Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) is everyone’s business.  Therefore, we need to empower everyone involved in the system (including parents, carers and educators) to support children and young people (CYP) with SLC needs in a timely way that encourages their progress with communication.

Throughout Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin we want to do this by promoting that communication is fun and ensuring the right support is available at the right time.

Over the last year we have been working in collaboration with parents, education setting staff, specialists in speech, language & communication and commissioners of services, to develop a plan to improve services for children with speech, language, and communication needs.   The delivery of the ICAN Talk Boost Intervention and Training for Key Stage 1 schools funded by Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust commenced on 24^th March.  And we will continue the roll out of the training throughout the year ahead.

ICAN Talk Boost Intervention and Training

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2:

• Free training to increase the skills and confidence of staff working in schools.
• There are two staff training places offered for every school.
• Every school who takes up the offer of free training will receive a toolkit purchased for them.
• Once a school is registered for the training, they will be sent information on how to collect their toolkit.
• For any school not already booked, additional training dates are available over the Summer and Autumn Terms.

Early Talk Boost:

• Places are available across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin for all Early Years Settings and support is also available for Child Minders.
• The free training and resources for Early Talk Boost has been rolled out across the summer term.
• Parents will be asked to contribute to the screening process and will be able to take part in the intervention process, for example, reading the given story books at home.
• Settings and parents can continue to monitor children’s speech, language and communication once the screen and/or intervention has been completed, using the toolkit as needed.
• Further catch-up dates will be available from the Autumn.

Further information

Information about these events is being shared by the Local Authority Early Years teams.

Further consultation about resources and training for secondary schools is planned.

Link to ICAN’s parent’s information page - https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/parents/

Link to ICAN’s information for parents about a speech and language therapy assessment - https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/parents/speech-and-language-therapy-assessment/

Speech and Language Therapy Service Advice Line

The Speech and Language Therapy Advice Line is available to parents and carers of children currently on our caseloads, those referred and those not known to the speech and language therapy service. School staff or other professionals can also seek support but can only access the Advice Line regarding a specific child with explicit parental permission. New referrals and re-referrals made by families of children and young people will be directed to the Advice Line.

Advice Line number: 01743 450800 (option 4).

Further Resources

For the new Children’s speech and language therapy referral form and further information on the speech and language therapy early identification and intervention resource, including details on the new screening tool for speech sounds please visit: https://www.shropscommunityhealth.nhs.uk/childrenspeechlanguagetherapy

If you would like to comment on how our website has worked for you, there is a button at the bottom of the main page on the website that lets you do this.

You will also find tips and advice about speech, language, and communication development on this site. 

This announcement has been co-produced by:

Shropshire Community NHS Trust SLT Service and Partners with PODS Parent Carer Forum and Parent and Carer Council Shropshire.