Infant Language Link

Assessment & Identification

The Infant Language Link standardised assessment is fun, quick and easily accessible. It is audio supported and looks at understanding of language across key areas including concept vocabulary, instructions and sentence structures. Instant results will identify children who need specialist support and recommend appropriate class and small group interventions so you can target help at the right level where it is most needed.

Universal screening is recommended in year R with additional tracking of any student identified taking place in year 1 and 2. Our assessment reports will point you at suitable class and group interventions.

To find out how our assessment was developed, download our technical report.

Intervention

We believe that every child is unique. That’s why our programme is not a one size fits all solution. We take a tiered approach to intervention so you can provide effective support at the right level for each child. Our universal high quality teaching strategies and classroom resources allow teachers to support speech and language development across the whole class.

For those who need a more targeted approach our 14 different planned and fully resourced language groups allow the support staff to provide tailored interventions. With over 400 colourful resources you will never be short of activities. Each session has clear objectives, target vocabulary and precise instructions for delivery enabling even inexperienced staff to run effective groups.

And for children who need a little bit extra following a group or a more individualised programme of learning, our supplementary teaching plans allow teachers and support staff to offer intensive focussed support in the classroom.

In-Package Training and Support

The annual subscription includes our online training for staff. Delivered in a series of accessible user guides, the Infant Language Link course will walk your staff through every aspect of using the package from set up to administering the assessment and running interventions, as well as interpreting reports and measuring progress. There are lots of on page how to guides and our friendly help desk team are only a phone call or email way.

Our speech and language therapy team deliver regular webinar overviews offering your staff the chance to ask our experts questions. They are also available for unlimited support throughout your subscription via our Help Desk.

Data & Measuring Progress

Infant Language Link was developed with progress in mind. Each aspect of the tool has built in progress measures enabling you to track the impact of intervention on your student’s language skills and access to classroom learning. Use our engagement ratings to set language targets and use our tracking sheets to objectively track children’s progress across intervention group sessions.

Our instant reporting feature provides you with individual pupil reports as well as class and year reports. Teachers use the class reports to see at a glance, the language level for each of their students supporting planning and delivery of high quality inclusive teaching.

Spread the Word Pack

We are in favour of a whole school approach to supporting speech, language and communication needs. To help you get this going in your school, you will receive our Spread the Word pack during the first year of your subscription. This handy resource is packed with posters, stickers and ready-to-use activities. From playground ideas to a wet play pack, there is something for everyone.

If you are just getting started with your whole school approach we recommend using the audit tool included with this pack.

Link Community members can use our free speech and language audit. The staff, pupil and parent questionnaires allow you to build up a picture of knowledge and skills for supporting speech and language across your whole school community and provides a tailored action plan.

Using Infant Language Link with multilingual children

Infant Language Link can be easily adapted for use with multilingual children. The standardised assessment will show how well your students are understanding English in comparison to English speaking children of the same age. For children who are just beginning to learn English the assessment will identify areas for development.

Our reports and provision maps clearly show where a child is identified as an English learner, allowing progress to be tracked across terms and years.

We always recommend that students new to English work alongside children who can provide good models of language to aid language acquisition. All our language groups and supplementary teaching plans can be used with groups or individual children to encourage the development of spoken and social use of English.