News
Speech and language delay at Bognor Regis nursery school
13 Feb 2003
Bognor Regis nursery school specialises in creating an environment that inspires children to communicate. In 2000, the school used funding from the Department for Education and Skills to support 15 children with identified speech and language delay or disordered speech. Staff re-examined their method of working with parents and the Speech and Language Therapy Service, and children were videoed at home and school. The footage was studied by all parties to analyse children's strengths, interests and areas for development and to agree support strategies.
The nursery school recommends the following good practice:
Gain information
Staff find out as much information about a child as possible before they start at the setting. Questions include:
- Is the child confident in a variety of situations?
- Have they ever attended speech and language therapy?
- Does the child have any hearing problems?
- Do they follow spoken instructions easily of need constant visual clues?
Liaise with parents
Within a child's first week, staff hold a parent conference to gauge children's interests and strengths. Identification of children's specific speech and language difficulties takes place as soon as possible. Indicators include:
- The child being at a lower stage than expected for their age
- Difficulties in following instructions
- Performing badly in auditory discrimination activities such as rhymes and guessing sound games
Attention skills
Children need to develop attention skills before they can start on their listening skills. Staff attract children's attention before communicating with them, for example, by starting a sentence with a child's name so that they know it relates to them. Clear instructions are given before rather than during an activity.
Play games
Staff encourage games that foster attention and listening skills, such as:
- Identifying sounds of different instruments or objects
- Listening to taped stories with an accompanying book
- Copying a rhythm or following a beat
- Responding to musical games, for example musical bumps, or songs that require a response, like 'Head and shoulders' or 'Mulberry bush'
- Filling in missing words in familiar rhymes
- Guessing where sound is coming from when the source is not visible
Verbal comprehension
Indicators of poor comprehension include:
- Delayed developmental language skills
- Misunderstanding simple questions
- Relying too heavily on visual clues
Supporting poor comprehension
Staff talk clearly and slowly but not loudly. They repeat key words if necessary and use the level of information carrying words appropriate to the child's understanding. Modelling language - giving a verbal commentary of what a child is doing when working alongside them - can be adapted to meet children's learning styles and level of understanding.
(This information is taken from an article called "Let's talk" by Annette Rawstrone which appeared in Nursery World, 13 February 2003)
