What steps can the school take to help with speech?

[Emmielu]

My niece will be starting her first year in primary school in september. My sister is worried & upset because DD's speech is delayed for her age. She has been in a nursery that is on the same site at the school & has been with a speech therapist & working with the nursery to try & get her speech to the point of a 4 year old. They had a maximum of 8 months to do this because it was not picked up until DD went to nursery. My sister is worried her DD will struggle & be left behind because of this. I have suggested she has a word with the new teacher & ask what steps they might take to ensure any concerns she has are settled & that she insists that any learning plans that are made she is to be involved in or at least know about & would like to know about any updates on dd's learning & speech. I have also suggested she keeps in contact with the speech therapist if there is still one needed in school & try & find things to do at home to help her. So far my sister has only been handed flash cards to repeat to her dd & when it comes to asking for a drink, she has been making her ask the full question not just say the word "drink".

Personally i think she should be pushing for more things that she can be involved with. It might settle her concerns. What else can she do to help with the speech & what will the school do to help too?

She needs to speak to the teacher her dd will have.

In reception class my dd was part of a small group of dc who had speech delay/issues and they did some work together each week on their speech. Also the were given a warning before it was their turn to speak in class etc so they had more time to think about what the wanted to say. Also if in England your neice should get an IEP - individual education plan with aims and actions of what they will do to support her.

I'm sure someone with more advice will come along soon.

Ds started school while on the SALT teams "list" . A letter from SALT went to school outlining his problems and what he was working on. Teacher was very supportive and DS had his next SALT review session in school. SALT popped into class too. the school has a TA who has had some extra speech group training from local SALT team and works with small groups of children . Ds was in one of those groups once a week in Year R. No stigma as several children in class were in that group for differing reasons.

so , to sum up. Some schools can be helpful, and include speech work with no fuss.

Your sister really needs to tell the SLT all her worries so they can have a plan. Where transition works well, the nursery should liaise with the school about children with any Special needs and pass on information. There would be no harm in your sister requesting a meeting between the current nursery, school SENCO, classteacher and the SLT so that school are ready for your niece with a plan in place.

Your sister needs to find out:

• will her daughter receive SLT in school?
• If not, does it occur within a clinic setting?
• What liaison does the SLT have with school?
• Does school have anyone who would be able to deliver a programme of work with her daughter in school?
• Is there a specific TA within school who has a special interest in speech and language?
• Do any of the staff have any specific training around speech, language and communication?
• Do the SLT run any parent groups that your sister might benefit from in terms of learning ways to support her daughter?

Is is speech sounds or language (e.g., putting a sentence together) that your neice has problems with?

I hope this helps a little.

Ds2 started reception in september having been verbal for only 2 months with a very limited vocab. He has has 1-1 for 15 hours a week and each day has targeted speech therapy with his TA. She aims for a total of 1hr each day, split into several sessions all directed by his SALT.

He has come on leaps and bounds and is now talking in sentances albeit badly constructed ones

I would have a word with the school SENCO and your SALT now, before term finishes and see what they are able to put in place for september. If they say they will wait until the new school year I would insist ask for a meeting now.

If you already have outside help involved then she will be put on School Action + and should be given an IEP which will give her targets for her speech and detail how school are going to support her in achieving those goals.

"bumping" as i don't have any experience with this but im worried about exactly the same problems.
My dd who is 4 in August, whom is starting reception this sept, has very delayed speech, im seeing a teacher this week to discuss her special needs in school and im worried to about her feeling isolated and becoming behind in lessons
At the moment i and only a handful of family members understand my daughter when she talks but strangers only understand a few small words she says.
My dd gets very frustrated when people do not understand her and im hoping the school will be able to help her .
She was put forward for speech therapy by the nursery last year but due to paper work etc has only just been seen by a speech therapist for an hour to assess her, that is the only help she has had so far and with school only being just months away im hoping more can be done now onwards.
My dd very much enjoys the nursery she goes to at the moment and nursery workers are very good with her, im hoping the school is going to be the same