Speech, Language & Communication

Speech, Language & Communication Needs

SLCN is the term given to describe the extensive range of needs related to all aspects of communication – from understanding others to forming sounds, words and sentences to expressing ideas and emotions and using language socially.

Language – in order to follow what is being said to us, we need the ability to understand words and sentences. We need to organise our thoughts and ideas using appropriate/ relevant vocabulary into grammatically correct sentences preparing us to be ready for talking.
Speech – we need to be able and have the ability to combine sounds together to say words.
Communication – we need to be able to say the right thing, at the right moment, and in the correct way. It involves combining speech and language skills to give messages to others and to understand the given responses.

Speech, Language and Communication are complex skills that develops gradually over time from the moment a child is born. It is important that children develop a firm foundation of earlier skills such as listening and playing so that they can successfully develop later skills such as using tricky sounds and spelling.

Evidence shows that family status impacts on children’s speech language and communication with children living in poverty/low income families hearing less quantity and quality of words and of the words heard a large emphasis on prohibitions words than affirmation words.

Identifying SLCN can be problematic for many reasons: children may have other difficulties as well as SLCN, they may have a wide and complex range of needs and therefore there can be co-occurrence with other labels and diagnoses. SLCN is often considered to be a ‘hidden disability’. Some aspects of SLCN are more visible than others, particularly those associated with speech and sounds. Others are less so, for example the child who is experiencing difficulties understanding or using language may appear to be inattentive, passive or even rude. There are children who become very skilled at hiding their difficulties, e.g. by watching other people so they know what to do or by pretending they know when they don’t. SLCN may be missed altogether or masked by these other characteristics.

We know that early identification leads to better outcomes for children and young people, so the sooner a need is identified the better.

It is crucial that all early years settings recognise the importance of communication and adopt a whole setting approach to developing every child’s speech, language and communication skills. This involves:

Working in partnership with parents/carers and providing information about developing speech, language and communication skills at home
Ensuring everyone in the nursery/setting/school is aware of SLCN with some members of staff trained to a higher level of competence
Creating language and communication friendly environments
Use of identification tools across all ages to ensure children with SLCN are identified as early as possible
Providing a range of intervention approaches to help address children’s SLCN and working closely with external agencies to support this.

Communication Friendly Settings

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development in the EYFS Framework. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

A Communication Friendly Setting is one which

Provides abundant opportunities for everyone to talk and to listen
Allows time for children to understand and take part
Makes communication as easy, effective and enjoyable as possible through the resources/provision that are provided
Thinks carefully about how to maximise the value of adult-child interactions to support SLC development.

“The number and quality of the conversations children have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial.” (Educational Programme for Communication & Language – September 2021)

Aspects to consider when creating a communication friendly setting …

IF you or your setting would like further guidance or training on how to become a communication friendly setting please contact EYteam@wakefield.gov.uk

Language Development Programmes

Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP)

Initially this is a specific programme for a small group of targeted schools / settings across the Local Authority. We currently have 16 involved in our Wakefield Partnership. The materials and resources used are by ELKLAN. We are currently putting some plans in place to roll this training out wider for Early Years Practitioners across the district.
The EYPDP fund is focused on working with Pre-Reception Early Year’s workforce to help raise quality in settings and is targeted to benefit disadvantaged children.
As the name suggests, the focus is on the development of staff so that they provide high quality practice which leads to improvement to the early language, literacy and numeracy skills of children aged between 2 and 4 years, by equipping practitioners with the right skills and expertise to ensure children are well-prepared for the Reception Year.

If your setting is interested in finding out more about the EYPD or would like to access some of the training, please contact EYteam@wakefield.gov.uk

Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI)

In August 2020 Vicky Ford (Minister for Children) announced that …

Reception-age children would benefit from a multi-million pound package of funding to boost their early language skills.
Schools were being urged to sign up for an early years ‘catch up’ programme focused on raising outcomes in speaking and language skills among young pupils whose education has been disrupted by Covid-19 at a crucial time for their development.
This was the Nuffield Early Language Intervention Programme (NELI).

The Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) is a 20-week targeted programme. It is designed to improve the oral language skills of Reception aged children aged 4–5 in need of language support. NELI can be delivered by a trained teaching assistant (TA), or early years educator, through small group and one-to-one sessions.

The initial focus of the programme is on expressive and receptive vocabulary, listening and narrative skills through discussion of key thematic images and the retelling, creating and summarising of stories. Towards the end of the programme, phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge activities are also introduced as a foundation for early literacy skills.

Schools in Wakefield were offered the opportunity to undertake training to deliver NELI to Reception age pupils as part of the DfE National Tutoring Programme to address gaps in learning that have opened up as a result of the pandemic. Around 40% schools nationally have registered for the programme and are now delivering it. In Wakefield 54% of schools are either delivering the programme or have had the training and have the resources to do so which is tremendous.

The initial allocation of places was targeted at schools with the highest levels of deprivation. However, following the success of the NELI programme, which has a strong evidence base to demonstrate impact in closing language gaps, the DfE is now funding a second year of the programme for a ‘national scale up’ which will be available to all schools.

Further information / outline of the programme can be found at Home | Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) (teachneli.org)

WellComm

WellComm is another toolkit which was developed by Speech and Language Therapists and support settings to identify children who may have SLCN and then to plan appropriate play based activities in the setting and at home to support language development. Further information is available at WellComm – GL Assessment (gl-assessment.co.uk)

The SLCN Pathway

Through the Wakefield Early Years Strategy and associated SLCN Strategy, the development of a SLCN Pathway is a key priority for 2022.

Once complete the pathway will aim to:-

offer families tools and resources to promote play, learning and development in the home environment
Universally, ensure all children have appropriate language and communication opportunities.
support parents as well as professionals in the identification of and provision for children with SLCN
promote early intervention as soon as a need is identified
support inclusive practice by promoting adaptations to the learning environment to cater for the needs of children with SLCN
support settings/schools in tracking progress and monitoring outcomes
promote the active participation of children and their parents in the process
signpost sources of further information and support to anyone involved in developing children’s speech, language and communication skills
provide a procedural structure for referrals and intervention at different levels to help professionals access appropriate support for different types of SLCN
clarify the roles and responsibilities of all concerned in this process and to help ensure consistency of response
promote the use of a framework to address workforce competences

The pathway will be shared and promoted widely with the EY sector once complete in 2022.