Why should you commit to communication?

By addressing communication in your school, you will be making the vital links between language, literacy and learning across the curriculum to drive forward attainment and wider educational outcomes.

Also, when focusing on the communication skills of the children and young people in your school you will be able to identify those who are struggling as soon as possible in order to provide them with the support they need. Speech, language and communication needs are remarkably common, at primary and secondary age, yet these needs are not always easily identified in schools.

Please see below for some great reasons to commit to communication in your school. You can also download our Why make the Commitment? document to find out more about how the Commitment can make a real difference in your school.

Here are five great reasons to sign up and commit to communication:

1. Communication drives learning and attainment and is at the heart of key education policies, including Ofsted's common inspection framework. Please see our guidance document on how the Commitment supports school improvement.

2. Strong language and communication skills are linked to better outcomes for children and young people, in school and beyond. You can read more about the links between communication and other areas like learning and behaviour in our factsheet about the impact of communication difficulties.

3. Understanding more about typical language development and communication across all phases will help you to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), particularly in light of the reformed SEND system. We've developed a quick guide to the links between the Commitment and the SEND Code of Practice.

4. Your school will be part of a national initiative and you can get support from experts and have a chance to share good practice. Have a look at this sample list of the Commitment's resources to get an idea of all great resources the Commitment has to offer, from a variety of organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication.  

5. Other schools have found the Communication Commitment a useful way to drive whole-school improvement. You can find out more about what other schools have to say about the Commitment in a recent survey.