Speech and Language – The Balanced System

Supporting, Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) at Reculver.

At Reculver, we understand how important speech, language, and communication skills are for every child's learning, emotional wellbeing, and social development. These skills are the building blocks for success at school and beyond - helping children to build friendships, express their needs, and achieve their potential.

Find out more here Speech, language, and communication needs - Kent County Council

What is Speech, Language and Communication?

Speech is the act of producing sounds that form words, allowing us to communicate verbally. It involves the physical process of using our vocal cords, mouth, and breath.
Language is the words and grammar used to communicate. It's how we express thoughts, ideas, and emotions, whether spoken, written, or signed.
Communication is the process of sharing information, thoughts, and feelings between people. It can be verbal (speech), non-verbal (gestures, facial expressions), written, or visual.

What types of difficulty can children have?

There are many different types of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Some examples are.

Difficulties understanding language: Such as struggling to follow instructions, or understanding what words mean.
Expressive language difficulties: Difficulty using language to communicate.
Speech sound disorders: Difficulty producing speech sounds correctly.
Stammering (Stuttering): Disruptions in the flow of speech.
Social Communication Difficulties: Challenges with using language in social contexts, such as understanding non-verbal cues or taking turns in conversation.

How We Support Your Child

In Kent, we are using the Balanced System® to help everyone work together to support pupils' speech, language and communication. This means everyone involved in a child's life can work together in a more joined up-way with the speech and language therapy service. We work closely with our NHS link speech and language therapist, who regularly visits our school. They support us to review and develop our approach, advise staff, and work with individual pupils or small groups where needed.

Our Commitment - The Five Strands of the Balanced System

We are working to ensure that...

We help parents and carers build the confidence, knowledge, and skills to support their child. Pupils are also encouraged to make choices about the support they receive (Family Support).
We create communication-friendly classrooms and learning spaces where every child can understand and express themselves (Environment).
Our staff are trained to spot speech, language, and communication needs and know how to support pupils effectively (Workforce).
We identify any needs as early as possible so children get the help they need quickly (Identification).
Where needed, we provide specific support to help children make progress (Intervention)

Within each strand, there are three levels:

Universal Support - Support for all pupils to develop their speech, language and communication skills.. For example, using visual aids, clear instructions, and communication-friendly teaching strategies.
Targeted Support - For pupils and their families where a need has been identified already. This could include small group work or pre- teaching key vocabulary.
Specialist Support - For pupils with more complex needs. For example, work with a speech and language therapist

Useful Websites

Speech, language, and communication needs - Kent County Council (General information about SLCN in Kent)

Children's Therapies - The Pod | Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (Information and resources including workshops delivered by Kent Speech and Language Therapists)

Home - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives (National Charity, lots of information on typical development, resources and advice translated into different languages)

RADLD - Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder - RADLD