Wendy Lee has been a Speech and Language Therapist for 30 years, and was previously Professional Director at The Communication Trust. In this post, Wendy looks at the importance of identifying children with SLCN, the options once a child has been identified, and what works.
The Communication Trust is committed to supporting all those implementing the reformed SEND system to meet the needs of children and young people with SLCN and their families.
On the 3rd April, Pearson Assessment in partnership with The Communication Trust announced the results of the Shine a Light Awards 2013/14.
These awards, now in their third year aim to celebrate innovative work and excellent practice in supporting children and young people’s communication development.
It's hard to believe that just over a year ago we launched the first ever Shine a Light Awards as part of the Hello, national year of communication campaign. Now in their second year the Awards have proven to hold a special place in the industry; a fact recognised at last week's award ceremony.
After months of preparation, research into helium balloons, how to download acceptance videos and the inner workings of bubble machines...the hard work has paid off! On the 21 November over 120 individuals came together at 80 Strand, with celebrity host Paul Ross, to hear the results of this year's awards, which included exciting new categories such as Communication Champion and Youth Justice.
The Shine a Light Awards were established to honour individuals, teams, projects and communities which have demonstrated excellence in supporting the needs of all children and young people’s communication, particularly those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). This year we were delighted to honour some of the following, including the nursery setting Haven 2000 Nursery Ltd as our Early Years’ Setting of the Year, community‐wide Every Sheffield Child Articulate and Literate (ESCAL) for the Communication and 17‐year‐old Jack Fradgley as Young Person of the Year and winner of our Outstanding Achievement award. The look of surprise and delight on Jack and his families face is one to remember.
It was also a particular treat to honour Mr Tumble/Justin Fletcher as another Outstanding Achievement Winner, along with Jean Gross CBE, the government's Communication Champion during the national year.
There were many highlights at this years awards, but some particular moments stand out including Justin Fletcher aka Mr Tumble's acceptance video filmed at Justin's House, Jack Marshall - last years' young person of the year and a judge for 2012 - congratulation speech to this year's young person - inspiring is not a grand enough word, and of course some Shine a Light cupcakes!
Find out about this year's winners and highly commended finalists in our mini video, (many thanks to Tentacle Media for putting this together - amazing as always!), and reminder to look out for Shine a Light 2013! www.shinealightawards.co.uk
The Shine a Light awards for the Hello, national year of communication have been a milestone mark in our calendars over the course of this year, and yesterday the inaugural event finally arrived!
On the 10th Floor of the Strand, over 120 people came together to celebrate their achievements and hear the anticipated results of their applications, submitted back in August. The setting offered fantastic views over the Thames where the lights from surrounding buildings and the London Eye lit up over the afternoon as the sun disappeared. We were also lucky to have a surprise celebrity host, TV and radio presenter Vanessa Feltz who brought to the ceremony enthusiasm and warmth for the subject, and worked to really make every award winner and finalist feel special.
