Communication and Language
Communication and Language Vision
At St Edmunds we believe that speech, language and communication skills are vital for all children. Without these skills they will not reach their full potential. All members of staff know that they have a very important role to play in supporting all children’s speech and language development, and identifying when they might be having difficulty.
It is essential that the speech, language and communication needs of all children are considered; children need to be able to:
- listen to and understand information they are given
- make sense of concepts and ideas they are learning
- learn a whole range of new words and use them well
- share their ideas with others and answer questions
- use language to solve problems ask for help or explanations
- read, write and learn to spell interact with others, play and socialise
Children with different speech and language abilities will need different support to help them to be able to do all of the above.
No child or young person should be denied the opportunity to help improve their communication and we recognise that some children need focused and intensive support to reach their full potential.
Communication and Language at St Edmunds
ElkLan
St Edmunds is a Communication Friendly School (CFS.) We gained this accreditation in 2015 and have successfully renewed this status in October 2018.
Communication Friendly Schools (CFS) status is a whole school approach to improving speech, language and communication skills across the whole school. The accreditation is awarded to settings that have trained and supported all their staff in communication and language development. They will also have shown evidence of embedding this knowledge in targeted interventions and through the implementation of a Communication Policy.
Click here to access this policy.
This accredited status reinforces the high level of skills and teaching strategies which are embedded throughout our school in:
• Understanding non-verbal communication, listening, attention and the use of visual strategies
• Helping to develop memory skills
• Understanding language beyond simple sentences
• Encouraging expressive language
• Promoting effective communication & social skills
• Supporting children with unclear speech
• Linking speech with language and literacy
• Helping children with the management of stammering
WellComm
EYFS use the WellComm Toolkit. This is a Speech and Language Toolkit for Screening and Intervention in the Early Years. This plays a crucial role in identifying children with potential language difficulties and offers a range of customised intervention activities to help support their language development.
Why do we use WellComm?
- Identify children in need of referral or support
- Provide tailored intervention strategies for all children
- Assess children’s communication skills on entry to nursery and school
- Measure progress throughout
With 1 in 10 children under 5 years of age experiencing some degree of difficulty in learning language and communication skills, early identification is crucial.
Click on the WellComm sign above to learn more.
