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Friday 13th January 2023                   

INCLUSION AND WELL-BEING

Welcome to our third Inclusion and Well-Being newsletter! It has been a happily busy time for the Inclusion Team with training, coffee mornings and a trip being organised. 

In this edition, along with updates in and outside of school, we will be looking at how you can support your child's speech and language development. 

Slough School Sport Network Inclusion Project

We are excited to announce that we are participating in the Slough School Sport Network’s Inclusion Project. The Project is funded by Sport England and aims to promote inclusive physical activities for children with Special Educational Needs.

As part of the project, children with an EHCP are taught cricket weekly by specialist coaches using adapted equipment. 

The children had their first session this week and loved it!

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Staff Speech and Language Training

We were very fortunate last week when Slough Speech and Language Service delivered training to teachers and support staff. The training covered total communication, visual supports and Picture Exchange Communication Systems. 

The training was informative and gave us the opportunity to reflect on what we are doing well and areas we would like to amend. The staff also got the opportunity to role-play using new strategies - it was great to see everyone's enthusiasm. 

If you would like any more information on any of the above, please speak to Miss Austin, Assistant Principal for Inclusion, or Mrs Whitfield, Resource Base Teacher. 

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Speech and Language Tips

If your child is struggling with any area of Speech, Language or Communication, it can be really difficult to know how to support them. Here are some top tips that we use in school that can be easily implemented at home:

  • Use speech, signs and gestures to communicate with your child
  • Reduce longer sentences into smaller chunks to support processing and understanding
  • Model language by commenting on things with one or two words
  • Use consistent phrases for routines
  • Read picture books and use simple, repetitive language to describe the pictures
  • Develop language through songs, rhymes and rhythms 
  • Match plus 1 - adult adds one more word onto what a child is saying. For example, a child says "duck", the adult says "yellow duck"
  • Play, play, play! This can provide wonderful opportunities for language and commentary from an adult
  • Mirroring - copy your child's actions and sounds.

Slough SALT gave us the below visual of a communication tree. The basic needs of the child are at the bottom, including sensory needs. Play, turn-taking, listening and attention are the roots of the tree. These are the key foundations that need developing before anything else, including initial sounds. Understanding is the trunk and leads to speech sounds. I thought it was a great way to demonstrate how the foundations need to be secure because a child can start producing speech sounds. 

If you would like any more information, or are concerned about your child's speech and language development, please speak to Miss Austin. 

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Resources Needed!

We are always looking to expand our bank of resources! If you have any outdoor equipment (sandpits, water trays) that you don't need, please let us know. 

In The Nest, our current topic is light and space. If you have any rockets or space books, we would love to borrow them. 

Special Voices

Special Voices raise awareness about the rights and needs of children/young people with additional needs and to ensure that they and their families are well-informed to make the best decisions for their children. 

We have had positive feedback from parents who have attended their coffee mornings, so I would recommend you go along for a cuppa and chat!

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Inclusion Coffee Morning

Our next Inclusion Coffee Morning is on Thursday 25th January at 9.05am, in the hall.

We will be doing food based play and it promises to be great fun!

All are welcome!

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Community Notices

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Wishing you all a happy weekend!