Government-funded report focuses on early intervention to help children with SEN

Funded by the Department for Education, the three-year initiative was commissioned as part of the Better Communication Action Plan, the Government’s response to the 2008 Bercow review of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

Based on evidence from ten individual BCRP projects, and an analysis of data of 6,400 children, 560 parents, 600 speech and language therapists and 750 teachers and special educational needs co-ordinators, the report makes the following recommendations:

• to create a framework setting out the different levels of support required for different levels of need;

• to develop a comprehensive programme of initial and post-qualification training for teachers, teaching assistants, early years practitioners and speech and language therapists to meet the varied needs of children with communication needs;

• ensure joint commissioning and effective collaboration by health and education services to ensure every child gets the most appropriate model of support;

• enable more systematic collection of evidence about outcomes for children, including the perspectives of children and their parents.

It also recommends that data guidance on special educational needs for schools be reviewed. This would encourage teachers to focus on children’s individual profile of needs, rather solely on labels when deciding on what support to provide, says the report.

Edward Timpson, children and families minister, said, ‘Communication is fundamental to all learning. It is vital that children with speech, language and communication needs get the support they deserve as soon as possible.

‘The Better Communication Research Programme provides a rich and extensive source of evidence on what works in identifying the needs of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.’

He added, ‘It will help all those commissioning and providing services, across education and health, to improve their planning. It will also improve the effectiveness of the support provided.’

The Communication Trust, a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, has welcomed the research.

Anne Fox, director of the Communication Trust, said, ‘The Trust and our Communication Consortium is fully committed to ensuring all those who work with children and young people with SLCN know how to support them and have practical tools to do this. This should happen during their initial training as well as during their continuing professional development, especially as children’s needs change over time and in different situations.

‘We’re working with the Department for Education and the research team to disseminate the resources and outcomes of the research, including an online database of evidenced interventions to support children’s communication.’

I CAN, the children's communication charity, has also welcomed the report.

Virginia Beardshaw, chief executive of I CAN said, 'Literacy, learning, school readiness and success, friendships and well-being all rest on a child’s ability to use language well. In England, one million children have speech, language and communication needs. That’s three children in every classroom. Earlier this month, Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, expressed concern that over 34% of children are not working securely in communication, language and literacy by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.  That represents 200,000 children in England.

'The BCRP research demonstrates that parents are having to wait as long as two years between noticing a child’s difficulties and getting help. This isn’t acceptable when every day matters to a child’s language development. We know there is a ‘golden window’ between 0-5 where help and early interventions can make a material difference to a child’s language. Early years settings and schools can put programmes and interventions in place so that children do not slip through the net.'

She added, 'I CAN is committed to making certain that these important research findings are translated into practical outcomes that will help children and young people succeed in school and in life. '

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has called for the recommendations to be reflected in the ‘local offer’ information about services that local authorities will be required to publish under the government’s proposed reforms to special educational needs.

Kamini Gadhok, chief executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, said, ‘The findings from this programme are of crucial importance for everyone who is concerned about the development of children’s communication skills.  They illustrate the complexity of children’s communication and the need for all children with speech, language and communication needs to have access to appropriate services commissioned jointly by local authorities and local health services.’

Ican has also responded to the publication of the research.