Spoken and expressive language refers to using speech to communicate for a variety of purposes. Children who have difficulty with their spoken and expressive language may need support to form sounds, letters, words or sentences, choose words to express themselves in the right order using appropriate grammar and use spoken language to communicate with others in conversation.
Websites
- Health visitor services provide information about how to best to support Early Language Development and Speech and Communication Development.
- Children's Speech and Language Therapy provides information, activities and resources to parents/carers, schools and settings to support children with their speech, language and communication development.
- Speech and Language UK give advice and guidance to families and education settings to identify and support children with speech and language differences. See their Child's Progress checker and Speech sounds and the order they are learnt document.
- Speech, Language and Communication Framework a free online resource to support practitioners with their knowledge of speech, language and communication development.
- The SCERTS® in Action Framework a communication tool used to support Autistic people with social communication and emotional regulation skills.
Self-help resources
- The SENDCO Helpdesk is a free early advice service that can discuss concerns at an individual or whole school/setting level. It is aimed to help support SENDCOs (or practitioners supporting SEND in early years) to consider the next steps when implementing the Graduated Response so that the needs of children with SEND are met as early as possible.
- WellComm - GL Assessment
- Early Talk Boost a catch-up programme for children aged 3-4 who are struggling with talking and understanding words.
- Tots Talking a program to improve communication skills in two-year-olds
- Speech and Language UK- Talk to a Speech and Language Advisor
- Inclusion Development Programme Supporting children with speech, language and communication needs: Guidance for practitioners in the Early Years Foundation Stage
- Signing to Support Children’s Language Development- 100 Oxfordshire signs and alphabet
- Speech and sound awareness - Children’s Integrated Therapies
- Talking together
- Match plus one
- Asking for help
- Taking turns
- Descriptive Commentary
- Using cause and effect to support communication
- Summary of strategies to help a child to communicate
Training
Improving early identification in Oxfordshire: an introduction to WellComm
This introductory training will help you to increase your confidence to access and navigate the WellComm tool kit. WellComm is a complete speech and language toolkit, including identification and intervention support. This course is available online and can be bought in-house for the whole staff as a traded package.
Childminder WellComm Digital Tool support
This training is designed to support Childminders, regardless of their current familiarity with WellComm. This is an opportunity to address questions and provide hands-on guidance, including demonstrating how to upload children and assisting with connecting multiple devices. We also cover common misconceptions and practical ways to address these.
Improving your use of The Big Book of Ideas: using WellComm as an intervention tool
This training is for practitioners who are familiar with using WellComm and have attended the course ‘Improving early identification in Oxfordshire: an introduction to using WellComm’ The session is beneficial for practitioners who use the WellComm paper toolkit and the WellComm digital tool.
Developing Children’s Phonological Awareness
This course aims to increase your knowledge about how to develop children’s phonological awareness. It focuses on the many aspects of early year’s provision that support children’s early language and how these provide the necessary foundations for early reading and writing. The course outlines key areas to focus on in your practice and you will be introduced to a range of interactive games and activities to develop children’s skills. This course is available online and can be bought in-house for the whole staff as a traded package.
Quality interactions in the Early Years
This course explores the importance of quality interactions on children’s learning and development and provides strategies for effective interactions.
This course is available online and can be bought in-house for the whole staff as a traded package.
Identifying and supporting young children with speech language and communication needs This course looks at the tools practitioners can use to support identification of children with speech, language and communication needs in Oxfordshire. It supports practitioners to develop their universal provision for all children but also unpicks how to develop a response for children who need targeted support, or who may need a referral for specialist support.
The Oxfordshire Speech and Language Therapy Service has developed two instructional signing videos designed to assist parents, carers, and professionals with introducing and using signing to support communication in the Early Years:
Specialist support in setting
A Single Point of Request for Involvement (SPORFI) is a multiagency form used to request support from various educational and health teams for children under 5 with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For further information see the Single Point of Request for Involvement (SPORFI) Flowchart.
Complete the SPORFI form to make a request. Services that can be requested include:
- Speech and Language Therapy service
- Speech and Language Therapy (feeding)
- Physiotherapy service
- Occupational Therapy service
- Early Years SEND Advisory team
- SENSS Physical Disability Team
Children & Young People (0-19) - Integrated community physical health Oxfordshire including Health Visitors, School Health Nurses, Family Nurses and other members of the team offer support to families at home and in the community from pre-birth until the child turns 19 years old. See information on how Health Visiting and early years settings working together.
Early Help Children’s Services Early help refers to the collaborative approach taken by all services working with children and families to provide support for a family before problems escalate. Accessing early help can address potential issues and improve outcomes for children, young people, and families. More information can be found here.
The Communication and Interaction team is a countywide Special Educational Needs (SEN) teaching and advisory support service for schools supporting children from reception age onwards.