Heartbeat: Children’s therapies offer vital training to local schools

January 11, 2022

Our children’s speech and language therapy team have been providing an extensive library of training in schools so they are better able to support children who have difficulties with speech, language and communication.

In case you were unaware, speech and language therapists support children who have difficulties with swallowing and communication which includes expressive and receptive language (not being able to understand what people say or express yourself), speech (pronunciation), social skills (holding conversation/making friends) and fluency (stammering).

The community based team have been offering an array of training in schools such as general courses to staff to support children who struggle with speech and language, specialist courses which give school staff the tools to support children with complex needs in a 1:1 setting, management courses to support special educational needs coordinators in schools in planning whole school provisions and conflict resolution courses which are key in supporting older children in secondary school settings who find it challenging to communicate effectively.

The training is being delivered across the Sandwell borough in both primary and secondary schools as well as local health centres by a range of therapists. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic much of the training has been completed digitally.

Katy Dunn, Speech and Language Therapist, was the driving force behind setting up the training and also delivers some of the training in Sandwell. She believes it is hugely beneficial.

She said: “We know that speech language and communication needs (SLCN) are one of the most common difficulties for children. In some areas of deprivation more than 50 per cent of children start school with SLCN and 10 per cent of people will have lifelong SLCN. It is a hidden disability which can have a really significant impact on a person’s emotional wellbeing and their ability to achieve their potential in life. It is important for the workforce in a school to be skilled in supporting children’s communication at a targeted level so we, as a specialist service, can offer a high level of support to those children with the most complex or specialist needs.”

Kay Baker, Deputy Clinical Lead for Children’s Therapies also believes in the importance of training and said: “We have had excellent feedback from schools who have commented that they have found the sessions enjoyable and they are more confident in delivering support to children with SLCN in school.

“We have been able to expand on this staff training to write a set of competencies for school staff to use to consider their knowledge and skills when working with a child. We have also written a document for schools to use to map their whole school SLCN provision.”