Speech, Language and Communication Resource Base

What is the resource base and its purpose?

The resource supports Welsh medium schools across Swansea City and County (primary and secondary) to meet the needs of learners with speech, language and communication needs.

The resource is based here at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe and intervention groups run on site, but staff also travel across the county and support pupils in their base schools.

Support is provided at three levels, Universal, Targeted and Specialist. Support is flexible and responsive to the pupils' needs as they present at the time. As a result, it is possible for a pupil to move between levels. The resource base considers each language the pupil experiences.

At a universal level we can support through;

Supporting schools to create an environment that supports pupil’s speech, language and communication development

Develop schools' ability to identify and support pupils who present with language, speech and communication difficulties

Providing training to raise awareness/acceptance and explain interventions and strategies.

Assisting with resources

Giving advice

Signposting to wider agencies.

Offering the opportunity to attend a social communication strategies forum to discuss strategies to support pupil’s needs.

At a targeted level we can support through;

Following discussions in the social communication strategies forum, if further support is needed, we can support pupils for short term intervention (Early intervention)

Conducting appropriate observations and/or assessments

Coordinating with school staff, parents and other agencies

Providing specific recommendations or strategies

Providing clear programs with specific, appropriate, timely and measurable targets.

Run short-term group intervention at a school if a large number of pupils are identified with similar needs e.g., listening and attention skills group.

At a Specialist Level we can support through:

Pupils with an Individual Development Plan (IDP) will receive a specific provision of support from staff at the resource in line with their needs and based on their outcomes.

At this level we can support through;

Coordinating with school and parents

Coordinating with other professional agencies

Conducting observations

Create specialized resources tailored to the individual

Carrying out formal and informal assessments and write reports, when/as necessary

Create programs and provide recommendations

Offer a specific period of support from team members working on skills/targets that feed into outcomes that have identified in the pupil's IDP and/or offer the pupil the opportunity to attend 'group' sessions in the resource base here at Bryn Tawe. (Year 3 onwards).

Monitoring and responding to pupil needs

Attend person-centered reviews or provide a report if staff are unable to attend.

What is our vision?

To provide specialist teaching to pupils with speech, language and communication needs in Welsh medium schools across Swansea.

To work to a high professional standard to facilitate and support pupils with speech, language and communication needs to make good progress.

To upskill Welsh medium school staff and raise their awareness and understanding of speech, language and communication needs in order for them to support learners effectively within their settings.

What training can we offer?

School staff are able to attend training via the Local Authority’s training menu of which, the service is a part of. In addition, training is often offered within cluster inset training days and at special request, the service can deliver bespoke training based on the school’s needs.

In conjunction with the English team we offer the following courses;

ELKLAN-Speech and language courses 3-5, 5-11 and 11-16 years old and communication and language support for Autistic pupils. These courses are supported and delivered over a 10 week period and those that attend can gain qualifications in the chosen subject area.

Activities for Autistic learners / learners with social communication differences working at Pre-Progression Step 1 (Routes for Learning).

In addition to this the service offers regular training on;

Wellcomm and Wellcomm Primary; how to screen and intervene. Wellcomm is a speech and language toolkit desgined to screen children’s speech and language skills. All Welsh medium schools have access to these kits.

POPAT-Programme of phoneme awareness training; This programme supports in-depth understanding of speech sounds and their order in words, before letters are introduced.

We have also delivered training on;

ASD acceptance and strategies to support in the classroom.

Blanks Levels

Zones of Regulation; an introduction

Lego therapy

Dewch i siarad (Talkabout social skills programme).

We have also modelled interventions such as;

Attention Autism (Gina Davies)

How to develop a ‘work station’

Colourful semantics

Use of SCERTS

Social stories, comic strip conversations and contingency maps.

Vocabulary maps, spidergrammes, mindmaps and other ELKLAN redcommended strategies.

Information carrying words; supporting understanding.

Where possible, teaching and/or support staff are invited to ‘sit in’ on sessions in order to share practise and develop skills that can be used with learners in the classroom.