Bad behaviour? no, just a lack of awareness and understanding of SLCN

Many of the children I work with get in trouble because they have language and social communication difficulties which impact simple, everyday interactions. This is just a typical one from last week:

A lovely young lady I met recently, Ruby aged 12 years, was very upset to receive a detention for something that had happened in school. The teacher was one she knew but was a maths teacher, who was covering a science lesson. 

This is what Mr Jones, the teacher reported and says happened in lesson:

He'd asked the class to be quiet, Ruby 'decided to continue talking'. He asked her if she understood what he'd said, and she said, 'Yes,' but carried on talking. He became cross and told her to 'be quiet.' She was shocked and said, 'But it was quiet working and if you wanted the class to be silent, you should have said.' Mr Jones felt that Ruby was being difficult and disrespectful for no reason.  He discussed this with her, but due to her response he felt he was unable to get anywhere and had no option but to give a detention for her poor attitude.

Teacher who was normally in maths covered science		Ruby dislikes change and hadn’t been prepared
Teacher asked the class to be quiet	Ruby carried on talking	Ruby has a literal interpretation of language, so he didn’t say ‘silent’
Teacher probably looked at Ruby and pulled a face to indicate he wasn’t pleased	Ruby carried on talking	She can’t read facial expressions and would not be able to interpret his intentions
He asked her if she had understood	She said, 'Yes.'	In her mind she had got the right interpretation
He said, ‘I meant silence!’	She said, 'you didn't say that!'	She has difficulty with word definition and is sure she knows, whereas she might be slightly off or way off She also cannot read inference
She said, ' You should have said that then.'		Ruby has little understanding of the rules of modifying language to teachers. She doesn’t know it's rude
Teacher thought she was being disrespectful	As she would be if she was of typical social understanding and /or pragmatic ability	She hasn't got the language or pragmatic skills to interpret the situation
	Ruby wouldn't let the subject drop	She has a clear fairness rule/sense of justice which she thinks the teacher was being unfair as she didn’t understand
Teacher discussed it	Ruby didn’t give the response he expected	She doesn’t understand as she thinks she didn’t do anything wrong
Teacher would be upset with her and may be was possibly feeling a bit under-confident as he was not teaching his subject		She can’t put herself in others shoes/see their point of view

 That's not the worst one I heard this week either!

We need so much more awareness about language and social communication difficulties, it's NOT just children with ASD!

Please support the campaign to save the Communication Trust as they are working hard to help schools understand more see more here

Communication Leaders

This new initiative from the Communication Trust looks excellent. 

Communication Leaders is a peer-mentoring approach to supporting the language and communication development of primary and secondary pupils. It allows children and young people to take on a unique leadership role in communication within their schools and homes. 

You can choose how to implement this approach in your school. You'll find everything you need in the link below, including a training session for staff to introduce the approach and resources to the chosen Communication Leaders, the resource packs, and a video showing staff and Communication Leaders talking about their experiences from the pilot project.  
Click here

June 2015 SEND Reforms Survey

The Communication Trust is committed to supporting all those working within the reformed SEND system to meet the needs of children and young people with SLCN and their families. As part of this work, they undertook two online surveys in June and November 2014 to find out how practitioners, service providers and commissioners were preparing for and implementing the SEND Reforms. They used the valuable information gained from these surveys to ensure we are able to offer relevant support to those working with children and young people with SLCN in the areas they report needing it most.
 

They are now running a third survey  across June 2015, to find out more about the perceived opportunities and remaining challenges of the reformed SEND system for children and young people with SLCN, almost a whole academic year on from the reforms coming into effect. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and we would be extremely grateful if you would take the time to complete it and pass the link on to your colleagues and networks to help get the broadest response possible.
 

The survey will be open from 29th May - 29th June 2015 and is available here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/sendreformsforslcn2015.

No Pens Day Wednesday is back! Wednesday 9th October 2013

No Pens Day Wednesday, a national speaking and listening event organised by The Communication Trust, is now in its third year. They now have over 1,500 schools signed up to No Pens Day Wednesday- why not join them!
To find out more and get ideas for planning your No Pens Day they have produced the 2013 activity pack available to download here. The activity pack provides more information about why schools should get involved with No Pens Day Wednesday, what it involves, some useful guidance for teachers about supporting effective talk in the classroom as well as a handy timeline to help you plan your day.
Alongside the activity pack, they are producing some exciting new materials to support schools getting involved in No Pens Day Wednesday 2013. These will be available via their website very soon and they'll be in touch by email to all those who register their interest once the new resources are available. They also currently have all the resources produced for last year's event available on the website to help you start your planning early should you want to.
New for 2013 resources include;
• Downloadable poster for display in schools
• Print out poster to send home to families
• Speaking and listening outcomes matrix for lesson plans
• A handy how to guide to planning a good speaking and listening lesson
• Working effectively with support staff  in speaking and listening lessons
• New primary and secondary activity ideas
• Follow on factsheets on No Pens Day Wednesday
To access these and the new for 2013 resources as they become available, please register your interest on the website here.
Please help them to make the day as successful and wide reaching as possible by circulating this one pager to any of your networks who may be interested in getting involved in No Pens Day Wednesday on Wednesday 9th October 2013. 

Shine a light updates

Excitement is building around the Shine a Light Awards 2012!

Shortlisting took place earlier this month and the judges have made their choices. Over the next week, we will be sending out invitations to the awards ceremony, which will take place at Pearson's headquarters in Strand, London on November 21st. 

We wish all the best of luck to Wyndham Primary Academy in Derbyshire which  has been selected to receive one of the following awards, either winner of Primary school of the year, a runner up or the winner of an outstanding achievement award. They have been through the Elklan school accreditation process which has helped them develop their working practises to this excellent level.
They're also delighted to announce that the celebrity host at this year's award ceremony will be television presenter Paul Ross.

Mr Ross has formerly been a journalist and radio presenter, and is perhaps best known as showbiz reporter on This Morning. He played the part of 'Mr Sit-up Britain' in the film Bridget Jones' Diary and was a contestant on Channel 4's Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2009.

Thank you to everyone who helped us spread the word about the Shine a Light Awards 2012 and bringing in some interesting applications.

New director for Communication Trust

The Communication Trust, a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, has welcomed its new Director, Anne Fox. Fox, who previously worked at NCT as Head of Corporate Communications, will lead the organisation through its next strategic period. 

Anne Fox, Director of The Communication Trust, says: "I am delighted to join The Communication Trust at this exciting and challenging time. Moving forwards, the Trust will work to ensure children’s communication is a burning issue. We will do this by sharing what works for all children and those  with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) to the widest possible audience.  

“Good communication skills are key in the 21st  century and every child should have the opportunity to be understood. In five years, the Trust has achieved so much and we have trail blazed the way for collaborative working with our consortium members. Our challenge now is to build on the success of the  Hello campaign and to leave no stone unturned as we make the clear link between communication skills and life chances.” 

Adrian Hosford, Chair of The Communication Trust, said: "We are delighted to welcome Anne to The Communication Trust. Anne brings with her a wealth of experience around collaborative working and uniting different groups under a common cause.  Her valuable expertise and leadership will drive the Trust forwards and help us achieve the best outcomes for children, young people and their families.”

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S HEALTH OUTCOMES FORUM REPORT

The Communication Trust has welcomed recommendations from the Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum to improve health-related care for children and young people and address long-standing system issues.

The Forum launched by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, included the Government's former Communication Champion, Jean Gross CBE. Last year, The Communication
Trust managed and delivered the National Year of Communication (Hello campaign) in partnership with Jean Gross. Cara Evans, Interim Director at The Communication Trust, said: “The Communication Trust is  particularly pleased the  Health Outcomes Forum report makes strong recommendations around more effective integration of health with education, social care and other local authority led services.

"Over 1 million children and young people in the UK today have some form of long term and
persistent speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). For too long these children have
fallen through the cracks of health and education, being passed from one agency to another, with
families stuck in the middle of local disputes.

"Improving joint commissioning of services for children and young people with SLCN is vital and we
need to take their views, and those of their families, firmly into account. The Trust wants to ensure
that children with SLCN and users of alternative and augmentative communication aids (AAC) are
supported to express their opinions on matters that directly affect their life chances.

“The Trust wholly endorses the recommendation that  all those working with children and young
people should possess the right knowledge and skills to support children and young people's
communication development and to be able to identify when they are struggling."

Julie Wagge, Director of Speech and Language Therapy Services at Symbol UK, one of the Trust’s
consortium members, said: “Getting it right for children and young people with SLCN relies heavily
on effective joint commissioning. An inherent difficulty has always been that the specialist resource -
speech and language therapists - sits within the NHS but the ultimate legal responsibility to provide
therapy sits with the local authority as the education provider.  "The care pathway for children with SLCN includes nursery-based provision and schools. Effective clinical outcomes rely heavily on the collaboration between practitioners, teachers, speech and language therapists (SLTs) and parents. Early and timely intervention is critical or we face great economic and societal costs down the line."

At the end of the National Year of Communication, Jean Gross CBE published her final report as the
Government's Communication Champion for children. It highlighted that joint commissioning is still
not taking place in seven out of ten local areas. The report can be downloaded from
www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/9683/nwm_final_jean_gross_two_years_on_report.pdf

Speech, language and communication: are they special needs?

The Communication Trust, a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary organisations specialising in speech, language and communication, has welcomed today’s SEN Progress and Next Steps report from the Department of Education.
The Trust welcomes the drive towards joined up approaches and efforts to ease the journey for children with SEN and their families but has concerns about the effect of these changes on the 1 million children and young people in the UK with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

Wendy Lee, Professional Director for The Communication Trust, says: “Over the last five years, there has been a 58% increase in the number of children and young people with SLCN as a special educational need. Identification and support is crucial but traditionally the UK has had low recognition and awareness of SLCN.
“Changes in labelling, particularly around the diagnosis of behavioural, social and emotional problems, will need to be managed carefully. Parents and the children’s workforce often notice and recognise poor literacy or poor behaviour but may not notice the SLCN difficulty underneath such as poor understanding, vocabulary or conversational skills. We need to work hard to ensure that the ‘hidden’ difficulties of children with SLCN are identified early across all phases of education.

“When SLCN is not addressed, problems can manifest over the years affecting the individual, their family and wider society. Figures show that more than half of children excluded from school have an unidentified SLCN and in our youth justice system, 60% have SLCN, which has previously been undetected.”

The Communication Trust is working closely with the Government on how to support and identify SLCN and is pleased with the strong emphasis on this in the early years and with the focus on workforce development. Specifically, the Trust has:

•  Managed and delivered in partnership with Jean Gross, formerly Communication Champion for children, the National Year of Communication (Hello campaign) to raise awareness of children and young people’s communication development and how to recognise and support SLCN
• Worked to support children’s communication charity I CAN to deliver the Early Language Development Programme (ELDP)
• Developed with support from City & Guilds, a new Level 3 Award in Supporting Children and Young People's Speech Language and Communication for practitioners working with children and young people aged 0‐19 across education, health, youth justice and social care. With support from the Department for Education, the Trust has developed free resources to support the early identification of SLCN
• Developed for the first time a mandatory unit on speech, language and communication that is included in initial training for early years practitioners as part of the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People’s workforce www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/qualifications
• Released in partnership with Jean Gross, formerly Communication Champion and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), Better Communication – outlining a range of approaches to commissioning around SLCN
•  Produced a booklet Let’s Talk about It aimed at increasing awareness of SLCN to teachers going through initial teacher training
• Recently launched a film aimed at raising awareness of recognising SLCN with youth justice and educators www.sentencetrouble.info/film

Wendy Lee continues: “As schools are given greater flexibility to determine their own policies and practices on SEN and the range of statutory information requirements are reduced, it is vital that schools are scrutinised by Ofsted and by Local Authorities on the services they provide, to ensure that the large numbers of children with mild and moderate SLCN are not overlooked. “The Trust is concerned that children with SEN risk getting left behind as the new NHS and schools architecture gets embedded. As personalised budgets come to the fore, parents will need extra support to ensure a joined up approach that meets their child’s needs across health, education and care.”

“As a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, we understand intrinsically the unique role that the voluntary sector plays. We are pleased this has been championed in the report and look forward to continuing to work with the Government to improve the lives of children, young people and their families.”

Farewell to Communication Trust Director

 Anita Kerwin-Nye, Director of The Communication Trust, a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary and community based organisations specialising in speech, language and communication, has announced that she is to step down after five years in post.


Kerwin-Nye originally founded The Communication Trust in 2007 alongside BT, I CAN, Council for Disabled Children and Afasic to support the development and training of the children’s workforce and
to influence policy. Five years on, and the Trust has:
• Grown from 8 to 48 consortium members and been cited by The Cabinet Office as an exemplar model of collaboration and coalition.
• Extended the reach of the Trust by training over 3,000 people in the early years, schools and youth justice workforce on how to support children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
• Impacted heavily on policy including successful influencing of speech, language and communication in the early years agenda.
• Developed, in partnership with City and Guilds, a new mandatory Level 3 Award in supporting children and young people’s speech, language and communication.
• Delivered the Hello campaign (national year of communication) in partnership with Jean Gross CBE, formerly Communication Champion for children. 200 Local Co-ordinators supported Hello,
320,000 free resources were disseminated to families and the children’s workforce and it is estimated that 72% of UK adults were reached by Hello media coverage (Metrika analysis).


In her previous role as Director of Communications for I CAN, Anita developed the Make Chatter Matter campaign. This seminal campaign helped lobby for the Bercow Review into Services for Children and
Young People (0-19) with Speech, Language and Communication Needs calling for a Communication Champion and awareness raising campaign to make communication everyone’s business. Anita Kerwin-Nye says: “I am remarkably proud of The Communication Trust and how far we have come in five years. As a collective of voluntary organisations, we have striven to improve services and
awareness for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). “When I first joined the speech and language sector, there was very little general awareness that
communication skills were a vital commodity for individuals, families and society as a whole. It was hidden that 1 million children have some form of SLCN that can affect them early, severely and for life.
The children’s workforce felt under confident in this area and parents were battling a system where their child’s needs were falling between the stools of health and education. “To put SLCN on the map, we have had to emerge the vital importance of all children and young
people’s communication development. Early identification of children’s needs is only possible when there is recognition amongst the workforce and parents about what typical communication development looks like. We still have a long way to go but things have improved and the voluntary sector has acted as one of the biggest catalysts for change.
Kerwin-Nye continues: “By developing a coalition of 48 voluntary organisations, The Communication Trust speaks as one voice on speech and language issues whilst supporting individual members’ work
streams. There is so much credibility and expertise held within the Trust and the focus over the next six months will be on showcasing what works to support children’s communication and SLCN and
disseminating it to the widest possible audience.


“As we put the finishing touches to The Communication Trust’s Impact Report outlining the difference we have made in five years, it feels the right time to move on. A strong strategy has been put in place
for the next five years and I know I am leaving it in the very capable hands of the Trust’s staff team. Norbert Lieckfeldt, Chief Executive of The British Stammering Association, says: “It is unusual to have a
coalition of this kind. In a time when organisational mergers and cost efficiency drives are coming into force, The Communication Trust is a model of how it can be done. Anita’s leadership and her ability to
bring organisations together to work towards a common goal, whilst supporting their individual strategies, have been remarkable. She will be sorely missed but her legacy is leaving the Trust and its
members in a strong position and with a clear direction for future work.”


Kerwin-Nye will be succeeded from May 1st in the interim by Cara Evans, Operations Director, who will work closely with Adrian Hosford, Chair of The Communication Trust, on implementing the Trust’s next
five year plan. The Trust will be building on the legacy of the Hello campaign by launching a campaign in the near future to place communication at the heart of schools’ policy and practice.

Follow on from the year of communication......

Following on from the National Year of Communication, 2012 proves to be just as exciting with new events and new information guides for parents. Afasic England, in association The Communication Trust, is running three free events, bringing together parents, professionals and children with speech, language and communication needs. These will include seminars, workshops, exhibitions and fun activities for pupils with SLCN. Many of the workshops are being run by members of the Trust's Communication Consortium. With over thirty workshops per event to choose from, including one-to-one advice sessions available throughout the day, these events will provide information as well as a chance to talk to local providers, professionals and other parents. The events will take place in... The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Thursday 8th March 2012 Leicester University on Thursday 15th March 2012 Durham University at Stockton-on-Tees on 22nd March 2012 For further details and to book please click here.

Communication consortium expresses concern about Phonics Screening Check

The Communication Trust, a consortium of nearly 50 leading voluntary sector organisations specialising in speech, language and communication in children and young people, has expressed its concern over plans to roll out the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. The results from the first round of screening were published recently   by the Department for  Education.  The Phonics Screening Check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether pupils have learned phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It also identifies children who need extra help so they can receive extra support to improve their reading skills. They can then retake the check so schools can track them until they can decode. But independent evaluation undertaken by Sheffield Hallam University showed most teachers still had difficulties in judging whether a word was read correctly, including in children who were good readers but had speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Anita Kerwin-Nye, director of The Communication Trust, said: “We fully support the Government’s ambition to improve literacy standards in English schools, and welcome the Department for Education’s support for communication, language and literacy in the Early 

Years Foundation stage. “However we are very concerned about the impact the Year 1 Phonics Screen, and the wider emphasis on phonics, on children with speech, language and communication needs. 


This concern is backed up by the findings of the evaluation carried out by Sheffield Hallam University. This showed that nearly 29 per cent of schools felt the experience of the Phonics Screening Check was negative for children with SLCN and that only 35 per cent felt the check accurately assessed the decoding abilities of children with speech difficulties. “These figures alone suggest significant changes need to be made to the way the Screen is implemented and I have urgently requested a meeting with Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State 
for Education to discuss the precise details. Phonics is a valid approach to teaching reading but it is essential that it is delivered as part of a well-rounded approach to communication and literacy skills.”  

What is ELDP (Early Language Development Programme)?

The Communication Trust, a 40‐strong coalition of voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, last week welcomed the announcement that I CAN will be leading the Early Language Development Programme (ELDP) contract along with several other Trust members. However, it suggested the programme needed to go further to ensure all children’s needs were being met.

ELDP is a three‐year Department for Education funded programme to support the foundation of good communication development in young children. It is focusing on developing the speech, language and communication skills of pre‐school children through partnerships with children centres. It was one of several contracts awarded following the SEN Green Paper. The Communication Trust, which is this year leading the Hello campaign (national year of
communication), has campaigned for continued investment in early language support following the Every Child A Talker programme (ECAT). ECAT successes included ensuring children reached the best possible language levels before they started school and identifying children with potential difficulties at a much earlier age. The ELDP investment is building on this work on very early language with a particular focus on under‐3s.


Anita Kerwin‐Nye, Director of The Communication Trust, said: “This important piece of work, led by the voluntary sector, shows real commitment to meeting the speech, language and communication needs of children early on.    It also builds directly on the successes of ECAT providing support for local staff and adds to the momentum of the Hello campaign. “With more than 50% of children in some areas arriving at school with significant language delay,
further investment in early language will help to address a significant growing public health issue. Early language is one of the biggest predicators of future earnings and this programme is starting to address the challenges outlined in Graham Allen MP and Frank Field MP’s recent reviews. “The ELDP model, developed by I CAN, works through children’s centres and we hope it will
provide a launch pad for professionals to build on their learning and work towards the City and Guilds Award in Supporting Children and Young People’s Speech Language and Communication developed by The Communication Trust, in partnership with City & Guilds.  We also want to see the ELDP working with local authority early years teams and those working directly with parents.  Kerwin‐Nye continues; “It is vital that the ELDP is not seen as a replacement for an area‐wide strategic approach to commissioning services for all pre‐school children. We know there is currently a shortage of speech and language therapists and other expert staff yet these professionals are crucial if we are to respond to the needs of children and families identified through the ELDP.
“The Communication Trust is also calling on Government to develop standards and guidance for Health and Wellbeing Boards on the characteristics of an effective speech, language and communication strategy. Some excellent models of provision supporting speech and language exist already and we look forward to highlighting these at our Shine a Light Good Communication awards on November 23rd.”
‐

Hello to the national year of communication

Hello is the national year of communication – a campaign to increase understanding of how important it is for children and young people to develop good communication skills. The campaign is run by The Communication Trust, a coalition of over 35 leading voluntary sector organisations, in partnership with Jean Gross, the Government’s Communication Champion.
Hello aims to make communication for all children and young people a priority in homes and schools across the UK so that they can live life to the full. The campaign is backed by the Department for Education and supported by BT.


A child with a speech, language and communication need may struggle to get words out of their mouth or not understand words that are being used. They may have difficulties holding a conversation, have multiple difficulties or simply have a limited vocabulary. These barriers are often invisible to others, meaning their needs are often misrepresented, misdiagnosed or missed altogether.


Please visit www.hello.org.uk for information on how you can help improve the communication skills of children and young people and to sign up for regular updates. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter : http://twitter.com/Comm_nTrust] and facebook: http://on.fb.me/9yHIIZ].


Smart Talkers are supporting the Hello campaign!