Two major school membership organisations have posted losses as schools tighten their belts in the face of budget restraints (as reported recently in ‘Curriculum Chatter’). But CPD is now more important than ever as, on a daily basis, staff face the challenge of supporting (and educating) children with a range of increasingly complex needs, including those with speech, language & communication needs (SLCN). SLCN affects 10% of all children – rising to 50% in areas of social disadvantage (Law et al 2017). Look around your classroom today: as many as half of those children may be struggling to access the curriculum. Do you know how best to help? Read on to find out about SLCN CPD from Soundswell …..
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No – you haven’t misread this, it isn’t a typo! Matt is the head of content at Famly, a nursery management software company from Denmark. Soundswell’s Jo and Diana took part in a video interview for Famly, as part of their attendance at the Manchester Childcare Expo to present a seminar on universal language screening.
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It has never been easy to make sure that any/all staff working with C&YP on the therapists’ caseload are aware of exactly what is a priority and how to weave support into curriculum activities. Things have become even more of a challenge as the TA workforce is reduced, therapists find themselves more isolated and everyone has so many demand and pressures. It isn’t uncommon for the SEN team in a school to say that class staff just ‘don’t engage’. Even when they are willing, they just don’t know enough to be able to move things forward. In one setting, the solution to the disengagement proved to be drastic indeed….
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Young, dynamic and savvy, the newly appointed Head at the one form entry Orchards Primary Academy understood the link between good language skills and future educational success. Three years ago she chose to invest time and money in a therapy service, and Soundswell training in how to make the most of the Wellcomm speech and language Toolkit. Staff started using Wellcomm in the Nursery & Reception and then in Pre-school. As we know, positive and enduring change takes time…..
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Remember the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the frenzy of activity as the deadline of 28th May approached? Speech and language therapists and schools alike scrambled to abstract what they needed to know from the mountains of (often conflicting) information available. Was it worth the effort….?
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One of Soundswell's therapists had an inspiring conversation in school this term, read on to hear what a year 5 pupil thinks she does in her job !
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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?
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Click below for the handouts from our presentation at the conference - thank you
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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
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‘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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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!
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Hayley has worked for Soundswell for 4 years now. Find out what Hayley's biggest challenge is and what makes her giggle at work
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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!!
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If you are thinking of Speech & Language Therapy as a career, read Sophie's advice about how to get started
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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.
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In the second of our 'meet the team' articles, Emily describes how she started her career and what are her biggest challenges.
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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
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