How to use the WellComm toolkit with parents and carers

The WellComm toolkit is designed to identify and respond to children’s speech, language and communication difficulties in the early years. WellComm actively encourages parental involvement both through the screening process and interventions. The following top tips will provide some guidance on how you can involve parents and carers when using the toolkit.

Read more about:

• sharing screening outcomes with parents and carers
• supporting parents to develop their child’s Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) at home
• things to consider when sharing information about WellComm with parents
• further support for working with parents

Sharing screening outcomes with parents and carers

You should share screening outcomes with parents and carers because:

• it's good practice to inform parents that you will be completing screens with every child and provide opportunities for questions and discussions
• parents and carers often have different insights into their child’s communication strengths and difficulties, so it's important to gather this information during the screening process
• screening all children using the toolkit means no individual child is singled out. It's good practice to share screening outcomes with parents for all children
• feedback should discuss the child’s strengths before any concerns
• sharing screening results can be a useful starting point to discuss with a parent and carer any concerns you may have
• it's important to be sensitive, whilst remaining honest about the outcomes, when feeding back to parents and carers
• reiterate that this is a snapshot of their child’s current language skills and will always be considered alongside other information available to build a holistic picture of their child

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Supporting parents to develop their child’s SLCN at home

You can support parents through:

• collaboration with parents and carers is important to ensure that appropriate targets are selected and supports and strategies are consistent both in the setting and at home
• helping parents and carers understand that children who have the right support both at home and in their early years’ settings have the greatest chance of making progress
• providing handouts from the Big Book of Ideas should be photocopied and shared with parents and carers
• giving parents and carers advice and strategies to try at home, only giving them 1 or 2 things to work on at a time
• trying to show parents and carers what to do or let them observe you doing the activity with their child. This could be done via videos posted onto online journals and observations
• discussing how advice and strategies can be brought into daily routines for example, bath time, playing in the garden and dinner time
• reassuring parents and carers that there are many things that can be done to support children to develop their SLCN and that you will work together to support them
• sharing videos about adult child interaction strategies
• signposting parents and carers to information and resources about SLCN as well as local services and opportunities that families can access for example, Family Learning, libraries, local groups and ‘Look, Say, Sing, Play’

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Things to consider when sharing information about WellComm with parents

You should consider:

• how will you share information about WellComm with parents and carers? This could be done in multiple ways including newsletters, meetings with parent and carers, online journals or apps
• are there opportunities in the day to liaise with parents and carers?
• is there space in your setting (informal vs private)?
• are parents and carers encouraged to join sessions where WellComm information can be shared or modelled?
• a Key Person Strategy can be helpful, where there is one point of contact for parents and carers, so they know who to talk to
• sharing information between environments (for example, nursery and childminder) is important for children with SLCN. This will ensure that all settings working with a child are focussing on the same area or strategy. This will avoid families being overwhelmed with differing advice from each setting

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Further support for working with parents

You can access further support in the following ways:

• GL assessment ‘WellComm: Working with parents’ video
• contacting the Speech Language and Communication Hub – a group of practitioners with experience and training in Speech, Language and Communication who can be contacted to provide support with any aspects of WellComm
• talk to York Learning's Family Learning team to find out about free workshops and courses to support parents and carers
• access the BBC Tiny Happy People website with lots of advice and activities for how parents can support a child’s SLCN

If you have any questions or comments about WellComm as part of Early Talk for York email: [email protected].

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