The Communication Trust News
The Communication Trust's school's conference - Crakcing Communication
On Wednesday 28th March 2012 The Communication Trust’s ‘Cracking communication’ conference will be an informative and innovative event offering support to schools to prepare for changes to the Ofsted and National Curriculum frameworks with regard to speech, language and communication.
Please click here for more information.
Voice for Life events
Following on from the National Year of Communication, 2012 proves to be just as exciting with new events and new information guides for parents.
Afasic England, in association The Communication Trust, is running three free events, bringing together parents, professionals and children with speech, language and communication needs. These will include seminars, workshops, exhibitions and fun activities for pupils with SLCN.
Many of the workshops are being run by members of the Trust's Communication Consortium. With over thirty workshops per event to choose from, including one-to-one advice sessions available throughout the day, these events will provide information as well as a chance to talk to local providers, professionals and other parents.
The events will take place in...
The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Thursday 8th March 2012
Leicester University on Thursday 15th March 2012
Durham University at Stockton on Tees on 22nd March 2012
For further details and to book please click here.
Two Years On
The final report of the Communication Champion for children, Jean Gross CBE is now available.
The reflections in Two Years On: final report of the Communication Champion for children are based on findings from an extensive programme of meetings with local commissioners and service providers across England, undertaken between January 2010 and December 2011. Jean Gross has met with 105 out of the 152 local authority / NHS Primary Care Trust pairings in England.
To download the report, please click here.
Jean Gross has made 30 recommendations to Government, local authorities, the voluntary sector and schools on the future of speech, language and communication services for children. The press release can be downloaded here.
The Communication Trust's response to Two Years On is available here.
If you have any queries on this, please email Laura Smith on lsmith@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
New booklet for trainee teachers - Let's Talk About It
We have developed a booklet for people who are training to become teachers to give advice and guidance on children's communication skills. Let's Talk About It includes information on:
• The importance of communication
• The impact that speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) can have for children and young people on learning and attainment, and on social, emotional development and behaviour
• How teachers can better identify children with SLCN and through making communication a priority, work more affectively with all children in their classroom
• Signposts trainees to a range of further information sources
Please click here to download the booklet.
Please click here to order (5 copies maximum available per order).
Listening to Children and Young People with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
The Communication Trust has contributed to a new book titled 'Listening to Children and Young People with Speech, Language and Communication Needs' edited by Sue Roulstone and Sharynne McLeod. A percentage of the profits from the sales of the booklet will go to Afasic, a charity which supports children who have a specific language impairment and their familes.
To find out more about the book and how to order please click here.
Update on Talk of the Town
Talk of the Town (TOTT) is a project designed to support children’s speech, language and communication development from 0-19 within a Federation of Schools in Wythenshawe, South Manchester. TOTT is a community wide approach to the early identification of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) which began in May 2011. It is funded by the Department of Education until March 2012 but plans are already afoot to embed the project into school plans for at least 15 years. TOTT aims to embed a continuum of effective support for children and young people with SLCN so that every child and young person has the opportunity to fulfil their full potential.
The project involves a multitude of agencies and organisations. Fundamental to the success of the project are the staff and leadership team of the three Federation schools, The Communication Trust and the consortium. But the project also works collaboratively with the local speech and language therapy (SLT) department, specialist consultants, independent SLTs, the police, charities, early years services and most importantly children, young people and their families.
Please click here to read the following newsletter to find out about the work delivered so far and find out what we have in store for the rest of the academic year.
Communication Champion’s CBE welcomed by Hello campaign leaders
The Communication Trust has welcomed news that Jean Gross, Communication Champion for Children, received a CBE in the New Year’s Honours List for services to education.
Mrs Gross has had an illustrious career in education, campaigning to improve provision for children with special education needs, working in the public sector, the third sector and in universities. Most recently she was appointed as the Government’s Communication Champion and for the past two years has worked in close collaboration with the Trust to make the 2011 national year of communication – the Hello Campaign – a huge success, raising the profile of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and promoting and improving the services they receive.
To read the full press release please click here.
Speech, language and communication primed to become key part of National Curriculum from 2014
On 20th December 2011 The Communication Trust has welcomed the focus on speech, language and communication in The Framework for the National Curriculum report. Compiled by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review, the report has officially called for speech, language and communication to form part of the curriculum for all subjects from September 2014 right through compulsory schooling, rather than being focused in the National Curriculum for English.
The report specifically refers to a resource developed by The Communication Trust and Pearson Assessment - Universally Speaking - a set of three booklets that outline the ages and stages of children's communication from birth to 18-years-old.
Please click here to read the full press release.
Communication consortium comments on Year 1 Phonics Screening
A controversial phonics screening test - aimed at Year One children - could soon be rolled out to schools across the country. However, the Government believes two-thirds of children are likely to fail the screening because of teaching methods. The Communication Trust has raised concerns this test may be detrimental to children with speech, language and communication needs. Our statement is available here.
The Early Support Trust Consortium celebrates extension of early support
The Early Support (ES) Trust Consortium, comprising more than 50 voluntary, community and private sector organisations, is celebrating the announcement from the Department for Education that they have been awarded the contract to extend Early Support, the successful government initiative, to young people and families with children of all ages.
To read the press release please click here.
The Trust backs the extension of Early Support Programme
We have welcomed the announcement of a new three‐year phase in the Early Support Programme.
To read the press release please click here.
Early Language Development Programme
The Communication Trust, a 40-strong coalition of voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, today welcomed the announcement that I CAN will be leading the Early Language Development Programme (ELDP) contract along with several other Trust members. However, it suggested the programme needed to go further to ensure all children’s needs were being met.
To read the full press release please click here.
Launching a new Level 3 Award in speech, language and communication
We are delighted to announce the launch of the new City & Guilds CPD Level 3 Award in Supporting Children and Young People’s Speech Language and Communication (Number: 4337) which went live on the 1st October 2011. This continued professional development award is made up of three units: two mandatory and a third chosen from an optional list.
To view and register for this award please visit the City & Guilds website here. If you are looking to take the award personally please find your local City & Guilds awarding centre by putting your postcode in the allocated box on the right hand side of this webpage.
The Communication Trust has developed tutor and learner materials to support the delivery of the Award. These materials are available from here.
For further enquires please contact Eve Wagg at ewagg@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
Guide for Schools - your thoughts needed
In response to demand from teachers, head teachers, speech and language therapists and others involved in choosing interventions to apply in school settings, The Communication Trust is pulling together a guide to effective approaches and programmes that schools may wish to employ to support children’s speech, language and communication. More details are included in a one-page summary which you can read here.
We're at the beginning of this process and want to involve stakeholders in developing this project. We're working with professional bodies such as the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), teaching/education bodies and our 44 Consortium members to help us shape the project at this development stage. Going forward we will also be working with these organisations to help populate the Guide with content.
We would love to hear from you if you are interested in getting involved this project. We would be very grateful if you could complete our online questionnaire where you can share your ideas on what the Guide For Schools should include - www.surveymonkey.com/s/schoolsguidesurvey
If you would like to hear more about the project or discuss how you or your organisation could get further involved in the consultation, please contact Catherine Hillis on chillis@thecommunciationtrust.org.uk
If you would like to receive more information like this and keep updated with the work of the Trust please e-mail enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.