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Research findings on supporting children entering school with speech and language delay. Concerning is that the skills necessary for teachers to have to support children are lacking within initial teacher training, which does not support children who are most vulnerable before and after entry to school.

FULL REFERENCE: Solvason, C., Kohlman H., Snowden, M. & Morris, C. (2016). A whole school approach to language development in the early years: professional development in action. NZ Research in ECE Journal, Special Issue: Equality and Diversity, 19, 32 – 45.

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ABSTRACT: This article presents findings from a staged evaluation of a three year longitudinal research project, now at the end of its second year, undertaken by the University of Worcester in collaboration with North Town Primary School, situated in Southern England. It uses an action research approach to foreground intervention strategies used to support children entering school with speech and language delay. Data collection took an interpretivist approach, acknowledging the diverse range of variables present in a child’s life, and sought to focus upon the lived experience of practitioners supporting children’s language development within the study school. The following paper reflects upon the impact of the project so far. It indicates a shift in culture at the school, with a greater emphasis and value being placed upon tools to support children’s language enrichment, recognizing the impact that these can have on a child’s confidence and independence. Conversely it also identifies some fundamental issues which remain; the most concerning being that the skills needed to support the development of children’s speech and language remain lacking within initial teacher training. It highlights the necessity for professional development within speech, language and communication to be fully acknowledged at policy level if we are to adequately cater for the needs of our children, especially those who are most vulnerable.

KEY WORDS: Communication; collaboration; longitudinal study; action research; early years.

INTRODUCTION

The focus of this paper is an intervention strategy, introduced within entering a primary school in a mixed socio-economic area of Southern England, to support the needs of children entering the school, aged four to five years, with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN). In particular it investigates the role that professional development can play in enabling practitioners to successfully intervene to support children’s needs. Although written as a personal reflection it represents a collaborative enterprise between educational practitioners at the school, their Speech and language therapist (SaLT), and the university and all were involved in the editing process. The inter-professional nature of the project, in conjunction with the support of the parents and children at the school, has been vital to its success.