Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Phonetics – Do They All Mean the Same Thing?
Recently, I was in a meeting discussing phonological awareness (PA) skills and their importance. These skills are essential not only for laying the foundations for...
Read moreThe Speech and Language Building Blocks of Oracy
Oracy has become a hot topic in education recently, especially with Prime Minister Keir Starmer bringing it into focus during pre-election discussion. Concern regarding the...
Read moreHow schools can use their Pupil Premium budgets to boost reading comprehension
We know that school leaders and teaching staff are passionate about providing every pupil with the support and resources they need to succeed academically and...
Read moreSupporting young people to develop teamwork skills
In the last week, how many times have you worked with others to achieve a common goal? Did you have to change your ‘role’, adapt...
Read moreIt’s time to talk
Time to Talk Day marks the day of the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. And our children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) definitely need...
Read moreLet’s Pitch It
My fifteen-year journey working in education is best described as unconventional. For over ten years I had the privilege and challenging role of working as...
Read moreNo Pens Wednesday
27th November 2024 is the annual ‘No Pens Day’. This is an opportunity across schools and early years settings to put down writing tools and...
Read moreSpeak up with Speech and Language Link
What a week of focus on children and young people’s speech, language and communication skills! Last week saw the publishing of an important report looking at...
Read moreYou can’t read hieroglyphics if you don’t understand Egyptian!
Over the Christmas holidays, during the flurry of parcels being delivered to my house, I received a parcel that I had not ordered myself that...
Read moreSpeech and language while you shop?
Damian Hinds, in a speech last summer, promised to tackle the ‘last taboo’ in education by addressing the home learning environment and the ‘persistent scandal’ that many young children...
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