Supporting a local authority initiative
The Hillingdon Send Advisory Service, local NHS SLT service and Speech & Language Link have been supporting Hillingdon schools since 2010. Since 2023, the Hillingdon Education Improvement and Partnerships Team & The Send Advisory Service have funded for 2 years all primary and secondary schools to have full and free access to Infant, Junior and Secondary Language Link. Each Language Link toolkit has a full suite of resources including a screening tool, support toolkit and free training to support implementation.
Project principles and objectives
At least 70% of children within the Youth Justice system have unidentified Speech and Language needs so Language Link has been identified as key to support children and young people in Hillingdon to have the best outcomes possible. Without the right support in the formative years, SLCN has been shown to affect academic achievement, self-esteem, social acceptance and behavioural or emotional development, communication disability and literacy difficulties. Language Link helps schools to identify potential needs and provide support at an early stage, to help change the trajectory for many of their vulnerable learners.
Language Link also contains an EAL component, which has been used for many years for Hillingdon’s EAL learners.
Hillingdon chose Language Link for the following reasons:
- All in one package – screening, intervention, and lovely ready-made resources, together with online tracking and data analysis.
- Hillingdon Speech and Language Therapy Team endorsed.
- Free training and full support from Language Link to set it up, in Hillingdon schools.
- Access to a Speech and Language Therapist from Speech & Language Link to discuss results.
- Access to Speech & Language Link Help Desk through phone and email, to answer any queries schools have and to fully support them through the journey.