Schools, Nurseries and Colleges

We know that speech, language and communication difficulties can affect a child’s academic progression, friendships, behaviour and confidence in the classroom. We have a proven track record of improving outcomes for children with speech, language and communication needs as well as in raising standards across the curriculum.

Because every school is unique, we tailor our services to match your needs. We are small enough to provide a friendly and personal service, but large enough to have all the expertise you need.

We will take the time to listen to you and advise you on the best plan of action depending on your priorities and budget. For example, this could be a ‘Crash Team’ approach if you need urgent assistance where we will concentrate on a specific high-priority project, or a regular, universal service from a designated member of our team.

Speech and Language Interventions

We take great pride in our therapy. All therapy outcomes are personalised and our SLTs tailor activities to best meet the needs of the pupil. Likewise, our intervention will be delivered in a way that best suits the child. This may be on a one-to-one basis, in a group or indirectly through support staff or classroom strategies – or a combination!

We know how important it is for families to be included and we take care to do so where possible, so that we are a working as a team for each child.

SLT services

Examples of services that we provide are:

Consultancy on Speech and Language Therapy provision

Assessment, advice and personalised therapy plans

Specialist assessment reports for EHCPs and second opinions

Early years screening and intervention

Individual therapy sessions

Personalised programmes and resource packs for home and school

Group sessions

Parent support

Staff training

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Specialist techniques

Our team of super SLTs can also offer the following specialist techniques:

Augmentative and Alternative Communication support

PODD

PECS

Intensive Interaction

PROMPT

TalkTools

Attention Autism

TEACCH

Core Vocabulary

Word Aware

Colourful Semantics

Find out more

Training services

We have a comprehensive range of training programmes:

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Communication Friendly Schools (Elklan)

Early years

Full range of Elklan accredited courses

Speaking and listening

Speech Sound Disorders

Vocabulary development

Social skills and interaction

Bespoke training programmes.

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Assessments and 'Early Years' Screening

Assessments and reports:

Thorough and accurate assessment is vital to achieving good outcomes.

We carry out a range of comprehensive, holistic and dynamic assessments to identify each child’s communication strengths and the areas where support is needed. This includes liaison with parents, school staff and relevant professionals.

As Speech and Language Therapists, we are required to document our findings and make recommendations in the form of reports. These can range from a brief summary or update to detailed reports and recommendations.

Written advice and recommendations can also be provided for second opinions, Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and Local Authority funding applications.

‘Early Years’ screening:

There is plenty of research evidence showing that high-quality early language intervention is the crucial first step in a child’s educational development.

Over several years we have seen great results through supporting nurseries and schools in implementing screening tools to highlight children in need.

We offer training to key staff in using screening tools and help them to run bespoke intervention groups.

Find out more here

Group Interventions and Programmes

Group interventions

We have a wide range of intervention groups covering all aspects of speech, language and communication needs.

Group interventions can be tailored to suit your need and the needs of your pupils. Our highly skilled Speech and Language Therapists can run group sessions for you or train your teaching staff to be able to deliver them themselves.

Programmes

Some children who have had direct therapy and need additional practice between sessions, or who need a more indirect approach, will be given a programme of work.

These typically contain individualised targets and/or recommendations with a step-by-step guide and resources enabling support staff to lead activities with the child. The tasks and activities will be demonstrated to teaching and support staff and carefully monitored.

‘Communication Friendly’ Consultation

Communication Friendly schools

Equipping teaching staff with the knowledge and skills to identify and support pupils with SLCN (Speech, Language and Communication Needs) is of paramount importance due to the prominence of SLCN and its impact on literacy, social and emotional wellbeing and behaviour. Small changes to practice can make a significant difference to the lives of children and young people.

Several of our therapists are licenced ELKLAN tutors. ELKLAN writes and delivers accredited courses for education and other staff working with those with SLCN, and for parents. We have helped in leading education settings to achieving accredited Communication Friendly School status via the evidence-based ELKLAN programme. The ELKLAN Communication Friendly School model involves:

Direct training for teachers and teaching assistants
Dissemination of the information to all staff
An audit during which education settings are required to show evidence of embedding their knowledge and skills into practice and policies

Resources

Our therapists can help you create a Communication Friendly environment by drawing on our vast library of resources. We can also, in consultation with you, produce new resources tailored to your individual needs.

Training and Consultation

Staff training

In school:

Our highly-trained SLTs collaborate, pooling their knowledge and expertise, to create high–quality training packages that can be delivered at any time. We offer a bespoke service for creating individualised training packages tailor made to the needs of your nursery, school or college

Online:

Online training is available for staff teams to access ‘live’ with interactive elements
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses are available for staff to complete in their own time, followed up with marking, feedback and webinars as required

Parent training

In school:

All parents are offered the opportunity to meet with their child’s SLT for training and coaching in individual approaches
Parent workshops may be available on request

Online: