Strategies for Teachers to Support Learners with SLCN in the Classroom

Every child is unique but some might need a little extra help with speaking, understanding, or communicating. But sometimes, these challenges slip under the radar. Research says about half of primary school children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) don’t get spotted. So, it’s super important for teachers to keep an eye out for signs of SLCN in our learners.

Just think about it: in a school of 1,000 children, around 100 might have long-term SLCN. Even in a smaller school with 200 children, you could have about 20 with SLCN. That’s like having two or three in every classroom! So, whether you’re in early years, primary, secondary, or beyond, being on the lookout for SLCN and having strategies to help is key.

Without the right support, children with speech, language, and communication difficulties might find it tough to make friends or do well in school. So, let’s make sure we’re equipped to give them the support they need.

Whether you’re working with experts outside of school or relying on your school’s SENCo, it’s essential to have all teachers clued up on SLCN and how to support children in class. This is even more crucial in schools where lots of kids come from areas where support might not be as easy to come by.

So, here are some strategies you can use right in your classroom:

1. Boosting Listening Skills:

• Check if the child can hear properly.
• Give simple instructions and see if they get them.
• Break listening down into smaller steps.
• Show why listening is so important in different situations.
• Reward good listening with praise or treats.
• Set the stage for activities with listening rules.
• Give feedback on how well they’re listening and help them learn to evaluate themselves.

2. Helping Children Understand:

• Speak a bit slower and break sentences into chunks.
• Use gestures and pictures to help explain things.
• Keep your language simple and focus on important words.
• Repeat stuff and give time for them to answer.
• Encourage questions to clear up any confusion.

3. Supporting Talking Skills:

• Write down what they say to see where they’re strong and where they could use a little help.
• Chat about what they’re doing to help them open up.
• Repeat and expand on their words to help them learn.
• Correct any mistakes gently and encourage them to try again.
• Sing songs and use rhymes to make talking more fun.
• Ask open-ended questions to get them talking more.

4. Use Visual Support and Structured Activities:

• Create word webs using Colourful Semantics, representation not only helps in vocabulary acquisition but also aids in understanding sentence structure.
• Sentence Building Games
• Interactive Activities: Engage learners in interactive activities where they match colour-coded words to corresponding pictures or scenarios. For example, students could match blue cards (nouns) to pictures of objects, red cards (verbs) to actions, and so on. This hands-on approach makes vocabulary learning more engaging and memorable.
• Storytelling with Colourful Semantics: Encourage students to use Colourful Semantics when telling stories or recounting events. They can use different colours to highlight who did what, where, and when, helping them to structure their narratives more effectively and enriching their vocabulary in the process.

By incorporating Colourful Semantics into vocabulary learning, you provide children with a visual and structured framework that supports their language development while making learning more enjoyable and interactive.

If you’re keen to learn more about how to help children with SLCN, check out our on-demand courses. We cover heaps of topics to give you all the tools and knowledge you need to create a classroom where every child can shine.