1. Raising Awareness of Speech, Language and Communication Needs
Specialist Teaching and Preschool Service
Raising Awareness of Speech, Language and Communication Needs
All school staff can have an impact

2. Outcomes
To have:
an improved awareness of what is meant by Speech, Language and Communication skills
an increase in knowledge about Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
a better understanding of the way SLCN affect pupils in school
some practical strategies for supporting pupils with SLCN.
Typical language development
If we learn a little about how language develops in most pupils, we can understand better when things are not following a typical pattern in the pupils we come into contact with in school.

3. “Almost every educational skill pre-supposes the use of language.”
Dockrell, J, and Lindsay, G, (1998); The ways in which speech and language difficulties impact on children’s access to the curriculum. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 14:2, pp
We teach largely through the medium of language. Every day in school children need to listen, read and write for a significant part of the day. They also need to use and understand language to communicate their needs and engage in social interaction.
One of the messages we are keen to share is that those strategies that support children with language delay or difficulties can also promote learning for children with other or indeed no additional needs. Embedding such strategies into daily classroom practice is a move towards a more inclusive approach but that must involve both teachers and LSAs.

4. Speech refers to
being able to say sounds accurately, fluently and clearly
Language refers to
using and understanding words and sentences in speaking/ listening
Communication refers to
how we use language and interact with others verbally/non-verbally

5. Language development Speech Spoken language
Attention and listening
Play and interaction
Understanding language
(receptive)
Spoken language
(expressive)
Speech
Vocabulary is a key part of both of these areas
This is how typical language develops, so it is important to be aware of all of these areas when working with children with SLCN.
Speech is often the part of speech and language development that people are most concerned about. This is because it is easily identified; a child comes into school and it is easy to spot. This can also be true for expressive language, e.g. missing words out of sentences / muddled word order. It can more difficult to identify difficulties with receptive language which are often hidden or masked by other coping strategies, e.g. challenging behaviour / withdrawn.
It is important when working with a child who has speech / articulation difficulties, that all other areas of the language pyramid are considered to ensure that a child has all the underlying skills needed in order to be successful.

6. Incidence
In some areas more than 50% begin EYFS with inadequate language skills
10% of all children have long term SLCN
7% have a specific difficulty with language
1% have severe and complex SLCN
These figures are higher in areas of deprivation
Ref: A Generation Adrift - The Communication Trust

7. Poor communication skills impact on ...
Educational achievement
Vocabulary at 5 is a powerful predictor of GCSE achievement
66% of 7-14 year olds with serious behaviour problems have language impairment
Behaviour / Vulnerability
65% of young people in young offender institutions have communication difficulties
Criminality
40% of 7-14 year olds referred to child psychiatric services had a language impairment that had never been suspected
Children from low income families lag behind those from high income ones by 16 mths in vocabulary at school entry
Mental Health
Disadvantage Cycle
47% of employers say they can’t get recruits with the communication skills they need
Employability

8. In school, SLCN may affect pupils’ access to the curriculum in many ways:
In literacy, pupils will need to be able to use spoken language before they can be expected to write it
In maths, pupils may have difficulties with concepts such as time, quantity, size, sequencing, comparing, etc
In science, the ability to sequence, classify and categorise, understand cause and effect, explain observations can all be affected

9. In school, SLCN may affect pupils’ access to the curriculum in many ways:
In history, the concept of time is particularly challenging
In geography, positional vocabulary and lack of personal experience may present further problems
All subjects have subject specific vocabulary that pupils with require support in learning, using, retaining and generalising.

10. Review of pupil progress
Code of Practice
Identification
of need
Assessment
Review of pupil progress
Provision
Plan and Do
Baseline

11. Identification and Initial Assessment
observation of how language is used and understood in the classroom
observation of behaviour as communication
talking to parents
completing a screen or checklist
work scrutiny
consulting with other professionals
reading reports/information
There is a document in school that the school SENCo can support you with, that will have been provided by the SLCN specialist teaching team previously, that can help you with starting to record your observations.
End with ‘what do I do with the information I have gathered……’

12. Supporting Assessment
Universally Speaking documents (developmental norms of children’s language) and the associated checklists (ages 0-5, 5-11, 11-16)
The Small Talk leaflet
also has a quick checklist to discuss with parents for children starting school.
It is important to familiarise with the ages and stages of typical development. The checklists in this resource enable practitioners to assess the developmental level of children’s speech, language and communication.
Small Talk - It is also important as part of your assessments that you gather the views and observations of parents.
Follow the link to Universally Speaking – choose an age checklist to look at with staff. Discuss whether any of the age expectations come as a surprise, did you expect it to be an expectation for the given age?

13. Every lesson is a language lesson!
Key message
Every lesson is a language lesson!
Discuss
Retell
Analyse
Predict
We should use every opportunity to develop pupils’ skills
Describe
Evaluate

14. What can you do to support language?
Attention and listening
Play and interaction
Understanding language
Spoken language
(expressive)
Speech
Vocabulary is a key part of both of these areas
Reminder of the different areas of language.

15. Supporting listening and attention
Listening and attention is the important base for SLCN.
There are a whole series of articles written by the SLCN Specialist Teaching Team that explores this area in more detail and gives some useful ‘top tips’ for supporting listening and attention.
Please follow this link:
Reminder of the different areas of language.
Listening and Attention - We’re not going into detail in this training, however there are a few key things you can do to support a child’s listening and attention.
Listening and Attention

16. Supporting play and interaction
There are a whole series of articles written by the SLCN Specialist Teaching Team that explores this area in more detail and gives some useful ‘top tips’ for supporting play and interaction.
Please follow this link:
Commentary is a very useful tool and not just for younger children. Providing a narrative whilst children are working on tasks models good language and helps children understand processes. Encouraging children to provide commentary for each other extends opportunities for use of language across a range of classroom activities.
Play and interaction
Listening and Attention

17. Supporting receptive language
Understanding Language
Speech is often the part of speech and language development that people are most concerned about. It is necessary for all the underlying skills to be in place before targeting work directly on speech
Play and interaction
Listening and Attention

18. Supporting receptive language
Make learning explicit; limit outcomes – what is the key focus of the lesson?
Use key words – frequent revision and pre-teaching of vocabulary
Use visual clues – mind maps/visual task boards, etc
Reduce length of instructions and use simplified language, give extra time to process – do not keep rephrasing!
Please follow this link for the series of articles relating to receptive language:

19. Supporting expressive language
Understanding Language
Speech is often the part of speech and language development that people are most concerned about. It is necessary for all the underlying skills to be in place before targeting work directly on speech
Play and interaction
Listening and Attention

20. Supporting expressive language
Give thinking time; allow time to process information and to formulate a response.
Use closed questions or forced answers, eg is it A or B?
Model back correct responses – extend language slightly or use correct grammar.
Please follow this link for the series of articles relating to expressive language:
Rehearsal allows children to practise oral work (or orally for written work). Repeating what they have said, word for word, helps them check for sense and structure.

21. If you can’t talk about it you can’t write about it!
Copy writing is a physical skill to develop handwriting; it does NOT develop a child’s ability to write independently.

22. Supporting Vocabulary Development (Receptive and Expressive)
Listening and Attention
Play and interaction
Understanding Language
Expressive Language
Vocabulary is a key part of both of these areas
Speech is often the part of speech and language development that people are most concerned about. It is necessary for all the underlying skills to be in place before targeting work directly on speech

23. Supporting vocabulary
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
words that the child needs to know
everyday words of the environment
words of the curriculum
words that the child wants to know.
VOCABULARY IS OBVIOUSLY PART OF BOTH RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOTH LEARNING AND SOCIAL INTERACTION. Pre-teaching key concepts, ideas and vocabulary prior to lessons can enable children to access learning at a higher level, rather than focusing on meaning alone.
Bloom and Lahey model…vocabulary in CONTENT area – it’s the label for objects, actions, concepts
Activities need to focus on the words the child needs to know both in curriculum and everyday
Often area of huge difficulty which might be in their understanding and/or their use – they might find learning, storing and retrieval of new words a problem.

24. Supporting vocabulary
This is an example of one of the resources available free on for developing vocabulary
Explain:
phonological in red,
location, category, function in green etc.
Use whole class opportunities to explore properties of new words.
Link to ‘Talk for Writing’

25. Expressive vocabulary activity
Explain how to make a cup of coffee without using the following words
cup
kettle
pour
spoon
coffee
Imagine what this activity would have been like if we had asked you to explain how the internal combustion of an engine works. How would you feel?

26. Would it have been easier if …?

27. Importance of using visual support
Things that we see enhance communication.
Understanding (Receptive)
helps focus attention
helps with understanding vocabulary
helps with understanding instructions.
Expression (Expressive)
teaches the child a range of ways to communicate
allows the child to get message understood.
Repetition and clarification of instructions or information helps children to understand. Helping children to break down tasks into manageable chunks and think about their organisation can help them develop a more independent approach to learning.

28. Using photos, pictures and objects
Concrete
Real objects
Object symbols
Colour photos
Black and white photos
Line drawings
Written words
The earlier the developmental age, the more concrete the items need to be.
Abstract

29. Supporting language - materials
To support all areas of the language pyramid:
you will find the materials in the Essex Language and Communication School Award very useful in providing practical examples of strategies (factsheets)
All can be found on Essex local offer (under the subheading ‘extension materials’)

30. Supporting good practice - summary
The main goal is to develop functional communication skills
Research indicates that the more oral communication a child experiences the better his language and literacy develops
Communication friendly schools and classrooms will develop the language skills of all the children as well as those with SLCN
Functional Communication Skills
the SEND Code of Practice 2014 states that parents want their children to develop meaningful communication that increases their ability to be accepted, included and independent).
Main skills or vocabulary eg:
The reason for the Viking invasion/how to ask for dinner in the dinner hall.
Oral communication experiences
– this means that those with delayed reading skills make more progress when they are read to and can talk about books and stories.
Vitally important.

31. Useful resources and websites
Essex Language and Communication School Award;
The Inclusion Development Programme supporting children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs;
The Ultimate Guide to Phonological Awareness;
Language Builders;

32. Action points What are the implications in your school?
What is the one thing you will try to do following this session?
DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN/WILL CHANGE