What is Speech and Language therapy?

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) are trained to work with children who find it difficult to talk, communicate and understand language.

Carew Academy sources its main school therapy provision from Cognus Therapies, in partnership with the London Borough of Sutton. There  are currently four Speech and Language Therapists

We can help students with:

Social Communication difficulties – helping pupils learn good listening, eye contact, body language and social skills etc

Speech sound difficulties – helping students to produce clearer speech.

Language difficulties – helping pupils to understand and express themselves.

Feeding difficulties – helping pupils increase their tolerance to different tastes and textures.

It is important to note that speech and language therapy does not cure children’s communication difficulties. It helps them to become the best communicators they can be so that they can talk to and understand others, make friends and learn at school.

How does the SLT work in school?

Speech, language, communication and learning at school are linked together. The curriculum of the classroom is delivered through spoken and written language – lessons are taught by talking and children need to be able to understand what is being said. If children have difficulty in understanding or using language, this will affect their ability to learn.

Within school, the SLTs try to help individuals access the curriculum. This means that we work with the teaching team to try to help children understand what is being taught, express themselves clearly when talking in lessons and learn to remember the information. It also sometimes necessary for children to practice new skills in an individual or small group setting before they are able to use them in the classroom or playground. We therefore hold individual and small group sessions (primarily in the lower school) to accommodate this.

Additionally, within an educational environment lots of other people have knowledge and skills that can help children develop their spoken language. Teachers and teaching assistants often have a great deal of experience in working with children with language difficulties – they are with pupils for most of the day and are very well placed to help them learn skills and strategies in real life situations.