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Torbay SEND Voice - Speech

Last Updated - August 20, 2023

Universal Support for Speech, Language and Communication Needs

Every education setting, health setting, social worker and community support worker will:

  • Have a supportive ethos and environment which promotes speech, language, communication and respect, and values diversity
  • Have clear processes in place to:
    • capture each child and young person’s voice
    • respond to concerns raised by parents/carers/children and young people/professionals
    • share appropriate information with partners as part of a multi-disciplinary team approach (e.g., Early Help Assessment partnership enquiries)
  • Have a lead professional for communication (e.g. Communication Champion) and ensure that they have access to appropriate training to enhance their competency levels
  • Have systems in place to ensure that all relevant members of staff have a clear understanding of needs of all children and young people including the adaptations required for groups/individuals (e.g., Child Protection Online Management System, provision maps, pupil profiles)
  • Have systems in place to review whether an environment is ‘communication friendly’ and make reasonable adjustments as necessary
  • Make consistent use of visuals to:
    • enable access
    • support understanding
    • support independence
    • reinforce key routines and expectations
    • enable a child/young person to access and contribute to their learning
    • enable an individual to express themselves
  • Have processes in place to enable parents/carers and staff to understand typical speech, language and communication development
  • Have access to recommended screening tools to enable professionals to identify need and plan provision
  • Have systems to implement a whole school/setting/workplace approach
  • Provide opportunities for all workforces to audit the key skills and knowledge needed to support the speech, language and communication development of all children and young people
  • Provide training for all staff to develop understanding and confidence around supporting speech, language and communication needs that is relevant to their role
  • Support parents/carers and professionals by signposting to resources and sources of information

For information and resources to support the implementation of these please see appendix 1.

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