Who is the service for and what can you expect?

Children who are attending a mainstream school in Havering will be seen by our mainstream school service. Evidence that the child’s speech and language skills has been supported by a school through a targeted approach for at least 1 term needs to be present for the referral to be accepted. 

All accepted new referrals receive an initial assessment session which is usually held at school (unless the child attends a secondary school or is home educated) in order to determine the child’s needs.

Recommendations and targets are provided at the end of the initial assessment session for school to run. These recommendations and targets are reviewed by a therapist or a member of the Speech, Language and Communication Service based on individual need.

Children with a severe level of difficulty might be internally referred on to one of the team’s specialist services if they meet the criteria. This clinical decision would be made by the Speech and Language Therapy team.

Threshold for Speech and Language Therapy Involvement post Initial Assessment for children attending Key Stage 1 Provision (Reception to Year 2):

• Language: Language difficulties need to be severely below age appropriate levels (Percentile Rank below 5 on standardised assessment).
• Speech: Speech pronunciation difficulties need to be moderate to severe. The following will not be accepted in the absence of other concerns:
  • Lisps
  • ‘th’ pronounced as ‘f/v’
  • ‘r’ pronounced as ‘w’
• Social Communication Difficulties (Including ASD): Child consistently does not seek interaction with others across a range of activities and environments. Child demonstrates a need to work in a calm, non-distracting environment with a clear visual structure; and a need to access specific Speech and Language Therapy support to address significant and persistent issues.

Threshold for Speech and Language Therapy Involvement post Initial Assessment for children attending Key Stage 2 Provision (Year 3 - 6):

• Children remain on caseload if an EHCP highlighting need for Speech and Language Therapy involvement is present

Who is the service for and what can you expect?

Children who are attending a special school in Havering will be seen by our special school service. All accepted new referrals receive an initial assessment session which is usually held at school in order to determine the child’s needs. Class training, advice, review sessions and classroom follow up is provided based on individual needs.

Speech and language therapy communication targets will be jointly set with the class teacher if possible so that targets are embedded within the existing daily routine, across a range of activities.

SLT Advice contributes to a positive communication environment, involving:

• Use of visual support, e.g. visual timetables/schedules
• Use of graded prompts, e.g. hand over hand/pointing/looking/waiting
• Total communication, e.g. makaton signing, PECS, use of objects and photographs, reduced language, symbols, social stories, communication books or AAC devices for pupils to use for communication, such as Ipads
• Shared decision making around use of strategies and setting targets with the teaching team

The Speech and Language Therapists will work on a class by class basis and will provide the following input:

• Training of staff on communication strategies and intervention
• Individual pupil assessment
• Class observations focussing on how pupils are able to access the lesson
• Discussion with class teacher re: summary of each assessment,  advice on differentiation of the lesson for higher and lower level ability pupils and use of visual support to support understanding and expression
• Modelling of class group activities: focussing on areas of difficulty as determined from assessment.
• Handing over class groups to class team to run on a regular basis.