Communication & Language

Many children begin their time at Parkdale school with speech delay or communication difficulties. The Communication and Language team are dedicated to ensuring that all children are empowered with the tools they need to successfully communicate with their peers and adults. Communication and Language support enables children to build respectful relationships; expressing their thoughts and feelings, and is the foundation upon which all their learning rests. 

Our Speech and Language Therapist visits weekly. Mrs Holly Harris works directly with children; providing them with individual support and working alongside parents. We also have a dedicated, specialist trained team that support children with specific communication needs, in addition to a communication and language focused provision for all. Our Early Years team have created Communication Friendly Spaces, a key aspect of our practice, that provide cosy, calm and welcoming spaces for children to interact and learn together. This environment, combined with our narrative and language support groups, were key to our winning the Communication Trust ‘Shine a Light’ award in 2017. 

We have a significant portion of children in our community who are learning English as an additional language. We are dedicated to supporting these children on their journey to becoming bilingual. All first languages are valued, celebrated and welcomed at Parkdale. We encourage any families whose children do not speak English at home to keep on talking with their children in their first language; bilingualism is enormously beneficial, and a solid first language empowers children to learn English. We will support you with translated documents, homework, reports, etc whenever needed and will enable your children to access learning with signs, symbols, digital translation technology and bilingual texts. 

All children in our school are taught vocabulary using a programme called Word Aware. This allows us to identify key vocabulary that is essential, not just to our curriculum, but to successful lifelong learning and communication. Children are encouraged to use, review and revisit these words on a regular basis. Why not ask your child what Word Aware words they have learned this week and see if you can use them at home?

If you have any questions or queries about your child’s Communication and Language needs, please feel free to contact Mrs Rippon, Communication and Language Lead. 

Communication in our environment