SEN0449

Written evidence submitted by Speech & Language Link

Introduction

In this submission we provide context by briefly outlining the problems as we see them. We then raise the general principles of a solution and finish by focusing on how the solution we offer is designed to scale specifically to answer the challenge of SLCN support within the SEND domain. Our focus, throughout, on universal and targeted support should not be understood as suggesting specialist support is not required. The shortage of specialists must be addressed but will not be solved in the short term. Early universal and targeted support, alongside screening to identify needs, will shorten waiting lists, reduce costs and allow deployment of skilled professionals in the most effective manner.

A widely recognised issue

The quality of SEND identification and support in mainstream schools and early years settings is inconsistent, expensive and inefficient, as many of the reports have identified[1]

The lack of resources, capacity and skills to enable support at universal and targeted level within schools and early years settings has meant a drive towards the costly, often frustrating and time-consuming requests for and provision of education health and care plans (EHCPs)[2].

Processes for identifying SEND, such as screening of speech and language and communication needs (SLCN) are very variable, as are systems for responding to this identification of need. Where early identification and support is not in place, as above, there is a move to providing more specialist support requiring provisions through EHCPs

Over the last 10 years, the numbers of pupils identified with SEND and going through the EHCP process has risen dramatically and there is no indication that this is likely to stop with the current system as it is[3]. There has long been a movement towards the later, more specialist support to assist children and young people who struggle to access the curriculum, in one way or another, and to develop skills and progress in school[4]

There is a significant difference in the way that SEND provision is enabled in different local authorities and between different schools and Multi-Academy Trusts, related to resources, capacity and commissioning arrangements with the local Integrated Care Board (ICB)[5].

The solutions:

A system-wide change

It is necessary to change the system to focus more on adaptive teaching techniques for everyone, with early identification and early intervention for those pupils who need it, and regular catch-up groups, as standard, for children who are not making progress in different areas of the curriculum. This will also include less of a focus on the requirement for specialist-delivered interventions.

We need a change to the system for understanding, identifying and supporting children's needs, so that there is greater acceptance that all children and young people are not square pegs to fit into square holes and there is, joyfully, much variation which should be celebrated and can be well supported. 

Making best use of existing universal and targeted resources and less reliance on specialist systems

There are resources that have been created to enable non specialist teaching assistants and teachers to make the necessary adjustments and deliver individualised packages of support that will enable children and young people to more easily thrive in school. However, with schools compromised budgets and capacity levels, as well as the overpacked curriculum, there is often great difficulty in delivering these programmes. In addition, it is difficult for schools to wade through the myriads of resources and claims made by different organisations around the impact of their work.

Strides have been made by organisations such as the Education Endowment Foundation to highlight what has the greatest impact on children’s and young people’s SEND[6] and we, at Speech & Language Link[7], are pleased to be part of the solution, enabling non specialists in schools to deliver screening for all pupils to identify SLCN and then to deliver evidence-based programmes that demonstrate statistically significant outcomes.

One of the benefits of this potential move towards supporting children in school will be a reduction in referrals to overwhelmed and over committed specialists such as speech and language therapy departments, who, with the best will in the world, cannot provide for the large numbers of pupils with SLCN.

A focus on CPD, training and acknowledgement of the typical range of variation

It is vital that teachers, SENCos, early years practitioners and teaching assistants all access CPD and training helping to highlight the impact of SEND on individual pupils and the rest of the class and enabling the professionals and practitioners to both understand the importance of screening and intervention and to deliver these themselves.

This should be available at initial teacher training and throughout careers, frequently updated at regular inset days, so that pupils’ needs can be identified and support available early, thus reducing the need for an EHCP where possible.

The training can also include a reiteration of the variation in pupils’ ability (the bell-shaped curve of normal distribution), recognising that only some of the pupils at the lower end of the normal distribution curve will have SEND, with others simply having different ways of thinking that can be easily accommodated in schools with suitable understanding.

Early identification of need and access to suitable evidence-based intervention

Appropriate screening at the beginning of each key stage, followed by targeted, evidence-based intervention that can be delivered in school, without the reliance on specialist support for the majority of students, is needed.

The consequential lowering of numbers of pupils needing EHCPs due to better identification and support at the targeted level, means that funding is not wasted; waiting times can be reduced; the adversarial nature of specialist provision can be lessened; and there can be more specialist support available for those students who most need it.

The National Audit Office (NAO) highlighted that early identification and support for children with SEND can prevent the escalation of needs, thereby reducing long-term costs and improving outcomes for children[8]. Similarly, the Public Accounts Committee emphasized that early identification and support for children with SEND can prevent the intensification of support needed, thereby both reducing future costs and improving outcomes for children[9].  Furthermore, the Child of the North and Centre for Young Lives report urged early identification and support of children with SEND to be the focus of new school attendance and family support strategies, highlighting the benefits to families by fostering more productive relationships and reducing stress[10].

These findings collectively demonstrate that early identification and support for SEND not only yield cost benefits but also significantly enhance the well-being and development of children, young people and their families.

Best value for money

Ensuring funding is used on evidence-based interventions with outcomes that can be reported on an individual child or young person basis represents best value for money.

It is important that schools are accountable for how funding is used and the impact that screening, funded interventions and CPD have on pupils. This reflects the current system with the Pupil Premium and can be an element which is included in Ofsted’s school inspections.

Additional systems have been recommended that measure the impact of preventative work[11] and classify prevention measures into primary prevention (reducing the incidence of problems within the population by removing or reducing risks), secondary prevention (detecting problems in their early stages and intervening before problems develop) and tertiary prevention (reducing the impact of problems). Secondary prevention is the earliest possible once differences in learning have been identified and this, in itself, can provide better value for money than the later more specialised interventions described above.

Working in partnership

It's important that state-funded, voluntary-sector and independent provision are not pitted against each other with the view that these are in opposition. There is a spectrum of support available with many independent organisations running as Community Interest Companies or focusing strongly on high social impact and less on high profit margins.

Speech & Language Link packages were originally created as an NHS solution for an identified need for more accessible school-based identification and support. The organisation has now extended and maintains its social impact focus providing free CPD to 24,000 schools through the provision of termly magazines and annual conferences. (These can, in fact, be cheaper for schools to access than local training provided by state-funded organisations who, to boost their resourcing, charge for these services).

Recognising that it is possible to strengthen one part of the system (across partners) to alleviate pressure on another part of the system is imperative when looking at education, health and care, as well as understanding that a pupil, themselves, is not divided across these three agencies.

The implementation of a Unique Reference Number that can be monitored across all agencies is the first step in developing a greater understanding of need, support and impact of these areas.

Other aspects include strengthening the ability of one part of the system i.e. schools to identify and support pupils’ need, to prevent over reliance on other parts of the system which cannot currently manage these aspects in a timely manner without significant investment which may not be affordable, as described above.

Scalability

Currently Speech & Language Link enable identification and support for children and young people’s SLCN in approximately 4000 schools in the UK. The existing infrastructure and support systems mean that this is immediately scalable across all early years, primary and secondary and alternative provisions.

An enhanced and updated school entry language  assessment is due to be released in the autumn term (providing robust standardised scores). This assessment tool takes 10 minutes to deliver for most pupils and is built on scalable systems to allow UK-wide deployment. It sits within a suite of language assessments allowing further screening at the transition between each key stage up to KS3.

The Speech & Language Link assessment and intervention packages, developed by speech and language therapists, are immediately available for schools to deliver for all their pupils without the need for recourse to speech and language therapy waiting lists for the majority of pupils.  (These cover both the areas of speech and language from Reception to KS2 and language specifically at KS3, covering all pupils in a school for around the same price as a single Pupil Premium per key stage)

Reducing the impact of delayed identification and intervention

The screening tools and intervention packages described above, are designed to be used across the whole school, or, as a minimum, should focus on those pupils who are coming to attention due to lack of ability to cope in the ‘standard’ school setting (including those with SEMH issues and running the risk of being excluded). Identification and intervention will help reduce the likelihood that many of these pupils have underlying and unrecognised SLCN which are contributing to their inability to cope (as have been described in research studies identifying that 100% of excluded boys[12] and 81% of pupils needing SEMH support[13] had undiagnosed SLCN).

Our recent Best Practice Matters publication[14] explains the background to our packages and includes case studies of recent deployments, working with a range of health partners, local authorities and Multi-Academy Trusts.

January 2025

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