The mainstream secondary speech and language therapy service

This information is for parents and carers of young people in Year 6 who are transferring to a mainstream secondary school or integrated resource and have a Speech, Language and Communication Need (SLCN).

Your child is known to the Sheffield mainstream schools speech and language therapy service and will be transferring to Year 7 in September.  The speech and language therapist who was involved with your child at primary school will transfer them to a new speech and language therapist in the mainstream secondary schools team.

This page will help give you information about,

• What the speech and language therapy service at secondary schools can support with
• How to support your child’s communication skills when they transition into secondary school
• How to contact us

What does a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) do at mainstream secondary schools?

As with primary aged children, the role of the speech and language therapist is to work in partnership with parents, teachers and other professionals to help children and young people in secondary school to develop their communication skills to the best of their ability, and reach their potential both educationally and socially.

Depending on what is recommended within their EHCP, we may do any of the following:

• Assess and review a young person’s communication skills including,

• understanding and remembering what people say
• using spoken language and explaining things
• learning and using vocabulary
• speech sounds
• friendships and interaction
• talking about and understanding feelings
• planning and organising
• attention and listening
• using communication in day to day activities

• Discuss the needs of the young person with parents, carers and or school staff
• Observe the young person in school
• Provide advice to parent, carers, school staff and other professionals about how to support a young person’s communication skills in school and at home.
• Support school staff and parents, carers with delivering relevant interventions and supporting the development of communication skills in different contexts.
• Signpost school staff and parents and carers to relevant support
• Make onward referrals, for example, to Ryegate Children’s Centre, CAMHS, Audiology (for hearing tests) for further assessments and support from other professionals.
• Seek advice from SLT colleagues or refer to another SLT who can work with young people who stammer, have voice difficulties, palate or feeding problems.

We usually see young people in mainstream secondary schools including private schools and integrated resources.

Some young people are seen in clinic if there is a preference that they are not seen in school or require a block of intervention to work on speech sounds and they and their carers are the agent of change. We still try to liaise with school to support these young people at school as well.

Your child may have ongoing Speech, Language and Communication Needs but there is no need for ongoing monitoring by the speech and language therapist at the time of the assessment.  This means they may be discharged.  This does not mean that they cannot be seen again by the service.  You can re-refer by contacting the service directly, speaking with your GP or with the SENCo at school.

Supporting your child’s communication skills when they transition to secondary school

We have a range of advice sheets available for you on the resource library (click link below)

• Helping staff find out more about your child
• How to make the lesson timetable accessible
• How to help your child learn to monitor what they do/do not understand and ask for help
• How to use a planner
• How to use a timeline to help them understand when school is starting
• Problem solving – “What can I do if…”
• Learning new vocabulary
• Glossary of words your child will hear in secondary school
• Glossary of subjects your child will hear in secondary school