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Initiative helps pupils develop communication skills

Saturday, 15 February 2025 12:00

By Chris Collman

A partnership initiative that helps children develop critical communication skills is having a transformative impact in Devon schools.

Language enrichment groups, delivered by Children and Family Health Devon (CFHD) which is an alliance of local NHS organisations, to children in reception classes through to year six, have already reached over 90 schools across the county.

The groups focus on enhancing children’s vocabulary, listening skills, sentence construction, and confidence in communication through screening assessments and resources. Designed for early learners, the initiative supports schools in addressing the growing need for speech and language development among young children.

Hannah Burton, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at CFHD, said: “It has been fantastic to be part of supporting schools across the county. The schools have an initial introduction session and are then sent everything they need to roll out the groups in their schools.

“Therapists then offer follow-ups throughout the school year via an online meeting. The groups are divided into six stages and each stage has a screening tool and all resources to be able to deliver 20 targeted language sessions in school.”

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