The Wellcomm Toolkit (Early Years) can be used with children from 6 months up to 6 years to:

• identify areas of concern in language, communication and interaction
• support the delivery of focussed activities to support communication and interaction at an appropriate level for the child
• track the progress of the child

Locally we have gathered some anecdotal evidence that the Wellcomm Toolkit may overidentify Speech, Language and Communication Needs in children under 2. This means that some children are identified as Amber or Red on the Wellcomm screening tool when general developmental assessment of the child has not indicated any concerns.

Advice for children under 2

• Don’t use Wellcomm as a standalone assessment – always cross-reference with information from your own setting’s developmental assessment. If you do have significant concerns about a child’s developmental progress and they are under 2, then please discuss your concerns with relevant professionals and parents.
• Implement activities from the Big Book of Ideas with all children, using the screening results as a guide on where to start. The focus for this age group is on implementation of good adult-child interaction strategies to support communication and language development for all babies/young children.
• “Watch and Do” – following a period of intervention, rescreen children to track their progress. If they continue to score Red following interventions after the age of 2, consider contacting the NHS Speech and Language Therapy Service’s Request for Help telephone helpline on 01904 726599.

Further support for working with children under 2

• Look, Say, Sing, Play provides easy activities and advice for supporting babies and young children’s communication
• Find activities for babies under 2 on the BBC Tiny Happy People website
• Look at videos and advice on the NHS start for life website
• Look up information on ages and stages of children’s speech and language development
• York Hospital's advice sheets on talking to young children