A one-hour SALT meeting can easily whoosh by. You sit down thinking, plenty of time, then suddenly someone says, “Right, we’ve got four minutes left,” and you’re somehow still discussing the child everyone agreed was absolutely fine.
Speech and language therapists are, by both profession and temperament, naturally chatty. In the busy, complex environments of schools, early years and specialist settings, discussions around referrals often evolve as ideas are shared and perspectives explored. When anchored to the needs of a specific child, this time becomes especially powerful – leading to clearer, stronger collaboration and more effective support.
So, from someone who has sat through more meetings than I can count, here are a few simple ways to make that hour truly valuable.
- Grab the steering wheel early
The meeting will decide its own priorities for you if nobody sets the format. Open with something like:
“Can we start with the pupils where we’re most stuck?”
This is a simple and surprising effective way to start the chat.
- You do not need to discuss every child
The quickest way to lose a meeting is to treat every child as if they need equal airtime. But, in reality, some just need a quick nod whilst others need serious conversation.
If a pupil is:
- progressing steadily
- understood by staff
- not causing concern to therapist or staff
…then give yourself permission to move swiftly onto the next.
- The therapist is triaging while you’re talking
Even when we look all smiley and relaxed, there’s usually a slightly frantic internal process running underneath:
- Who needs specialist input?
- What can school manage independently?
- Where will my input have the most impact?
- What input do they need?
- Is this a language difficulty, an attention difficulty, a confidence issue, or just what happens when a six-year-old is asked a tricky question at 2.45pm on a Friday?
It helps the therapist enormously when staff arrive with a clear sense of which pupils need input beyond what can be done in school and why. If you have a copy of the service criteria to hand, you can really support your reasoning.
- Focus on just a few
The best meetings usually focus on a handful of pupils and properly unpick what’s going on. Try keeping this in mind:
“What are my top speech, language or communication concerns about this pupil and what therapist advice/support am I after?”
- Say when something won’t work
School life is busy, and not every suggestion fits neatly into every setting. If something won’t realistically happen, it’s helpful to say so early:
“We may struggle to do that consistently. Is there a simpler version we could try?”
- Use therapist time creatively
Direct therapy is only one option. Depending on the service, it may be more useful to ask for:
- group staff modelling
- training
- classroom strategies
- drop-in sessions
- support session for parents
I once was asked to join a tea morning for parents, I dropped in to talk about home strategies, with time left over for a quick chat with those with children on the caseload – a great opportunity for parents, therapist and school alike.
- Bring examples to referrals
Specific examples are gold dust. Be very clear:
- what the difficulty looks like
- how it’s impacting the child
- why this child needs support now
Solid examples are very useful as they help the therapist triage, e.g.,
“Joshie typically uses two-word sentences such as ‘there ball’”.
“Ronald doesn’t join in play unless he is supported by an adult.”
This gives the therapist something concrete to picture and triage.
- Beware the giant strategy list
I’ve always tried to be as helpful as possible but, as with many of my fellow colleagues, my enthusiasm has led to me providing reems of options that I am sure has overwhelmed staff. Don’t be afraid to pull it back if your therapist gives you long lists of strategies or too many ideas per child to follow. So, feel free to ask:
“If we focused on just one or two things, what would you choose?”
We would honestly rather you feel comfortable and excited with the plan!
Looking for a way of providing evidence of need to your speech and language therapist at the meeting? Our Speech & Language Link packages allow you to screen and intervene, with reports available at child, class, year and school level – incredibly useful information for therapists to help them decide what to do next. For a free trial of one or more of our packages, click here.