Plan

• Communicate with parents to share ideas on how they can help their child to develop communication and language skills
     
• Plan language and communication development into everyday activities and the curriculum using the Stoke Speaks Out staged pathway
     
• Use strategies to develop a Communication supportive environments for practitioners, communication friendly checklists, and Communication Commitment 
     
• Speak to parents and carers to raise awareness of the importance of communication and language. Talk to them about different strategies they could use and share the work you are doing so it can be mirrored at home. 
     
• Entrust Early Years SENCo can provide advice and guidance to early years providers to support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and signposting to other agencies. 

Stoke Speaks Out - staged pathway

Staffordshire Connects - Graduated Response Toolkit

Staffordshire Connects - Entrust Early Years Area SENCo

Speech and Language UK - communication supportive environments for practitioners

The Communication Trust - communication friendly checklists 

The Communication Trust - communication commitment

Stoke Speaks Out - ideas for activities focussed on communication and language development

Speech and Language UK - vocabulary for Early Years Practitioners August 2016

The Communication Trust - resources for practitioners

The Early Years Forum

The Early Years Forum - Staffordshire Early Years Forum can provide further advice, signposting and funding.

Make a referral to speech and language service Speech and language therapists will assess the child and develop and intervention plan with targets to work on. Liaise with the speech and language service about the interventions required and what you can do to support these. It is good practice to attend the childs speech and language appointment to find out about the intervention plan and how this should be implemented throughout their learning.

Some children need extra support to communicate by using signs, symbols, or communication aids. A speech and language therapist will be able to assess if this is necessary and support the child in accessing relevant support systems. This information will be shared with settings so it can be used throughout the childs learning. 

Staffordshire Connects - Staffordshire Early Years Forum

Staffordshire Connects - Speech and Language service