Our purpose for being
We are passionate about developing the communication skills of all children and young people. We strive to enable all children to communicate to the best of their ability and to reap the rewards that confident communication brings.
We aim to provide services that develop these fundamental skills, impacting not only on communication, but also on wider academic and social outcomes.
Meet The Team
Hello, I'm Wendy
I have worked with children and for children for over 30 years in all settings, from early years to mainstream secondary. My role has been diverse, from Therapist to Lecturing undergraduates. Then onto the third sector as a professional advisor for I CAN and professional director for The Communication Trust.
I have worked on professional content of a national campaign, developed interventions, such as Talk Boost and resources for practitioners. We have recently developed a universal communication curriculum for key stage 3 which has produced significant improvement for children in the test school.
Hello, I'm Simon
I have been a teacher for over 20 years. The last 13 years as a Head of a consistently good and improving school. Prior to teaching I worked in business, supporting small businesses start-up. I remain a governor of a local secondary school.
Expertise has been developed in the management and analysis of student data, behaviour management, staff development and identifying and targeting whole school priorities.
Through experience, I have direct insight into the challenges facing mainstream colleagues, both in primary and secondary contexts.
“We are starting to see improvement in the children already. The children in the language group are making brilliant progress; we now have a much better idea of who needs what and what we can do about it.”
Claire Chambers, Reception Class TeacherWendy has always impressed me with her grasp of the issues and her ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. The work she produces is always of the highest calibre from inception to execution.
Lysa Schwartz, CEO Makaton CharityIn 2016 only 12% of pupils with Speech, Language and Communication Needs achieved expected standards in Reading, Writing and Maths at the end of primary school, compared to 53% of all pupils.
Often, the focus in school is on reading and writing, but without strong spoken language, children will struggle to do well.
Statistic “SLCN impacts on attainment”84% of Head Teachers agree that oracy is very important yet 45% of Teachers reported that no one has responsibility for oracy in their school.
Quote “State of Speaking in Our Schools”
“The ability to use spoken language effectively has to be learned; and even highly intelligent people may not have learned how best to use talk to get things done”
Quote “Professor Neil Mercer, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge”