Speech and language support reduces speech therapy referrals by 90 per cent in two years.

This case study describes the impact of intervention using the Chatterbug programme in Knowsley; an area with one of the lowest educational attainment outcomes in England. “Knowsley was an area where speech and language development was a major concern,” Jaimisha Parmer, speech and language therapist and team leader for Chatterbug explains. “Children were being referred for Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) at an alarming rate, with some of the highest numbers in the country.”

Through addressing speech, language and communication challenges and working in collaboration with Chatterbug, referrals to speech therapy services had reduced by 90 percent in two years.

Knowlsley had a high number of referrals into the Speech Therapy Service. Children’s speech and language development was a growing concern amongst professionals. The quality of referrals was also an area for development which was addressed through a training offer and one to one link meetings.

The local authority partnered with Chatterbug to upskill independent early years settings to support their children from birth to four years of age through training early years practitioners to support children at this crucial stage of language development.

Bi- monthly training sessions were delivered free of charge to equip practitioners with the knowledge and resources to support children with speech, language and communication challenges. Alongside this training offer, regular one to one ‘link meetings’ were held to provide a forum where Early Years Practitioners could ask questions directly to a qualified Speech and Language Therapist.

Jaimisha also conducted observational visits into early years settings to support the identification of emerging speech, language and communication challenges. “We spent time observing children in nurseries, identifying any early signs of SLCN, and addressing them before they escalated into more severe issues,” Jaimisha adds.

Knowlsey’s challenge required a targeted approach; as the area had a high number of children with speech, language and communication challenges, and it was essential that early intervention was key in order to meet need at the targeted level, and in the child’s early years setting.

Prior to the approach there were thirty speech and language referrals from the independent sector and in two years this dropped to three, therefore demonstrating a ninety percent reduction of referrals in two years.

Early years practitioners now feel more confident in identifying and addressing children with emerging speech, language and communication challenges. Sarah Shepherd of the Bright Horizons Nursery in the area is very pleased with the support from Chatterbug: “We now have reduced the number of referrals we make, which in turn has reduced the waiting time to see a speech therapist. Before Chatterbug, the wait could be around 12-18 months, now children are being seen for the first initial visit in around six to eight weeks”.

In just three years, Chatterbug’s targeted, flexible, and innovative approach has improved speech and language support in Knowsley, demonstrating that early intervention and collaboration can have an impact on both referrals for specialist support and strengthening practice in settings through targeted interventions. With fewer referrals and a more confident network of early years practitioners children have benefitted from this approach.

In 2023, the team took another step towards ensuring the sustainability of their work by conducting communication audits of early years education settings to assess their communication friendliness. Following the audit each setting was provided with a feedback report along with a score, and detailed areas for development, and 12 months later were revisited to see if they had maintained or improved. These audits have proven to be a valuable tool in helping the workforce retain and implement the knowledge and skills they’ve learned, as well as encouraging communication-friendly environments.

Initially building momentum for this approach was a challenge, reflected by inconsistent engagement with the training offer and link meetings. To overcome this, the local authority and Chatterbug developed their offer to ensure that link meetings were more accessible, “We started offering flexible and varied scheduling, holding sessions both during and outside of term time, and where needed, twilight sessions’. This flexible approach helped increase regular attendance from a range of early years settings.

Your contact for this project is Asma Khanum

[email protected]