Speech and Language is not only a prime area of the EYFS but is also one of the main focus areas for our setting due to the high percentage of children that come to us with various forms of speech and language delay.

At Little Learners Pre-school we have lots of experience of working with children with a range of Speech and Language issues. Throughout our time we have liaised with many professionals and often facilitate Speech and Language sessions for children in our care with their allocated Speech and Language therapists and have developed a good relationship with the local therapists based at the clinic.

All staff have completed a Elklan Level 3 certificate which specifically focuses on working with children with Speech and Language needs. Nikki has a level 4 EKLAN certificate. The setting has obtained Communication Friendly Status.

We use two speech and language resources to help us gather further information to support the on going development of speech and language within the setting:

Wellcomm - This is a speech and language assessment tool which enables the staff to assess whether children's speech and language is developmentally appropriate and what areas they may need support with. Sara uses this to plan for children's specific needs and the whole staff team ensure they implement any areas needed into the continuous provision. 

I CAN Early Talk Boost - This is a 9 week speech and language programme. Once children are identified using the Wellcomm assessment tool, the I CAN Early talk Boost assessment is used to see if the children meet the course criteria. If they do then Sara runs 3 groups per week for 9 weeks using a set of books introducing the Jake and Tizzy characters. The book also goes home each week with the child so the parents can be included in the process.