There is a telephone drop-in service run by the Speech and Language Therapy Service in Warwickshire for anyone with a query about a referral. For North Warwickshire:
And for South Warwickshire:
(poster coming soon)
This PowerPoint presentation explains the 2 – 2 1/2 year integrated review process in Warwickshire.
powerpoint for facebook and distribution – the integrated review process (3)
Additional Resources to Print
final flyer (for nursery to attach to the progress summary to give to the Health Visitor)
Integrated Review nursery poster (for nurseries to display to let parents know about the process)
poster childminder (for childminders to display to let parents know about the process)
poster for children’s centre team (for Children’s Centres to display to let parents know about the process)
postcard for HV feedback (for the Health Visitor to give to the parent to take back to the nursery, childminder or Children’s Centre). The most important part is that ‘next steps’ are carried out.
Frequently Asked Questions about the WellComm as part of the 2-2 1/2 year integrated review – by Alex Williams
Firstly a big thank you for everyone who is getting to grips with using WellComm as part of the integrated review. As it becomes more widely used I just wanted to respond to a few questions I have been asked.
1. Can we use the WellComm with children who have English as an additional language?
Yes but with reservation. If a child is not being exposed to English then WellComm is redundant as it only tells you how well they are acquiring English. In those instances I’m interested to know what you typically do.
2. If the parent tells me that their child is using tense endings e.g. washing but I don’t hear them – the child either doesn’t respond at all or says another word can I score the child as achieving that question?
NO – the WellComm, like many of the assessments you might use is objective, you can only score what you see or hear, not what others tell you.
3. If a parent tells me a child can do something and I don’t see or hear it can I score it as correct?
Only if it is one of the questions which clearly relies on parent report e.g. does the child use the pronoun ‘I’?
4. If the child gets 1 out of 2 correct can I score that as achieving the question?
Only if the rule book says you can. In items where it says that children must achieve both parts of the question you need to be strict with your scoring – otherwise it might be luck rather than ability.
5. If the child scores amber do I send them to drop-in?
Not always – you could signpost to other interventions – ‘chatter matters’ or language enrichment sessions. You may also feel that you have resources and advice which you can give parents.
6. What if the nursery has done a WellComm but I don’t know?
We are asking nurseries to send a WellComm screen result along with the progress summary if they have completed them. We will ask again but it would also help if you know your nurseries to ask them if they are using WellComm (only those implementing ‘time to talk’ use WellComm). The parents may or may not know – but if you know the child has had a WellComm screen in the last 3 months you can use those results. You don’t have to repeat it.
The WellComm is only a screen to indicate what you might need to do next. It is not an in-depth language assessment. Please also remember to record their attention control and listening skills (on the back). As a screen it relies on a small number of linguistic/language indicators and so needs to be administered objectively. You can reassure parents that it is simply indicating the possible need for support. For children who are acquiring language well they can confidently complete the questions, so a child who is inconsistent or struggles a little is quite probably struggling a little! Nationally, 70% of children need some extra support, varying from minimal to significant so you will typically have lots of children achieving amber.
How you respond to that potential high number is the biggest challenge but it’s important that we accurately capture how our children are performing.
I think we will need to look at how we respond to and support the high number of children who achieve an amber score – please continue to give me feedback. I like the positive comments but I also really value the negative or the challenges that you raise.
Thank you.
