Early years
SLT for Kids provide services directly to the early years foundation stage (EYFS) tailored to the settings and the children's specific needs. Nurseries and pre-schools have the freedom to seek out the specialist services that they require and SLT for Kids provide these settings with a professional speech and language therapist who is able to dedicate their time solely to the identified needs, whether this is on a universal, targeted or specialist level.
SLT for Kids provides reception and nurseries with a consistently high quality speech and language therapy service. We are able to provide the EYFS with:
- Immediate access to a broad range of speech and language therapy services that are flexible, consistent and competitively priced.
- A bespoke speech and language therapy that is tailored to each settings individual needs and each child’s needs.
- A screening tool to identify needs and effective ways of working.
- A holistic view of the setting and the children.
- Therapy to accommodate universal, targeted and specialist areas of need.
- Immediate access to a speech therapist that is able to dedicate their time solely to your reception or nursery.
“All children are entitled to an education that enables them to become confident young children with a growing ability to communicate”
Do you need our help?
The following statements can provide you with some guidance on whether you might need our help:
- I am having difficulty in identifying children with SLCN
- I don’t know how to create a communication friendly environment
- I don’t think I am communicating with the children effectively
- There are lots of children in my nursery with SLCN
- I think I need some training on communication disorders
What services do SLT for Kids provide in the early years?
Our dedicated speech and language therapists are able to provide speech and language therapy services tailored to the identified needs of your early years foundation stage setting. Our speech and language therapy services at SLT for Kids can be delivered on a universal, targeted and specialist level dependent on your requirements.
Screening
Our speech and language therapists at SLT for Kids have devised a screening tool created for nurseries and receptions to identify any children that are in need of speech and language intervention. The screen can be used for all children in an early years setting and will identify a pathway for those children who are in need of intervention on a universal, targeted or specific level.
The screening tool will help the foundation stage identify all children in need of support so that no child goes unidentified and is provided with some level of intervention early. It is reported that early intervention is the most beneficial to children as this will help close the gap of language development between those that require additional support and their peers.
Universal
The universal level of speech and language therapy focuses on promoting communication and language development on a whole class level. Universal intervention will allow parents and teachers access to information allowing them to effectively support children's speech and language development. This can be provided through:
- Advice, signposting and training to improve awareness and understanding.
- Training for the wider workforce.
- Indirect support for all children in the class.
- Promotion and development of communication friendly environments.
We provide universal intervention through quality first teaching, this will help promote high levels of interaction for pupils, appropriate teacher questioning, modelling and explaining and appropriate use of praise and motivation for pupils.
Targeted
Targeted intervention will focus on specific training to develop awareness and the ability to support children with speech, language and communication difficulties. Targeted speech and language intervention may include:
- Specific training courses including our accredited courses to provide school staff with the skills to identify, monitor and intervene with children and young person's speech, language and communication difficulties.
- Direct involvement of the speech and language therapist to assess and monitor children with speech, language and communication difficulties; intervention may then be carried out by staff with advice and support.
- Running of groups that target language development, this can be run with the initial support of the speech and language therapist.
It is predicted that the majority of children within the EYFS will benefit from targeted intervention and this will work on boosting their language skills.
Specialist
Our therapists at SLT for Kids are able to provide specialist intervention for those children on the settings caseload with specialist identified need that may not be improved without the input of a speech and language therapist. The intervention will then be carried out alongside school or parent carryover support and may include:
- Specialist assessment and interventions.
- Tailored advice to support and monitor a child's progress with a specific speech, language and communication difficulty.
- Specialist training to support schools and families e.g. in the case of feeding difficulties or use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
- We will also be able to carry out on site classroom observations when a concern has been raised, this will be important for children with social communication needs.
Within the early years foundation stage it is most likely that our speech and language therapists will be working with children with selective mutism, autism, a stammer or speech sound difficulties.
What benefits can a speech and language therapy service provide to early years?
Our speech and language therapy service at SLT for Kids can provide many benefits to your nursery or reception. The setting will be assigned a speech and language therapist with time that they can dedicate solely to the foundation stage. They will be available to offer advice and therapy on a universal, targeted and specialist level when needed. This can not only help improve individual children's speech, language and communication development but can help support staff in the early identification and prevention of speech, language and communication difficulties.
Our speech and language therapy service can focus on identification and raising awareness of different speech, language and communication needs and how to support these across the setting by general training of the workforce, creating universal improvement. We are able to provide a focus on early intervention, staff training, consultation and advice. Not only will the setting have a dedicated speech and language therapist, but alongside this there will be no waiting lists for therapy and advice.
What benefits can speech and language therapy delivered within early years bring to a child?
All of those within the setting will receive potential benefits from having a speech and language therapist working within their environment. Whole class consultations will help the speech and language therapist, with the help of the nursery or reception staff, to identify the area of need across the whole school so that they can provide advice on how to promote communication within the early years environment.
Training of the workforce within the early years foundation stage will allow any children that are having difficulty in communicating to be understood and identified. Continuous support can be provided from teachers and teaching assistants with the help of a speech and language therapist, benefitting every child.
Our speech and language therapists at SLT for Kids are able to identify all children that may need support so that no child goes unidentified. We are also able to provide staff the tool to do this effectively and independently. All children and staff in the early years foundation stage can be supported by our speech and language therapists in terms of their speech, language and communication.
