Information for the entire children's workforce
Speech, Language and Communication Framework
The Speech, Language and Communication Framework (SLCF) lists the skills and knowledge that everyone working with children need to know to support the communication development of all children and those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
Practitioners who work with children can complete the SLCF online to evaluate their skills and knowledge of communication development. They can then identify areas where they need to develop their knowledge. In addition whole settings can access the online assessment with a designated group number and collectively assess their developmental training needs in this area.
The SLCF gives individuals and groups the opportunity to identify areas that need development and then signposts practitioners to targeted training. We are continuing to collate training and resources that exist to support development of skills and knowledge in this area and are updating the online site with new information and training.
To complete the SLCF please go to www.talkingpoint.org.uk/slcf
Communication Counts
Afasic England will organise a series of events, developed in partnership with local service providers, including SaLT services and Local Authority specialist advisory teams.
The events will work towards achieving a number of strategic goals, shared by Afasic and The Communication Trust to:
• Empower parents and carers to advocate for their child, and enable them to access appropriate services and support
• Provide an opportunity to promote collaborative working with parents
• Support and develop the communication, social and life skills of children and young people with SLCN
• Cultivate stronger local parent/carer networks to support parents and young people in their localities
• Support early identification of children and young people with SLCN
• Raise awareness of SLCN and how it impacts on the lives of children and young people
• Increase the level of engagement between The Communication Trust members, local services, professionals, parents, children and young people
• Share best practice and resources, that will support and improve schools and practitioners work with parents and children and young people with SLCN
Afasic England are currently planning three events for spring 2012, looking at venues in the North East, Leicester and the Southampton/Portsmouth area, and having discussions with a variety of local agencies to discuss their input. The intended audience will be a mix of professionals, parents, and pupils with SLCN.
More information will be available shortly.
Speech, Language and Communication Award
The Communication Trust is working with an awarding body to develop a new level 3 Award entitled: ‘Supporting Children and Young People's Speech, Language and Communication’. This award will be made up of three units: two mandatory and a third from the list below.
The aim of the Award is to make as great and positive an impact as possible on the communication development of children across the country through enabling members of the entire children's workforce to gain accredited continued professional development in speech, language and communication.
The Award will enable all learners to:
• understand the importance of speech, language and communication
• understand and support children’s speech, language and communication development
• recognise children who may have speech, language and communication needs
Learners will also be able to choose a particular area to focus on as part of the Award out of the following:
• supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs
• supporting the communication development of children learning more than one language
• understand the speech, language and communication needs of children and young people with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties
• working with parents, carers and families to support their children's speech, language and communication development
We are awaiting final confirmation of the Award but we hope it will be available, along with supporting materials, from September 2011. If you are interested, or would like more information please contact Eve Wagg at ewagg@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
Parent Communication Ambassadors
Jointly I CAN and The Communication Trust will prepare 400 parents to become communication ambassadors (PCA) so that they understand how to support children’s communication skills and to act as advocates amongst their networks of parents.
In partnership with LAs and / or Children’s Centres I CAN will organise engagement events and hope to recruit 20 Parent Communication Ambassadors at each location. These volunteer Ambassadors will receive training and resources from I CAN to carry out peer-to-peer support to other parents. Volunteering will be incentivised and childcare costs during training will be covered.
The volunteers will receive a set of resource materials in a goody-bag that they can use to distribute to their target audiences as they reach out to 20 further parents in the area. There are bursaries available for recruitment events and support from I CAN Project and Volunteer Managers throughout the project.
If you would be interested in taking part in this project please contact Eve Wagg at ewagg@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk or call 0207 843 2517
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.
If you would like to learn more about the project please contact Eve Wagg at ewagg@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk
Consultation with children and young people
In 2009 the Trust was commissioned by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to gather the views of children and young people with disabilities and special educational needs in relation to the people they come across in the children's workforce. This built on research we had already previously carried out and was done through a number of focus groups and a road shows. This work was completed in 2010 with a final report, below, submitted to CWDC.
Please click here to view the final report.
Publications
Children and Young People's Consultation - We have been consulting with children and young people to discover their views on the role adults play in supporting communication skills. This consultation reports what the young people said and their recommendations to the children's workforce.
Please click here to download.
The report also includes a pull out poster which shows what the children and young people's top tips are. Please print off and display in your classroom/office.
Speech, Language and Communication Framework (SLCF) - Sets out the skills and knowledge needed by practitioners to support the speech, language and communication development of all children, including those with SLCN. To complete the Framework, a self assessment tool, please go to www.talkingpoint.org.uk/slcf
Please click here to download the Framework as a pdf booklet which can help support completion of the online audit.
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 conversations more productive and satisfying, by highlighting some of the common ways our conversations can falter and how to avoid these things from happening. Easy to read with some food for thought for anyone who is interested in communication and enjoys a good conversation.
Please click here to order BT TalkWorks.