Pre-school Children

Pre-school children can access our advice sessions where we will be able to offer advice and support regarding your child's communication skills. The Speech and Language Therapist will discuss your concerns and demonstrate evidence-based strategies to support your child.  Your child may then be referred on for further assessment or further support.  This may be delivered by other services, e.g. Family Hubs. These sessions are for parents/legal guardians of children that are:

• Aged two years and over and not yet attending Primary School.
• Registered with a GP within either the Basildon, Brentwood, Billericay, Wickford or Thurrock areas.
• Not already seeing a Speech and Language Therapist at their local clinic.

Please email drop-in@nelft.nhs.uk to arrange an appointment.

If your child is not yet two, please contact your local Family Hub to access groups and/or activities to support speech and language development.

School Aged Children

Accessing speech and language therapy 

We work across all schools in Thurrock, Basildon, Brentwood, Billericay and Wickford using The Balanced System (The Balanced System™ website).  Each school has a Link Speech and Language Therapist.  If the school has concerns about your child’s speech and language development, they should discuss this with you. You can also speak to your child's class teacher if you have concerns.

 

The staff at your child's school will need to complete a referral form. Parental consent and any relevant reports will need to be submitted with the form. The referral will be discussed at a planning meeting with your child’s school and their Link Speech and Language Therapist.

 

The Link therapist will work with the school to support your child with their speech, language and communication needs.

 

The support may include:

• advice to support speech, language and communication needs
• signposting to training packages
• your child being accepted for an assessment
• the Link therapist signposting to support from other professionals

 

Referral criteria

We are unable to accept referrals for the following:

• children who do not have an identified adult to implement interventions and/or follow-up support
• children who have literacy problems without speech or language difficulties
• if insufficient information is provided at the planning meeting
• re-referring children who are known to have language skills in line with their general level of learning, with no evidence that new advice about speech, language or communication is required
• if identified support is already in place at school

 

The first appointment

If your child is accepted for assessment, the Link therapist will contact you and agree an appropriate time to see your child. At this appointment, the Link therapist will discuss all relevant information with you and will share the outcome of the appointment with you.

 

Not all children need to be seen in person. To decide the most appropriate type of intervention, a decision is made according to the individual needs of your child.

 

Support for your child

 

Each child we see is unique and will have different individual needs. Our support and intervention will be adapted to suit your child.

A member of school staff, often a teaching assistant, will be identified to provide follow-up during, between and after sessions. If an appropriate member of school staff cannot be released to attend the sessions, we will discuss this with you and the school. 

 

After the appointment

We do not routinely write reports. If needed, a report may be produced after an assessment. This will be shared with you and the school.

 

If children are not accessing school or are home-schooled, please complete the referral form at the top of this page so that they can access support.