5% of children enter school with speech, language or communication difficulties. The Better Communication Research Programme (Department for Education, 2012) clearly identifies speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) as a significant issue for schools.
Half Day/Day services
An increasing number of primary schools (both state and independent) are using some of their budgets to fund regular speech and language input for their pupils.
It is possible to offer half day and whole day sessions if your school:
- has a number of children who have been identified with speech, language and communication delays/disorders who require assessment, individual or group therapy, and therapy programmes.
- would benefit as a whole from regular, consistent input.
This means that the children can receive: assessment, individual therapy or group therapy depending on their needs and the school team can receive the regular support and advice needed to support these children in class. This service can be offered on a termly or half termly basis and will enable a consistent and cost effective service.
Assessment Services
Screening
A screening service is available to assess those children where the school has concerns regarding their speech, language and communication. This can be particularly useful at the foundation stage. This helps identify the child’s communication strengths and weakness. Parental consent will be needed for all pupils being screened. For those pupils identified as having specific difficulties the school and parents will be provided with advice as to whether further assessment/therapy is needed.
Full assessments
This service is for pupils who have been identified as having a speech, language or communication difficulties. A questionnaire will be sent out for completion by the parents and relevant school staff prior to the initial consultation. The assessment will take place either in school and a distraction free environment will be required.
A full assessment will involve two sessions, and may also involve observation in the classroom and/or playground as well as formal/informal assessment of their speech and language. A verbal report will be given of the assessment findings and it will be discussed whether further assessment/therapy sessions are recommended. After both sessions a written report will be provide detailing the assessment results and recommendations.
Therapy
Individual Therapy sessions
Individual therapy sessions with individual pupils will usually be offered weekly and will last from 40 minutes up to an hour. As with any form of tutoring or therapy, the number of sessions the child may need will vary according to the severity of the difficulty, the child’s ability to learn and the support you are able to provide in school to support the child’s individual speech and language therapy programme.
During a typical therapy session, the therapist will work with the child and will explain the objective of each task and the strategies she is using to the learning support assistant/classroom assistant. In agreement with the school, the therapist will involve relevant school staff in activities and help them to develop their skills so that they can better support the child. Part of the session will be reserved for discussion so that the therapist can share information with school staff that is relevant to the child’s progress; this will also allow time for any queries they may have.
Group Therapy
Small group therapy another service option for: social skills development, attention and listening, early language groups, speech sound awareness and development. Any groups would need to be agreed jointly by Speech Therapy Matters Ltd and the school. It may be after screening assessments in your school that the therapist can identify particular groups of children who would benefit from a group therapy approach. Please call to discuss this in more detail.
Training
Training can be provided to nurseries, pre-schools and primary schools. It can be tailored to meet your needs and rates will vary accordingly. Please call Speech Therapy Matters to discus in more detail. For example, it could be inset training about speech and language difficulties, or more specific advice regarding classroom advice about Autism or Social Skills difficulties.