Issue 29, Page 3: One HTLA to another. Our speech and language support

Our school has a high percentage of children on the SEND register with ‘Communication and Interaction’ as their primary need. This was how my role was created!

Having received speech therapy as a child, speech and language was always an area I wanted to learn more about. Following 10 years of experience learning on the job, working with speech therapists, then seeing a rise of need, I completed more training to try and ‘fill the gap’ between school and therapists. I am also a recently licenced Makaton tutor.

Fast forward to now, as a SEND HLTA coordinating speech, language and communication across 4 schools, my role is as important as ever! We have seen a staggeringly high number of children starting Early Years as non-verbal, pre-verbal, or with complex difficulties with speech and/or language. Given the limited availability of therapists, tools such as Speech Link and Language Link are essential for me to effectively support these needs.

I work with staff and children to establish baselines and gain an understanding of the needs of our pupils, enabling us to provide the best support. Our total communication approach is invaluable in reducing barriers to learning, ensuring teachers understand the needs of their pupils and the nature of the interventions they are receiving. We use lots of visuals to support the daily routines which reduce distress and frustration. These include ‘now and next boards’, ‘understanding cards’ and ‘task planners’.

Each term I meet with support staff to review pupil progress and discuss targets going forwards. I model strategies and intervention sessions with the children so staff can learn the tips and tricks that I’ve gathered along the way.

With training and tools such as Speech Link and Language Link to assess and provide intervention, my role is a lot easier in ensuring children are having their needs met and are achieving to their fullest!

Katie’s top tip

I’ve learnt that children with SLCN should be offered 10 seconds of thinking time to allow them to understand what has been said and form a response. Try it yourself, count to 10. People do not realise how long 10 seconds actually is!