WellComm at Little Munden

What is WellComm?

WellComm is a complete speech and language toolkit for to be used with children from 6 months to 6 years.

The WellComm system is:

• An approach that operates in partnership with parents.
• A means of tracking the progress of all children in the class, regardless of ability.
• The opportunity to identify areas of concern in language, communication and interaction development, in order to ensure targeted early intervention.
• An array of resources enabling delivery of focused activities to
  • target those children who have some language difficulties,
  • enhance the skills of all children and
  • increase the number of children whose language, communication and interaction development is within the expected range for the age group.
• A means of monitoring the success of the strategies the school uses to enhance communication skills.
• An assessment that can be used at different stages of the child’s development to understand progress.
• A diagnostic tool to enable school professionals to advise parents should the need arise for external help and support (such as speech and language therapists)
• A range of fun and play-based activities to address children’s language needs.
• A means of collaborative working.

How does it work?

Every child is assessed for around 10 – 15 minutes on their understanding of what is being said to them (receptive language) and also how they communicate verbally (expressive  language). This assessment is partly completed through the everyday observations that your child’s teacher carries out in class to assess his/her progress throughout the whole of the Early Years curriculum. But also involves few targeted questions such as asking your child to point out various pictures or follow some easy instructions.

Each child’s own pace and concentration span is taken into consideration and the overall assessment may be done in several stages. However, we find that most children enjoy being asked the questions in WellComm and the activities we set for them as a follow up.

How will the Little Munden let me know about my child and WellComm? 

We expect to find that many children are not falling behind in their language development. If your child is not in need of any support then your child’s teacher will be able to reassure you of this.

If we find that your child needs a little extra help then we will inform you which part of their language development they need support with and how we will be doing this at school. More importantly, we will also be asking you to help your child alongside us by carrying out some easy practical activities at home which include songs, rhymes, games and other play activities. Very easy-to-read instruction sheets will be provided for each of these activities.

Like to know more?

If you would like to know more about the WellComm toolkit you may find link below useful or speak to your child’s teacher or the Special Needs Coordinator (Mrs Dhanoon) at the school.