Primary Talk Enhancing Communication Introduction 1 Introductory activity

Primary Talk Enhancing Communication Introduction 1

Introductory activity: Discuss barriers to developing practice at Enhanced level • What are the barriers to developing a communication-supportive environment that will support children with mild/moderate speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in mainstream schools? • Discuss briefly your ideas in small groups • Feed back to the whole group © I CAN 2012 Introduction 2

Primary Talk Enhanced level learning outcomes By the end of the course participants will: Session 1 • be aware of two different models explaining the components of speech, language and communication • have an increased knowledge of some of the ways that language and learning are linked • understand the typical stages in speech, language and communication development, as shown at different ages, and the normal variation in speech, language and communication that can exist • understand how legislation, policies and guidance influence current practice in SEN, in particular with children with SLCN. © I CAN 2012 Introduction 3

Primary Talk Enhanced level learning outcomes (continued) By the end of the course participants will: Session 2 • be aware of the range of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) that children may have, as either primary or secondary needs • understand some reasons why SLCN may impact on children’s behaviour, and use this to inform practice • be able to identify when a child is not developing speech, language and communication as expected, and how to make an onward referral for further assessment. © I CAN 2012 Introduction 4

Primary Talk Enhanced level learning outcomes (continued) By the end of the course participants will: Session 3 • understand the importance of collaborative practice and consider ways of promoting this • understand ways of using information provided by a variety of means of assessment to plan areas of intervention and specific targets • know and be able to use and adapt a range of approaches and strategies to support children with SLCN • be able to identify three actions that they will take to enhance their practice around supporting children with moderate SLCN. © I CAN 2012 Introduction 5

Primary Talk Enhancing Communication Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 6

Learning outcomes By the end of Session 1 participants will: • be aware of two different models explaining the components of speech, language and communication • have an increased knowledge of some of the ways that language and learning are linked • understand the typical stages in speech, language and communication development, as shown at different ages, and the normal variation in speech, language and communication that can exist. • understand how legislation, policies and guidance influence current practice in SEN, in particular with children with SLCN. © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 7

Activity: Aspects of communication • Small groups for discussion • Swap roles after 1 minute • One person to be silent observer • Observer records as many as possible different types of language and communication (both verbal and non-verbal) that are being used during the discussion, by both listeners and speakers If money was no object: • Where would I go for my perfect holiday? • Which famous person would I take with me, and why? • What sort of restaurant would we eat at? © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 8

A language processing model © I CAN 2011 © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 9

Form, content and use of language model (Bloom and Lahey, 1978) Form speech, words, sentences, phonology, syntax, morphology Content Use semantics, inferences, nonliteral language pragmatics: interaction verbal & non-verbal © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 10

Language processing model in reality: discussion • Small groups: consider one of the following: – assembly – maths lesson – playground – lunchtime – PE session • What language elements are involved in the situation in terms of: – receptive language – expressive language – form – content – use • 5 minutes of discussion © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 11

Language and interaction Oral language competence, communication skills, social behaviour, emotional well-being and school success Development of early language skills through talk with care giver Development of executive function giving ability to focus, plan thinking and actions, and inhibitory control Development of theory of mind giving empathy and understanding of others Secure attachment Responsive interactions between infant and care giver © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 12

English as an Additional Language (EAL): typical development BICS CALP Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills Early years or EAL approximately two years Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency From school age or EAL 5– 7 years (or more) © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 13

English as an Additional Language (EAL): typical development (continued) Surface features L 1 CALP L 1 L 2 CALP L 2 Common underlying proficiency © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 14

Activity: Typical language case studies • Small groups: consider one of the case studies • What language abilities does the child show in terms of: – form – content – use – receptive language (input) – expressive language (output) • 5 minutes of discussion • Whole-group feedback © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 15

Educational legislation and SEN/SLCN Implications 1. Ethos 2. Identification/needs 3. Provision 4. Differentiation: – Access – Learning challenges/expectations 5. Staff development Discussion • Why develop an understanding of SLCN? Who should be involved with this? • How do you support identification/needs? • How do you support access to the curriculum? • How do you know if activities are suitably challenging? © I CAN 2012 Session 1: Developing Understanding about Speech, Language and Communication Development 16

Primary Talk Enhancing Communication Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 17

Learning outcomes By the end of Session 2 participants will: • be aware of the range of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) that children may have, as either primary or secondary needs • understand some reasons why SLCN may impact on children’s behaviour, and use this to inform practice • be able to identify when a child is not developing speech, language and communication as expected, and how to make an onward referral for further assessment. © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 18

Activity: Role cards exercise Discuss a recent holiday in the manner described on your card Note: Don’t reveal what your role card says to the others in your group! © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 19

Understanding the range of SLCN • Primary or secondary? • Delay or disorder? • Specific language impairment? © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 20

Receptive language © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 21

Expressive language © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 22

Speech clarity © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 23

Speech fluency © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 24

Social communication difficulties © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 25

Activity: Prevalence of SLCN: True or False? 1. 3– 5% of children have SLCN as their main area of need. 2. Around 8% of all children have SLCN. 3. In some areas of the country, particularly areas of social deprivation, up to 25% of children are starting school with poor language skills, inadequate formal learning. 4. Most children with SEN have difficulty with some aspect of speech, language and/or communication. 5. These prevalence figures mean that most adults working in schools will come into direct contact with children who have communication difficulties every day. 6. On average, every school classroom in the UK will have a child who has some form of SLCN. 7. In areas of high social disadvantage, the number of children with language difficulties will be considerably higher. © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 26

Prevalence of SLCN 100% – all children 50% – in some parts of the UK, upwards of 50% of children are starting school with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) 10% – I CAN estimates that 10% of all children have complex or persistent SLCN. This 10% is a mixture of: • children who have SLCN as a result of another condition such as autism, hearing impairment, general learning difficulties, etc • 7% of children who have SLCN as their main or primary difficulty, also referred to as specific language impairment (SLI) • an estimated 1% of children who have the most severe and complex SLCN. (Review of services for children and young people with SLCN, John Bercow MP) © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 27

Impact of SLCN • Literacy • Learning • Social development • Emotions and behaviour • Organisation © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 28

Identifying SLCN • Read through case study, identify child’s strengths and weaknesses and describe the impact of these difficulties in school. • Use the information about the child to fill in their Identifying children with SLCN checklist. • Don’t worry if you don’t complete the task thoroughly in the available time – the exercise is a chance to roadtest the checklist. • Try to use vocabulary and the language models introduced in the course. © I CAN 2012 Session 2: Developing Understanding of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 29

Primary Talk Enhancing Communication Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 30

How do we effectively support children with moderate SLCN in the classroom context at primary level? Key questions • How do school staff make the support more focused for children with SLCN? • What helps to support the work going on in class? • How do they know if what they are doing is effective? © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 31

Learning outcomes By the end of Session 3 participants will: • understand the importance of collaborative practice and consider ways of promoting this • understand ways of using information provided by a variety of means of assessment to plan areas of intervention and specific targets • know and be able to use and adapt a range of approaches and strategies to support children with SLCN • be able to identify three actions that they will take to enhance their practice around supporting children with moderate SLCN. © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 32

Session structure: Supporting children with SLCN 1. Communication-supportive environment: quick audit 2. Collaborative work including parents 3. Understanding reports and targets 4. Enhanced level strategies 5. Monitoring effectiveness 6. Plenary © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 33

Communication-supportive strategies: quick audit • Consider the strategies on the checklist in relation to your school and practice in general across all classrooms and all staff • Spend a few minutes rating your school • Discuss: any queries, key strengths and any areas for development (or revision) © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 34

Collaborative work including parents Operating in separate silos produces misunderstandings, causes divisions and can be bewildering or infuriating to parents (Bercow, Review 2008) Collaboration by practitioners and parents is fundamental for the effective management of children with SLCN (Wright, 1992) There is evidence of a lack of shared understanding between education, health, school and parents, which can have a negative impact on meeting the needs of the child (Lindsay and Dockrell, 2002) Collaboration should be taking place at all levels from the strategic planning through to practitioner level (Law et al, 2000) What are the benefits of collaborative working? © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 35

Activity: What does all this mean in practical terms? • In small groups, discuss and list key strategies to support collaborative work, e. g. joint planning time • 5 minutes to discuss • Then present ideas to the group © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 36

Understanding reports and target setting • Information from previous school/nursery/teacher • Information/discussion with parents • Observation and checklists/screening tools • Informal assessment on classroom tasks • Formal assessment © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 37

Understanding reports and target setting (continued) Speech and language therapists’ reports: • Receptive language skills • Expressive language skills • Social interaction • Speech and phonology • Case history • Informal observations • Strengths, implications, recommendations © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 38

Understanding reports and target setting (continued) Information gained from: • Observations • SLT standardised assessments • Checklists and screening tools • Verbal reports from parents/other members of staff • Outcomes from lesson activities Areas of relative strength Areas of need and priorities General targets Specific (IEP) targets © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 39

Visual cues © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 40

Visual cues: graphic organisers 1 st Then Next Then Last 1 2 3 4 Remember: Look – Think (what next? ) – Try (on my own) © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 41

Comprehension monitoring (Dolloghan and Kaston, 1986) 1. Recognising good listening behaviours 2. Message not heard 3. Message too difficult 4. Message not clear I didn’t hear – can you say it again louder? I don’t know that word A red what? © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 42

Consider what you say • • • Sentence length and grammatical complexity Rate of speech Adapt: volume, tone, intonation Emphasise key words Chunk information © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 43

Other strategies to support comprehension • Thinking time • Signing © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 44

How we learn new words Think of sound Think of meaning • It starts with …… …… • It rhymes with ………. . • It has ………… syllables • It has lots of ……. . sounds in it Round and round Like a wheel ROTARY A windmill has rotary movement Ways that combine elements of both approaches 10 steps to becoming a word wizard (Parsons et al, 2005) 1. Today’s new word is. . 2. Have you heard. . . before? 3. What do you know about. . . 4. How do we learn new words? 5. Sounds in the word 6. Meaning 7. Learn some more! 8. Put it all together 9. Choose a game 10. Write it for the word bank • Blockbuster game with successful answers making a winning path across the board (e. g. What R is a type of movement? ) • “Pass the word” game in which a word is passed round the group with each child thinking of something to say about it. Last child in wins. © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 45

Word magic © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 46

Developing concepts © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 47

Concept map A grandfather clock pendulum Back and forward in a straight line oscillating reciprocal swinging A sewing machine needle Movement Motion One way in a straight linear rotary Round and round A rocket A wheel and axle © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 48

Annoyed scale 8 furious 7 mad 6 angry 5 cross annoyed fed up irritated bothered © I CAN 2012 3 2 1 4 Punched in chest Pushed in corridor Switches off computer during a game Ankle kicked at football Someone stares at you and calls you a name Someone borrows your rubber without asking You can’t find your ruler It’s raining on the way to school Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 49

Narrative framework example The beginning. Where did this happen? When did it happen? Who was there? Why were they there? To begin with… What I was thinking. I felt… The event or problem. What happened? Then… Then I thought… What happened next? How did the problem work out? After that… I was feeling… Conclusion. In the end… When it finished I thought… © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 50

Comic strip conversations (Carol Gray) © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 51

Strategies linked to speech and phonology • Give time and attention • Accept all speech attempts • Say the word the child is attempting straight after. Provide a clear model • Clap out the syllable structure of the word • Encourage them to speak to their peers and a range of adults • Use visual materials to support sounds or syllables within words • Play games with sounds • Identify any topic-related words that may cause difficulties or provide “natural” opportunities to practice key sounds • Set up display tables starting with key sounds, and encourage children to bring an object from home starting with that key sound © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 52

Working with parents • • Home-school diary Homework tasks that involve communication Sharing topic vocabulary Briefing/rehearsing with children what they can tell their parents about their day Involve children in preparing newsletters Share strategies: greater consistency between home and school Home and school versions of general targets Invite parents in to class © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 53

Activity: Differentiation planning for a specific child with SLCN Groups of 2– 3 You will need: • Differentiation planning template • Types of SLCN (from Session 2) Work through the sections: • Part 1: brief description of the child, focusing on the nature of their SLCN • Part 2: a typical lesson – just an outline • Part 3: using sections as prompts © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 54

Monitoring effectiveness How do you know if what you are doing is effective? • Monitoring adult talk? • Standard school outcome (attainment) measures? • More detailed measures or methods? © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 55

Plenary Summary: • Audit of communication-supportive strategies • Collaborative working • Understanding reports and targets • Enhanced level strategies • Monitoring methods • • • Questions? Personal action plans Course evaluation and attendance certificates (online) © I CAN 2012 Session 3: Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) 56