Talk of the Town Staff Meeting - Listening Teaching children how to listen

A sustainable approach Positive outcomes for children Overall aims of ToTT A quick reminder... A sustainable approach Early identification Positive outcomes for children Joint working Reminder of the aims of the project – don’t spend any real time on this – its there just for reference really ToTT has 4 core aims as shown in the diagram. Within these aims there are 4 component parts: A professional workforce development programme for all staff The identification of speech, language and communication needs, including early identification of developmental delays and clinical need Evidence-based universal and targeted strategies to support the development of age appropriate speech, language and communication Speech, language and communication as integral to whole school planning and practice Early identification of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) Joint working between parents and practitioners across health and education Positive outcomes for children and young people with improved speech, language and communication skills A sustainable approach to ensure that policy and practice continue to support positive outcomes

A universal and targeted approach Just a quick reminder that ToTT aims to ensure there is a shift in the way that schools support all children’s speech, language and communication at a universal and targeted level of input ToTT does support links with the local NHS service for those children with long term specific speech, language and communication needs; this is to ensure that there is a collaborative three tier approach in place to support children who are identified as requiring clinical support.

The ToTT model A designated ToTT Speech and Language Therapist Context Analysis Targeted interventions Universal approaches Strategies to support parents Sustainability planning Again – a quick whip through all the components of the ToTT approach....

A range of universal approaches Supporting good listening Early identification of SLCN Autumn 2 = Listening Teaching children the key skills of how to listen – linking key behaviours to listening Spring 1 = Early Identification. Support to understand what to look out for to spot children who are struggling with their communication skills: What are the pupils skills in speech? In language? In communication? Consider prevalence: what would you expect in your school, class, students... Know what to expect for their age: Universally Speaking can help – copies will be provided to your school... Look beneath the surface: what about behaviour, literacy, social / emotional factors and self esteem

A range of universal approaches Vocabulary teaching and learning Summer 1 and Summer 2 A choice from; Spoken narrative Language, Thinking and Learning Classroom Talk Dependent on which topics are best for your school… Spring 2 = Vocabulary teaching and learning Supporting robust vocabulary teaching Summer 1 and Summer 2 – a choice from.....

Objectives for today; listening skills The focus today is on teaching children how to really listen Based on evidenced approaches By the end of the session we will have: Shared a bit of theory Shared best principles for teaching listening skills Given some practical suggestions Shared thoughts on implementation Developed a ‘next steps’ plan Shared thoughts on how to monitor implementation and success of strategies

Listening? You’re not listening! Are you listening? You need to listen! Comments frequently made to children – what support do we give? Listen to each other...

Listening Some evidence What do you think? Background noise can affect children’s ability to listen Research showed parent child interaction decreased with the TV is on (Hollch, 2005) Just ask question to whole group – ask for some examples if possible Do children find listening easy?

Listening - Activity Briefly discuss with the person next to you: What do we mean when we say ‘listen’? Is it an active or a passive process? What exactly are we expecting children to do? Just ask question to whole group – ask for some examples if possible

Listening Often we say ‘listen’ but we don’t always teach the skills/behaviours needed to do it We all have different ways to encourage listening (any examples?) It is useful to make the component skills of listening explicit and to teach these Based on research on comprehension monitoring Summarise any discussions from pairs.

We know this works Teach key behaviours that make up listening Reward behaviours and link back to listening Sitting still Looking at the person who is speaking Thinking about what that person says Waiting your turn Use simple repetitive language “good sitting”, “good looking” “good waiting” Link behaviours to listening “good thinking...that’s great listening” Warn children they need to use the behaviours “I need you to really look and think to help you listen” “Catch” children doing good listening Give extra turns for good listening behaviours Often children don’t know what to do and don’t know if they are listening well or not – this approach helps with both

An active process What do we need to DO?! Just to emphasisethis point

Teach key principles first Tell the children – “This game teaches us how to listen well” This helps them know why they are doing what they are doing Activity Can we have a volunteer to demonstrate this activity... Mention that children like this as they like to see adults getting things wrong! It helps them remember! Model for the staff how you would teach good listening. For an example/reminder, see the communication cookbook DVD. It is really important to model this as it ensures teachers know what to do and helps the principles really stick Get a volunteer from the group, model using the same approach as talk boost training. Acknowledge some people will have covered this, but useful to revisit. When done well, this can make a massive difference to children’s listening In a conversation with the volunteer, demonstrate not good sitting. Ask the group if you were listening. Demonstrate by not knowing the answer to a simple question. Ask the group what you need to do – e.g. sit still. Link sitting with listening. Go through the same process for looking – good sitting, poor looking. Then the same for thinking – good sitting and looking, but poor thinking. Finally demonstrate all three behaviours and show you are listening. All the way through, show rather than tell, ask the group’s opinion, demonstrate sitting, looking and thinking and link to listening. Review ‐ Ask the group – “So, what do we need to do for good listening?” We would do exactly the same with the children, then once they have the idea of how to listen well, you can use the praise to both encourage and reward them for good listening – children often start using the words themselves and become skilled at recognising when they are and aren’t listening well.

Next steps... It may take a while, but once children have the idea of the key behaviours ... it’s all about practice Some suggested games and activities to support elements of listening (e.g. sitting, thinking etc) and to support listening overall

Resources Give out suggested games and activities Suggest they can add others of their own if they have specific activities that work Most importantly they all need to ensure they teach the key principles first – this is the foundation on which everything else will build If time: Talk through each resource above and show examples. Demonstrate some of the listening games. Also show staff the Rag rating form for listening which can be used to identify and monitor children.

Key Actions Key actions Key action What do you do already? What else do you need to do? Where do you need support? Identify key actions How will you know it is a success? 1 5 2 Key actions Key action Spend 10 minutes looking at activities and encourage them to identify things they think would work Everyone needs to teach the key principle first Ask each person to write down their key actions write a note for themselves and a copy for you 4 3

Plan in key actions For example When will you teach the key principles? Then...other activities... Who? Teacher to lead with TA support What? Basic principles first with one activity per week repeated each day Where? Carpet time When? Starter session for literacy In pairs / threes / key stages, ask the group to think about how they will plan the activities into daily practice – 5 minutes Do they need any SALT support to do this? For example.... To model activities in class To highlight specific children To follow up activities with children in the classroom What are the barriers and how would they overcome them

How will you measure success? Your ToTT SaLT could support this You could use the listening rating scale Or other ideas you may already use in class... Identifying children who are struggling Measuring using the rating scale provided Spend 2 minutes talking to your partner about options gather feedback from the group as to how they might want to capture success

A word about adult talk... For children who really struggle; Keep language simple if needed and “chunk” instructions Keep things concrete Avoid ... ‘before you do X, do Y’. Say things in the order you want them to happen Avoid too many words...e.g. ‘would you like to...’ ‘please could you...’

More about adult talk... For all children; Use unpredictability to encourage listening Watch out for phrases that distract e.g. line up, playtime Remind children whole class instructions apply to them

Round-up and close Any questions