Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation has resulted in increased trauma on children/young people and their families with negative psychological effects including confusion, anger and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

This has led to the language gap widening in the most vulnerable children and young people, increasing the risk of social, emotional and mental health needs within both adults and children/young people. This has also raised concerns regarding educational transition points and the level of support that would be required to meet this additional pressure and need.

“70% of families are still not experiencing pre-pandemic levels of support.”
Disabled Children’s Partnership

During lockdown, nearly half the respondents who participated in a national survey led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) saw no progress in communication skills, and 24% said it had decreased. More recently the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) found that 70% of families are still not experiencing pre-pandemic levels of support. 

There is a clear need to:

• reinforce the key messages of communication and language development across all age phases.
• reinforce the importance of adult/child social interaction to normalise and validate parent and child experiences.
• build capacity and competency within schools and settings to meet increased levels of need.

The Way We Talk programme

The Way We Talk training programme is breaking the link between speech, language and communication needs and disadvantage, exacerbated by COVID-19, to improve relationships, resilience, social, emotional, mental health and life chances.

It is giving parents, carers and professionals the opportunity to upskill in this area and close the gap left by the pandemic.

The Way We Talk training courses aimed at professionals and parents and carers

Training is being delivered by various partner organisations in Devon and is an important part of Devon County Council’s ambitions to become a Child Friendly Devon so that children and young people can look forward to their future with excitement, optimism and ambition.

Find out how Devon County Council is looking to achieve the best outcomes for children in Devon.

The following courses are running across the county, but please check details with each individual provider for the most up to date details.

Courses and resources

The speech bubble next to each of the following courses and resources indicates who that entry is aimed at:

Aimed at professionals

Available for parent/carers, young people or families

Devon Education Services – Supporting Language and Communication Skills in the Secondary classroom

Aimed at professionals

Devon Education Services is providing an opportunity for secondary schools to attend four, fully funded training sessions which will improve understanding and identification of SLCN in secondary settings. The sessions will provide attendees with an understanding of how language continues to develop as well as offering practical ideas about how to strengthen universal provision for pupils with SLCN at secondary level.

These sessions are only available to Devon maintained and academy schools.

For more details and how to book, please visit the Devon Education Services website.

Early Years

Aimed at professionals

Early Years are running a course called ‘Understanding the importance of language for Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)’.

The training is organised into three sessions:

• Session 1 – The importance of language for PSED.
• Session 2 – The role of the adult in developing language for effective PSED – practical ideas and strategies for implementing appropriate language.
• Session 3 – Identifying additional needs in relation to language development linked to PSE development.

All training has been developed by the Early Years and Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs teams and is supported by Speech and Language Therapists. All members of the team have completed the three day ‘Keeping Language in Mind’ training delivered by Consultant Speech and Language Therapist, Dr Val Brookes. You can read more about Val’s thoughts on keeping speech and language alive here.

This professional development opportunity will be available for all settings to book onto from October. It will be a mixture of virtual and face-to-face sessions and will be fully funded.

Contact julie.adams@devon.gov.uk for further information.

Dates to be confirmed.

Young Devon workshops

Available for parent/carers and professionals

Young Devon is running workshops that will cover the following:

• What is speech, language and communication?
• What do young people need to understand and to be understood?
• How can I improve the communication between me and my young person?
• How do I improve the understanding of what is going on for my young person when they disengage or behave in a way that I find challenging?

Each workshop will cover these questions, and others, to explore your experiences and those of young people you know.

Alongside this, Young Devon is developing a series of short videos that will be shown during the workshops; these videos feature young people sharing their lived experiences. The aim of this is to ensure that children and young people’s voices are heard about the consequences of living with SLCN, how it affects them, any negative life outcomes and what helped them.

Parents, carers and professionals are invited to attend a workshop to address these questions and to consider your own experiences and those of young people you know. You should leave with a raised awareness of how the way we talk can change how young people think about themselves and their environment for the better and can improve life outcomes.

For further information, including dates, please contact Paul on 07593 583356 or by emailing paul.vivian@youngdevon.org.

Young Devon family sessions

Available for young people and families

Young Devon’s family sessions are for up to five people, either families or small groups of young people. They are based around a number of topics, and people can choose to attend based on the topics that appeal to them.

Each of the family sessions will be two hours long, with sessions running on Mondays and Thursdays from mid to late October.

Anyone interested can contact paul.vivian@youngdevon.org for further information, including dates and topics.

Public Health Nursing

Available for parent/carers

Devon’s health visiting team offer contacts to all families at key transitional times, from antenatal to five years.

The team promote the understanding and development of language and communication during all contacts, while working in partnership with Early Years settings to provide a joined up approach to supporting children’s developmental progress – ensuring that parents receive consistent messages and advice and have access to the right support at the right time. Additionally, the team works closely with providers to help inform planning based on needs and to identify families who may benefit from additional support.

Families can find lots of information about supporting children and young people’s language development on the following websites:

• Health for Under 5s – for healthy happy early years
• Health for Kids – health advice to help your children grow and flourish.
• Health for Teens – a new and different way for young people aged 11-19 to learn about their health

Action for Children

Speech Language and Communication with 0-2 year olds in mind

Available for parent/carers/community members

Action for Children is running a series of community-based workshops aimed at parent/carers and community members. Delivered by an Early Language Consultant, the focus will be babies and toddlers, because the earliest years are a vital time for communication and language development.

The workshops will give you information on:

• The importance of communicating with babies and toddlers, starting even before they are born
• Key messages on how to communicate with babies and toddlers so that we build their brains, supporting their development and wellbeing
• Raise awareness of free, widely available websites with ideas and top tips on the how, why and what of communicating with children

Dates are being finalised, but sessions will start in November. These will initially take place in five areas across Devon during 2022. These will be in places that parents are already attending, such as toddler groups and community venues.

For more information, please contact anna.adcock@actionforchildren.org.uk.

Building Babies Brains

Aimed at volunteers/community members/early years workforce

Delivered by Action for Children, this Devon County Council fully funded training course supports volunteers and trusted community messengers to increase knowledge of baby brain development, bonding and resilience, and to be confident in ‘passing on’ this information to parents/carers/communities.

Included in this course is key information about building speech, language and communication skills for 0-2 year olds. Attendees include toddler group volunteers, breastfeeding peer supporters, foster carers, church group volunteers and leads, early years practitioners. Please contact karen.stromski@actionforchildren.org.uk to find out when a course is running in your area.

Speech, Language and Communication workshop – facilitated by Verity Hyde and Early Language Consultant

Aimed at professionals

A free, informal information session for community members who support 0-2 year olds and their parents and carers, including peer supporters, volunteers, foster carers, library staff and anyone whose role brings them into contact with 0-2 year olds.

The community workshops will cover:

• The importance of communicating with babies and toddlers, starting even before they are born.
• Key messages on how we communicate so that we build babies brains, supporting their development and wellbeing.
• Ways in which adults can interact with children in everyday life to support communication development.
• Raise awareness of free, widely available websites with developmental information, ideas and top tips on how to support communication.
• Support knowledge of where to signpost carers for support.

The following sessions are available:

📍 Speech, Language and Communication workshop in Barnstaple
📅 Tuesday 8 November
🕙 12.30-1.45pm

📍 Speech, Language and Communication workshop in Exeter
📅 Tuesday 15 November
🕙 11.30am-12.45pm

📍 Speech, Language and Communication workshop in South Molton
📅 Thursday 24 November
🕙 12-1.30pm

Aimed at parents/carers

Verity Hyde, an early language consultant, will also be facilitating an online session about speech, language and communication for parent/carers, which will cover how you can support your 0-12-month baby to develop speech, language and communication skills.

Verity will share and support conversation on:

• How babies develop communication
• What happens in the dance of communication between parent and child
• The importance of interactions and everyday opportunities to communicate
• Free websites and resources available

Please note that Verity will not be able to support referrals as she does not work within Devon, but will, via this session, be able to provide you with activities that you can do while you are waiting for support.

📍 Speech, Language and Communication online workshop
📅 Tuesday 29 November
🕙 10-11.15am

Funded Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)

Aimed at professionals

This training is for staff in early years provision to create stronger relationships with children requiring additional support.

VIG aims to enhance communication within relationships using analysis of video clips of real situations to enhance communication. Attention is drawn to the most successful moments of interaction between the adult and the child, exploring sensitive responses to the child in a way that can support the child to enhance their communication.

VIG training begins with two days of initial training. To find out more, attend our virtual information session at 4-5.30pm on Monday 31 October 2022. This session will cover topics such as:

• What is VIG?
• The benefits of VIG within practice.
• Who you could use VIG with?
• Why is VIG successful?
• An outline of the training programme

To attend, please email eywd@devon.gov.uk by no later than Thursday 27 October 2022. You will need to supply the following information:

• Your name
• Email address
• Job role
• Name of the setting

Once your email has been received, you will be sent details of how to join the information session.

If you require any further information about VIG please contact Christine Cottle, Children’s Services Manager, by emailing christine.cottle@actionforchildren.org.uk.

The main training programme will start in January and March 2023.

Mind Your Words

Available for parent/carers and professionals

Mind Your Words is a free e-learning tool that aims to improve understanding of children and young people who have both mental health (or SEMH) needs and SLCN.

The tool is designed for professionals working with children and young people, and Mind Your Words training is available on the RCSLT website.

Children and Family Health Devon – drop-in sessions and support

Aimed at parents/carers

Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) provides a range of services for children from birth to 18 years. These include: support for early communication skills, training to settings/schools, assessments and therapeutic interventions for children and young people having difficulties with language, speech sounds, fluency, voice and dysphagia (swallowing difficulties).

If you would like to speak to a Speech and Language Therapist about your child’s communication, speech or language, or if you have concerns about swallowing difficulties, please ring the CFHD advice line on 0333 321 9448 between 2-4.30pm Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, if you have a child under 3 and would like to speak to a Speech and Language face to face you can attend the virtual drop-in service.

Families can find lots of information about supporting children and young people’s language development on the following websites and social media:

• BBC Tiny Happy People website
• Hungry Little Minds website
• CFHD website
• CFHD Twitter
• CFHD Facebook page for pre-school children
• CFHD Facebook page for school-aged children

Project aims

The Way We Talk Project seeks to address the following:

• Language and communication are a priority across all age groups from antenatal to 18 years
• Language and communication is everyone’s responsibility
• Children and young people are given a voice to say how they experience issues around speech, language and communication
• Opportunities are found for positive adult-child interactions
• Increased training opportunities are available so professionals can identify needs and intervene early.
• Peer-to-peer support is available to continue the development of social skills, social awareness, relationship building, problem-solving and knowledge acquisition.
• The learning reaches people at a community level and is accessible to all who will benefit from it.
• Speech, language and communication is explicitly considered and addressed at transition points
• Parents/carers and professionals are enabled to support children and young people develop their language and communication skills and achieve their potential

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