Strategies to support

Difficulties saying what they want to and being understood

Difficulties with communication

In addition to the strategies above which are described within the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP) guide children and young people may benefit from:

• Whole word and language based approaches in addition to synthetic phonics may be used to support literacy acquisition
• Individual or small group phonological awareness and speech production target work informed by Speech and Language Therapist advice
• Adults use a range of teaching approaches and supports including visual timetables/now and next; visual cues and aids; natural gesture and signing; use of ICT; audio-visual aids to support understanding in lessons and across the school day
• Adults identify and actively teach key vocabulary. This includes Tier 2 vocabulary. Give the learner opportunities to revisit understanding and use of these words
• The school may access targeted training. Refer to the Speech and Language Therapy Service for further details
• Adults may need to actively teach one or more of: comprehension and inference; use of language; sentence structures; speech sound production; sequencing and active listening skills
• Individual support for skill development provided
• Modify use of language for verbal instruction. Provide explanations, visual or experiential support. Give opportunity for reinforcement provided
• Adapt the classroom environment to support active listening. Promote independence in organisation, with explicit structure and expectation
• Plan opportunities that provide peer support and structured conversation. Support the development of social understanding and inference
• Group work is planned and used flexibly to promote independence. Develop a plan to reduce an individual child or young person’s dependence on a named adult
• Individual or small group intervention to address individual needs may be provided in the classroom or on timetabled withdrawal sessions
• The school will plan / provide staff training to develop understanding of characteristics of children and young people with SLC needs and the impact on curriculum access
• The school may refer, in consultation with parents, for further assessment and advice from Speech and Language Services
• A range of useful resources and checklists for schools can also be found on the Talking Point and Communication Trust websites.

Last updated 6 August 2021