Yesterday saw the 2019 Special Needs and Disability conference take place at the Edgbaston cricket ground – for practical purposes this is an excellent venue – accessible, with plenty of parking, good facilities and catering. But what about the Conference content? There are children in every class who have Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Most children with SEN have SLCN. Soundswell therapists were at the conference today to give their seminar delegates practical ‘top tips’ to take away and implement in classrooms tomorrow. Why?
Read Full Article
Click below for the handouts from our presentation at the conference - thank you
Read Full Article
Supporting children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) at Key Stages 1 & 2 A two day course Tuesday 5th November, Tuesday 26th November 2019 9.00pm – 3.30pm Cofton Primary School, Wootton Road Birmingham B31 4ST
Read Full Article
Due to ongoing developments in our service we have exciting opportunities for independent SLTs - or those who might be considering taking that route. We deliver services to EY settings, primary, secondary, and special schools in the West Midlands. We are particularly interested to hear from therapists with special school experience.
Read Full Article
‘Measuring impact’ – are the current buzz words in schools and settings everywhere. Continually & routinely staff are being asked to evidence the impact of interventions delivered and be able to show that children & young people (CYP) make progress. Measuring impact (and, by inference, positive impact) is doubly important for those schools buying in a service. The progress that CYP make and the gains in staff knowledge, skills and confidence also equate with justification for the investment made in speech and language therapy (SLT). Read on to find out what to expect from Soundswell.
Read Full Article
Sleuth (Oxford Concise English Dictionary): • Noun: a detective • Verb: sleuthing: carry out a search or investigation As of February 25th, staff at the Bridge special school in Sutton are super sleuths. At their recent inset day Bridge staff became the very first group to receive the brand new Soundswell SSLEUTHS training.
Read Full Article
CALLING ALL LANGUAGE LEADERS ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO KNOW HOW TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH POOR VOCABULARY LEVELS? DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WHO FIND IT HARD TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY?
Read Full Article
Hi, my name is Bryony Aitken and I’m an independent Speech and Language Therapist based in the West Midlands. I work with Soundswell and run my own company Speech Spot Ltd, supporting children who have a range of Speech, Language and Communication Needs in primary schools, homes, nurseries and secondary schools.
Read Full Article
Last week Soundswell’s Jo & Diana headed north up the M6 to deliver Wellcomm training to groups of nursery staff from across Warrington. The participants were welcoming, enthusiastic and contributed to making the sessions dynamic and successful.
Read Full Article
For a relatively modest investment you can make a significant impact on the speech, language and communication environment in your setting. Read on to find out how!
Read Full Article
Feedback from SPARRK training session (inner city Birmingham school) February 2019 On a scale of 1-5 (where 1 is the lowest & 5 the highest) participants were asked how confident they felt about the statements below
Read Full Article
Designed for use with individual pupils, SPARRK provides you, the Practitioner, with the means of assessing the most important phonological awareness skills of children from Foundation to KS4.
Read Full Article
Phonics teaching is systematic, rigorous and a cornerstone of the curriculum from the beginning of Reception. The phonics test at the end of year 1 is the final hurdle. For the majority of children this approach works; they acquire phonics and are able to successfully build and blend - picking up phonological awareness knowledge and skills along the way.
Read Full Article
Training is a frequently-used intervention for speech and language therapy services – and Soundswell is no exception. It’s an attractive option due to its wide reach and potential cost-effectiveness. But – budget constraints mustn’t be the only reason for choosing training : impact and influence are just as important. We need to be clear as to the purpose and be rigorous in collecting and acting upon feedback. Settings need to know what is available and be able to choose what meets their needs and why, at any given point. Accessed shrewdly, training is not only excellent value for money but it will make a positive difference to children with speech, language & communication difficulties (SLCN)
Read Full Article
We know that children taking part in Wellcomm groups can make significant gains in terms of language skills. But… does this translate into measurable gains in terms of assessment in the EYFS? Yes it does! Louise, Senco (and Deputy Head) at Welford Primary has the data to prove it!
Read Full Article
Hayley has worked for Soundswell for 4 years now. Find out what Hayley's biggest challenge is and what makes her giggle at work
Read Full Article
In December 2017, the Department for Education (DfE) launched Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential: a plan for improving social mobility through education. A major ambition in the plan is to close the word gap in the early years. The need to tackle developmental gaps at the earliest opportunity, particularly focussing on the early language and literacy skills, is currently sharply in focus. So ….. how did Soundswell ‘s Jo get involved? Here is her story.
Read Full Article
Soundswell have been recommending the Wellcomm Toolkit for a number of years. During this time we have developed more in-depth ways of gathering information to identify which children could be more successfully grouped together. We also encourage schools and settings to look at different ways data can measure impact. Here is a very ‘good news’ story from Court Farm Primary in Erdington.
Read Full Article
The value of early language screening at a universal level cannot be over-estimated. Proactive, quality Early Years settings routinely screen their new intakes, (Wellcomm by gl-assessment is the language screening tool of choice in many settings), and put in place appropriate interventions. But … it’s becoming more evident, particularly with the arrival of 2 year-olds, that some children are just not ready to be either reliably screened or to benefit from an intervention group. Who are these children and what can we do to help?
Read Full Article
What is the Word Gap? Who is disadvantaged and why? What are the plans for positive change? December 2017 saw the publication of a national plan to improve social mobility through education, by removing ‘potential obstacles’ – in this case improving the less favourable outcomes for disadvantaged children who have poor language skills.
Read Full Article
Are you working to support children with SLCN? Language for Learning courses and resources empower teaching staff and parents to support children in accessing meaningful language learning experiences across the school day.
Read Full Article
Have you struggled hard to justify spending money on speech and language therapy this time round? Have you had to stand your corner with the senior leadership team and/or Governing Body? Here is the proof that the fight was worth it. For the first time, robust research shows the benefits to schools of purchasing input – in addition to what is available from the NHS.
Read Full Article
I worked for the NHS as a speech and language therapist ( SaLT) for 24 years before starting my own practice providing services to schools and families. In a very short space of time I was fully booked and that's when I called my trusted colleague Diana- and Soundswell was born!!
Read Full Article
If you are thinking of Speech & Language Therapy as a career, read Sophie's advice about how to get started
Read Full Article
Nicki tell us her top tip for parents:- It’s really worrying for parents when their children aren’t saying as much as they think they should and there can be a tendency for adults to talk more, ask more questions, fill the silences as a well-meaning method of helping. I would say, relax (if you can), stand back and watch your child to see what they enjoy playing with, looking at, are interested in. You can then add in words/ short phrases to label what the child is holding/ playing with and comment on what they are doing. Allow lots of pauses and count to 10 to allow your child to time to respond.
Read Full Article
In the second of our 'meet the team' articles, Emily describes how she started her career and what are her biggest challenges.
Read Full Article
Denise Charnock has worked with Soundswell for about 2 years now, read on to find out what advice she would give to worried parents and anyone considering speech & language therapy as a career
Read Full Article