The Communication Trust Newsletter March 2010

The Communication Trust works to help all children and young people develop the best possible speech, language and communication skills. The Communication Trust does this by supporting the children’s workforce.

The Trust is a not-for-profit coalition organisation bringing together expertise from over 35 voluntary sector bodies supported by an expert advisory panel and a small programme board.

You are receiving this newsletter either because your organisation is a member of The Communication Trust or because you have asked to be kept updated with the Trust’s work and the work of our members. This newsletter also provides updates on current developments in the world of speech, language and communication.

In 2008 John Bercow published a review into services for children and young people (0-19) with speech language and communication needs (SLCN). This landmark review led to thousands of parents of children with SLCN reporting their sense of isolation and highlighted concerns around a lack of information on speech, language and communication. This resulted in the recommendations to appoint a Communication Champion and run a ‘national year’, which The Communication Trust has subsequently been appointed to deliver.

The 2011 campaign seeks to address these challenges and will look at routes to getting parents the information and support they need, when they need it. Over coming months the Trust will be working with parents, young people, partners and local staff to shape the campaign’s content and approaches. The Trust has set itself the challenge of making speaking and listening as high profile and as valued as reading and writing – we will be looking to you to help take the campaign forward.

The campaign will be launched at the end of 2010, in the meantime you will receive regular updates on the progress of the campaign through this newsletter and on our website. The Communication Trust is starting a programme of recruitment for roles to support the campaign and wider Trust work. To be emailed when vacancies arise please e-mail enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

 Please click here to view the press release about the campaign.

Website

Twitter

The Better Communication Action Plan is the Government's response to John Bercow's review into services for children and young people (0-19) with speech language and communication needs. Below is an update on key recommendations which came out from the plan.

Communication Council

The Communication Council has been set up to oversee the implementation of the Better Communication Action Plan and The Communication Trust represents the voluntary sector on the Council.

The Communication Trust has also recruited a young person representative, David Carpenter, and a parent representative, Amanda Ryalls (above) to join the Council and provide valuable information and real life experiences.

There have been two meetings of the Council so far and the second meeting was held on Thursday 28th January. For further details on the Council and minutes from the meetings, please go to www.thecommunicationcouncil.org.

Research Communication Research Programme

The research programme is based in CEDAR with Professor Geoff Lindsay as overall Project Manager. This is an ambitious programme which has five separate projects in Year 1. A longitudinal study has been set up to run over the period of the Programme focussing on children and young people with primary language difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders. The other four projects will run for up to a year and are designed to gather information that will be both useful in itself and provide a basis for further work in Years 2 and 3. One study is exploring the effectiveness of interventions for the full range of SLCN, analysing the research literature and exploring with practitioners any new approaches under development. Two other studies are exploring data available from sources such as the National Pupil Database and School Census in order to explore patterns of prevalence and need, and also to identify the bases for a study of cost effectiveness. There is also a study designed to work directly with parents and young people with SLCN to identify their preferred outcomes for provision made on their behalf.

For more information on the Research Communication Research Programme

Commissioning Support Programme

The Commissioning Support Programme, a national programme providing tailored support for Children's Trusts to enable them to plan, design and implement services more effectively, has been commissioned by the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families to deliver their Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) Commissioning Pathfinders Programme - an initiative to support 16 pathfinders across the country to support the development of tools and guidance and a joint commissioning framework aimed at those commissioning services for children and young people with SLCN. 

This activity directly follows the Bercow review of services for children and young people with SLCN carried out by John Bercow MP, and is contributing towards the implementation of the Government's Better Communication Action Plan.

The Pathfinder Programme has a number of key objectives, essentially these are:

• To support 16 pathfinders spanning health, education, social care and beyond
• To develop and share tested tools and guidance that support commissioners to improve SLCN services
• To develop a supplemental (to the children’s health services joint commissioning framework) joint commissioning framework for children and young people with SLCN.
• To create an effective learning and support network for the pathfinders in order to accelerate their development, and improve their competences as commissioners
• To widely disseminate the emerging learning from the pathfinders so as to encourage wider improvement in commissioning of SLCN services nationally
• To increase user participation in shaping services

For further information please go to: www.commissioningsupport.org.uk

Sentence Trouble, a resource for anyone who works with youth people who offend explaining what communication needs are, was launched in November and since this time we have distributed over 20,000 copies, including a copy to every Youth Offending Team in England. To order your free copy please e-mail enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

Website: We are currently in the process of developing a website to give people who work with young people who offend more information about communication needs, signpost to further resources and provide a forum for people to talk to each other and exchange ideas. We will launch this website shortly.

If you have any resources, training or useful information that we can add to our website please contact Nicola Matthews on nmatthews@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

Afasic resource: Including young people with speech, language and communication difficulties in secondary school - This resource is for those seeking theory and practice to support young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) within mainstream secondary schools. The content is based on the experience of speech and language therapists and teachers working collaboratively in real classrooms.

BT TalkWorks: This is a 128 page book that explains the importance of communication and good conversations in our everyday lives. It breaks down conversations into their component parts and explains how to make

If you would like copies of the above resources, or any other publications the Trust has produced, please e-mail enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

Ed Balls talks about stammering

Please click here to view the article where the Telegraph has interview Ed Balls has spoke about his stammer.

Funding from BT

The Communication Trust has received a generous donation of £15,000 from BT which has contributed to our public affairs work and press and PR.

The Trust would like to thank BT and we look forward to future activities together.

RCSLT Bulletin and Sentence Trouble

Accompanying the March 2010 edition of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist's (RCSLT) Bulletin magazine was a free copy of Sentence Trouble, a booklet which we have developed for anyone who works with young people who offend. Orders have been flooding in following this mailing and if you would like further free copies please e-mail enquiries@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk.

Also in this edition of Bulletin was an article about the Communication Champion, Jean Gross, where she talks about her role and future plans. Please follow the links below to read the article.

Jean Gross interview, page 1
Jean Gross interview, page 2

Upcoming conferences

The Trust will be exhibiting at the following conferences, if you are attending please come and talk to us and pick up some free resources!

Nacro’s 20th Annual Youth Crime Conference 2010, 20th-22nd April, Nottingham.

This conference will be of relevance to all those working in youth justice and related fields, will include a range of workshops and seminars and approximately 300 delegates are expected to attend.

Book online at www.regonline.com/youthcrime.

NAPLIC Conference, 24th April, Birmingham.

This is NAPLIC Annual Conference and AGM. The conference will be entitled Transition Matters: Meeting the needs of children and young people with SLCN, with Sue Roulstone and Anne Ayre as key note speakers.

For more information please go to: www.naplic.org.uk.

Annual Leadership Conference 2010, 16th-18th June, Birmingham.

This conference is expecting 1,800 delegates, ranging from leaders of schools, academies, early years settings and children’s services.

For more information please go to: www.nationalcollege.org.uk/conference2010

1 Voice

1 Voice are organising a National Network & Family Fun Event. This will take place on the weekend of 12th June in Derby and will provide an opportunity to take part in their new film. Please click here for more information.

KIDS

KIDS latest briefing 'The health benefits of play and physical activity for disabled children and young people' intends to raise awareness of the vital role of play and physical activity in promoting disabled children and young people’s health and wellbeing. It examines the health benefits of play, the national policy context, and the additional barriers disabled children and young people face in accessing play, sport and leisure opportunities. It also includes case studies, key recommendations for policy makers and a list of useful resources. For more information please go to: http://www.kids.org.uk/briefings

National Deaf Children's Society

NDCS is calling on the Government to improve the situation and ensure a 2005 Department of Health recommendation, urging all Local Safeguarding Children Boards to review their child protection arrangements for deaf children, is carried out.

NDCS commissioned the University of Manchester to research social care provision for deaf children and their families in England. The second phase of this research, published this week, shows that only 40 per cent of local authorities surveyed recognised deaf children as “children in need” and, even then, did not necessarily provide any services. On top of this, nearly half of authorities have no qualified social workers for deaf children, and too many authorities showed an inability to act appropriately to tackle child protection issues involving deaf children.

Please click here to view the Executive Summary of the University of Manchester report.

For more information about the campaign please go to: http://www.ndcs.org.uk/about_us/campaigns/england/campaign_news/protect_deaf_kids.html

Mencap

This year Learning Disability Week will take place from 21-27 June. The aim of the week will be to improve the rights of people with a learning disability to equal healthcare. During the week, Mencap will launch its 'Getting it right' charter, which health trusts and hospitals will be asked to sign up to. The charter is based on the principle that everyone has the right to equal healthcare, including people with a learning disability. For more information please click here.

The Learning Partnership.com - Top Tips for Tiny Tots

Top Tips for Tiny Tots is a e-learning course for parents of birth to 5 year olds and is free for all to access online, following a huge investment in its development. It can be viewed either via the learning partnership website, and by clicking on the top tips icon at the top of the screen or directly via www.tt4tt.co.uk

TreeHouse

TreeHouse has launched its 2010 Parliamentary Briefing (PDF 1086KB). Their briefing sets out specific changes to transform education services for children and young people with autism and their families and carers.

With a general election this year it is particularly pertinent that there is a clear understanding of the actions government can take to transform services for children and young people with autism.

TreeHouse are calling for:

• High quality autism education services
• Early identification and effective assessment of autism
• Participation of children and young people with autism and their families and carers
• National and local strategic planning for the education of children and young people with autism.

TreeHouse welcome responses to their proposals and ask that people let them know what they think by visiting talk about autism or contacting the policy team on 020 8815 5444.