingvoicedisorders.Featuresmayinclude:• Hoarse,croaky,strained,breathyorweakvoicequality.• Abnormalpitch(e.g.toohigh/loworpitchbreaks).• Abnormalloudness(e.g.toohigh/toolowordecreasedrange).• Increasedvocaleffort.• Frequentcoughingorthroatclearing.

https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/clinical-information/voicehttps://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589942600&section=Overview

FluencyStammering(alsosometimesreferredtoas‘stuttering’or‘dysfluency’)makesitphysicallyhardforsomeonetospeak.Someonewhostammerswillrepeat,prolongorgetstuckonsoundsorwords.Theremightalsobesignsofvisibletensionasthepersonstrugglestogetthewordout.Nationally,approximately5%ofchildrenstammeratsomepointandabout1%continuetostammerintoadulthood.

https://stamma.org/https://actionforstammeringchildren.org/SelectiveMutism(SM)SelectiveMutismisananxietydisorderwhichpreventsthoseaffectedfromspeakingincertainsituations,suchasatschoolorinpublic.A.personwithSMmaywanttospeak,butfindthemselvesphysicallyunabletodoso,duetotheiroverwhelminganxiety.Theywillbeabletospeakinother,lessanxietyprovokingsituations.

http://www.selectivemutism.org.uk/



55

4.3ReadingabilitiesdiagramThelinkbetweenspokenlanguageandphonologicalawareness.

ReadingabilitiesbasedonSnowlingandStackhouse1996(adaptedfromELKLAN‘languagebuilders’series).

Excellentreaders

Dyslexicreaders

&poorreaders

Poorreaders(difficultyde-codingandunderstanding)

Hyperlexicreaders(readingwithoutunderstanding)

Goodunderstandingofspokenlanguage

Poorunderstandingofspokenlanguage

Goodphonologicalawareness

Poorphonologicalawareness

GoodunderstandingofspokenlanguagePoorphonologicalawareness

PoorunderstandingofspokenlanguagePoorphonologicalawareness

GoodunderstandingofspokenlanguageGoodphonological

awareness

PoorunderstandingofspokenlanguageGoodphonological

awareness


56

4.4Linkstoorganisations&publishedreportsLocalsources• NHSPaediatricSpeechandLanguageTherapyinLutonandBedfordshire:https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/• Thelocaloffero CentralBedfordshireCouncil:https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/15/special_educational_needs_and_disability_-

_local_offer/134/about_the_local_offero BedfordBoroughCouncil:https://localoffer.bedford.gov.uk/kb5/bedford/directory/home.pageo LutonCouncil:https://directory.luton.gov.uk/kb5/luton/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0

Nationalsources• TheCommunicationTrusthttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/• ICANhttps://ican.org.uk/• AFASIChttps://www.afasic.org.uk/• Royalcollegeofspeechandlanguagetherapists(RCST)https://www.rcslt.org/Publishedreports/statutoryguidance• Don’tgetmewrongpublishedbyTheCommunicationTrusthttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/174/dontgetmewrong.pdf• AgenerationadriftpublishedbyTheCommunicationTrusthttps://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/31961/tct_genadrift.pdf• Professionaldevelopmentinspeech,languageandcommunication:FindingsfromanationalsurverypublishedbyTheCommunicationTrust

https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/526748/1._tct_workforce_development_report_final_online.pdf• ChildrenwithsevereSLCNpublishedbyICanhttps://ican.org.uk/media/1935/ican_talkseries9.pdf• Bercow:TenYearsOnpublishedbyICANandRCSLThttps://www.bercow10yearson.com/• Children’sconsulationreportpublishedbyWendyLeeLtdhttps://www.bercow10yearson.com/evidence/• SENDCodeofPractice(2014)https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25


57

4.5ToolsHerearearangeoftoolsavailabletoschoolstosupportidentificationandplanningofsupportforpupilswithSLCN.Mostofthesetoolsarefreetouse,includedwithinthetoolkitorwhichcanbeaccessedviathewebsitelinks(withtheexceptionofTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolswhichareavailabletopurchaseatalowone-offcost).SLCNindicatorschecklist(seebelow)–aquickscreenthatcanbeusedbeforetheprogressiontools.EALvsSLCNindicatorschecklist(seebelow)–aquickscreentoconsiderifdifficultiesinEnglishareduetoEALorSLCN.Typicaldevelopmentnorms–CommunicationTrust–tochecktypicalSLCdevelopment.

Forprimary:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/363850/tct_univspeak_5-11.pdfForsecondary:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/363856/tct_univspeak_11-18.pdfProgressiontools–CommunicationTrust–anassessmentwhichcanbeusedbyeducationprofessionalstospecificallyidentifywhichareasofSLCthepupilhasdifficultywith.Itdoesnotreplaceaspecialistassessmentfromaspeechandlanguagetherapist.

Forprimary:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/progression-tools-primary/Forsecondary:https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/resources/resources/resources-for-practitioners/progression-tools-secondaryFirstlanguagescreen-https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/how-to-refer/Speechscreener-https://childspeechbedfordshire.nhs.uk/how-to-refer/TalkingMats(seebelow)–acommunicationsymboltoolwhichcanbeusedbyeducationprofessionalstoinvolveCYP.


58

4.5.1TalkingMatsTalkingMatsisacommunicationsymboltoolwhichcanbeusedbyeducationprofessionalstoinvolveCYPinthedecision-makingprocesswhensettingoutcomes.Itsupportschildrenandyoungpeopleto:

• Thinkaboutandexploreissuesrelevanttothem• Structureandorganisetheirthoughts• SharetheirviewsandopinionsInpracticeTopic–whatyouwanttotalkaboutOptions–subcategoriesrelatingtothetopicTopscale–allowsCYPtoindicatetheirfeelingsabouteachtopicandoptionOncethetopicischosen,theCYPisgiventheoptionsoneatatimeandaskedtothinkaboutwhattheyfeelabouteachone.Theycanthenplacethesymbolundertheappropriatetopscalesymboltoindicatewhattheyfeel. WatchashortvideoofTalkingMatsbeingusedwithayoungpersonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzAgGmLYpE0Moreinformation,resourcesandtrainingcanbefoundat:https://www.talkingmats.com/where-you-work/talking-mats-and-education/


59

4.5.2SLCNindicatorschecklistPupilswithSLCNwillhavestrengthsanddifficultiesindifferentareas.Usethischecklistasastartingpointtoreflectonthepupil’sneeds.ThencomparetowhatisexpectedfortheirdevelopmentusingTheCommunicationTrust‘universallyspeaking’.IftheyarepresentingwithSLCN,thenwerecommendyouuseTheCommunicationTrustprogressiontoolstoinvestigatefurther.

AreaofSLCN Tickifapplies

Understanding Dotheyfinditdifficulttolisten?Example:attentionbetterin1:1situationsorwithnon-verbaltasks

Dotheywatch/copyotherssotheycanworkoutwhattodo?

Dotheystruggletofollowlongorcomplexinstructions?

Vocabulary Dotheyhavealimitedrangeofvocabularyordifficultylearningnewvocabulary?Example:usealotoffillers“er”,over-usegeneralwords“that”,orusethewrongwords

Dotheystruggleto‘find’wordstheyknow

Sentences Dotheyhavedifficultyusingwell-formedsentences?Example:useshortsentences,makeerrorsormissoutpronouns/markers

Dotheysoundmuddledwhentalkinginlongersentences?Example:mixupthewordorder

Dotheyrelyalotonpointingorgesturestogettheirmessageacross?


60

AreaofSLCN Tickifapplies

StorytellingandNarrative Dotheyhavedifficultytalkingaboutevents,re-tellingstoriesormakinguptheirownstories?Example:includeirrelevancies,don’tsetthesceneordon’tlinkeventstogether

Speech(speechsounds,stammeringandvoice) Aretheydifficulttounderstandduetospeecherrors?Example:errorsinproducingspecificsounds,missoutorsubstitutesounds

Dotheystammer?Example:repetitione.g.‘b-b-b-but’,prolongatione.g.‘mmmine’,blocke.g.nosoundcomesout,tensioninfaceormakeextramovementse.g.blinking

Dotheyhaveanunusualvoicequality?Example:hoarse,husky,breathy,roughorweakvoicequality.Voicecutsoutwhilstspeaking.

SocialInteraction Dotheyhavedifficultystarting,joininginormaintainingplay/conversationswithothers?Examples:playonownoralongside.Interrupt,givetoomuchinformation,switchtopicwithoutsignalorpersevereonafavouredtopic

Dotheyfinditdifficulttounderstandanddiscusstheirown/otherpeople’sfeelings?

Dotheyfinditdifficulttounderstandandusenon-verbalcommunication?Example:bodylanguage,eye-contact,personalspaceortoneofvoice

Dotheyhavedifficultywithunderstandingnon-literallanguage?Example:jokes,idioms,sarcasms,metaphors


61

4.5.3EALvsSLCNindictorschecklistItcansometimesbeunclearwhetherapupil’slanguageabilitiesareduetoEALorSLCN.Usethischecklistasastartingpoint.The‘additionalquestions’canbeusedtofurtherexploreanswers.Remembertoaskparentsquestionsoraskastaffmemberwhospeaksthesamelanguage(ifpossible).Mainquestion AdditionalQuestion1) Whichisthepupil’sstrongestlanguage?

Whichlanguagesarespokenathome,howmuchandbywhom?Example:siblingsmaybespeakinginEnglish.

HowmuchpreviousexposurehasthepupilhadtoEnglish?Example:thepupilmayhaveattendedanEnglish-speakingnurseryforacoupleofyears.

Whichlanguagedoesthepupilcommunicatemostlyin?Example:parentsmayaskquestionsintheirhomelanguage,buttheirchildmayrespondbackinEnglish.

Comment

CommentComment Comment


62

2) Arethereanyconcernsaboutthepupils’homelanguage?

Importantnote:Don’tpresumethattheCYPisusingwordsfromtheirhomelanguage-theymaybeusingjargon(madeupwordsnotpresentineitherlanguage).Askforexact(e.g.word-for-word)examplesofwhatthechildsays.

Havetheyreachedtheirexpectedmilestones?Example:parentsmayreportthattheirchildwasslowertostartspeakingcomparedtotheirsiblings.

Aretheyeasilyunderstoodbyothers?Example:thepupilmaynotbeusingrecognisablewordsandsentencesthatmakesense.

Comment

CommentComment

AdditionalComments


63

3) Havetheymadeprogress?

Havetheymadeprogresswithtargetedgroups?Example:thepupilmayhavemadeprogresswithtargetedsupportafterapproximatelyaterm.

Comment

Comment

AdditionalComments AdditionalComments

Documents

SLC Toolkit for Schools [Feb 2020]- FINAL · The toolkit is a guide to the whole process of supporting SLC skills within ... category of ‘communication and interaction’. However,