1. Practitioner Training 2018
Notes
Give each participant a Participant Book to support their learning through the day.
The Participant Books have more content than the images on the slides you’re about to show them.
We hope that combining images and text will keep participants’ interest and help them remember the training.
Emphasise that the focus of this training is on the targeted intervention only. It’s recommended that the whole school staff team have language training to support quality teaching for all children and access to a speech and language therapist for those children who require specialist support.
Senior school staff may be interested in learning about other I CAN resources, such as Primary Talk and Talk Boost KS2.

2. About Talk Boost KS1 Small group intervention
Activities with groups of 3–4 children, three times a week for 10 weeks
30–40 minutes each session with a teacher/teaching assistant
Measures of children’s language and communication before and after
Talk Boost KS1 Tracker and the Children’s attitude survey
Children’s Activity Book
Activities for children to take home and share with parents or carers
Whole class activities for class teachers
Linking small group activities to the class and supporting whole class speaking and listening skills
Notes
Explain that:
The Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual and Teacher Manual give detailed instructions on the activities. It’s important to follow these instructions, especially when starting out.
It’s equally important to understand and work towards the principles of language teaching.
Whole class activities are essential because:
they make the link for children between the small group activities and class
they support whole class speaking and listening skills.
In the evaluation study, children whose teachers fully engaged with Talk Boost KS1 and did the whole class activities made more progress. Some schools took on the activities across the whole school, e.g. good listening.
We’ll go through the measures in more detail – they support the teaching staff to know how effective Talk Boost KS1 is.

3. Course outline
Session 1 The importance of good speech, language and communication (SLC) skills
Session 2 Selecting children for Talk Boost KS1
Session 3 Using Talk Boost KS1: Intervention Manual content and activities
Session 4 Teacher Manual, Children’s Activity Book, planning and questions
Notes
Explain that:
The first part of the day is a brief introduction to the importance of speech, language and communication (SLC) skills (Session 1), and selecting the children who’ll benefit from Talk Boost KS1 (Session 2).
This is a brief overview and if participants feel they need further training in speech, language and communication they might want to consider Primary Talk training (leave a PT leaflet with them).
The second part of the day is more practical with a focus on using the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual (Session 3), together with the Teacher Manual and the Children’s Activity Book to complete the full programme (Session 4).

4. Warm-up activity
Spend two minutes talking to the person next to you about your morning routine, from getting up to arriving at work:
How much of what you do depends on being able to use communication skills?
If you couldn’t communicate, what effect would that have?
Notes
Give the participants two minutes to have a conversation.
Remind participants that even if they live on their own they’re likely to use communication skills, e.g. listening to the radio, watching TV, travelling to work. What skills do they use for these activities?
Follow this with a whole group discussion (or in smaller groups if the group is too big). Go through each bullet point in turn and get participants to think about what they’ve just done.
Then go on to the discussion points using Slide 5.

5. Warm-up activity Now discuss: Why do we communicate?
What skills do we need?
What would be the impact if we couldn’t communicate?
Notes
Ask participants:
Why do we communicate? – e.g. to find out information, say how we feel, offload, solve problems, connect with other people, make friends, etc.
What skills do we need? – e.g. listening, taking turns, etc.
Bring in specific linguistic information if it’s not mentioned, i.e. having a good vocabulary, knowing the right words to describe things, morphology, grammar, clear speech.
What would be the impact?
Get people to think about their average day, e.g. how would their day be without communication skills, which parts of the day would be more difficult, how would they feel by the end of the day?

6. Session 1: The importance of good speech, language and communication (SLC) skills
Notes
Allow 60 minutes for this session, including activities (Slides 6–15).
Link this to the warm-up activity where you discussed the skills required for communication.
Point out that participants are all competent adult communicators and it’s a complex skill.
The children they work with are still learning this skill and some of them find it very hard.

7. Speech, language and communication
The sounds and sound combinations that are put together to make up words
Language
Understanding language (also known as comprehension or receptive language)
Talking (also known as expressive language)
Communication
Gives us a way of sharing feelings and emotions – a tool for giving and receiving information
Notes
Following on from the warm-up activity, remind participants that:
Speech is the way sounds are produced.
Understanding of language is about understanding what’s said or written, including vocabulary, grammar, instructions, stories and other non-verbal communication.
Talking is about the use of words and sentences, vocabulary and grammar, organising sentences into narratives and explanations, and using appropriate conversational rules.
Communication is the giving and receiving of messages through language, non-verbal gestures, eye contact, reading, writing, etc.
It includes conversation, social rules and matching language to the situation.
It underpins everything humans do: playing, learning, socialising, self awareness and monitoring.
Highlight:
Speech, language and communication are different aspects of the interactive process.
It’s useful to think about these different aspects – they are multi-faceted and multi-layered, and all are necessary for effective communication.
Like any complex process or machinery it’s useful to break things down into their component parts to understand them, at the same time being aware that all elements are necessary and interact with the others in order to work.
If one component doesn’t work well or is broken, the whole thing stops functioning well.

8. Why do children need speaking and listening skills?
Notes
Language is critical to learning, cognitive development and literacy.
In the classroom, spoken language is the primary medium through which teachers teach and children learn.
Speaking and listening skills enable children to:
understand what’s said
express themselves clearly
share their feelings verbally
make their needs known
use their language as a vehicle for learning.
Highlight that at age 4–5 when children start primary school, they should have reasonably proficient speech, language and communication skills.
Give brief examples for each, e.g. children aged 4–5 can:
understand teachers’ instructions
talk about the game they want to play in the playground
explain why they’re upset or angry
say what they want for lunch or when they’re feeling unwell
use their language to explain their work, ask for help or clarification, and expand on a simple explanation or event.

9. In order to learn, children need language
Speech sounds for reading and spelling
Use words and sentences to put their thoughts into text
Use their language to organise their thoughts:
explain
predict
problem solve
develop their understanding and thinking
clarify
Without language, there can be no reading or writing, maths, science, history or geography
Notes
Highlight the link to specific areas of research, e.g. research linking language and literacy difficulties:
Almost all children with language or communication difficulties need support with some aspect of learning to read or write.
Without the right help, between 50 and 90% of children with a persistent language difficulty will go on to have reading difficulties (Stothard et al, 1998).
There is evidence about the importance of oral narrative skills for the production of written text (Dockrell & Connelly, 2009).
Children need to use their language to organise their thoughts – there is research on how language is used to support learning (Deák, 2014).
‘Speech comes before both reading and writing. The earlier that all children develop confidence in their speech, along with an extensive vocabulary, the more likely it is that they will be able to improve their overall competence in reading and writing‘ (Ofsted, 2012).
Without language, there can be no reading or writing, maths or science, history or geography. Almost everything at school involves spoken language; it’s the way most learning happens. It is crucial for development in primary school children (Goswami & Bryant, 2007).
Proficiency in speech, language and communication is critical to the development of children’s cognitive, social and emotional well-being (Dockrell et al, 2012).
Participants should now shut their books for the next activity.
References
Stothard, S.E., Snowling, M.J., Bishop D.V.M., Chipchase B.B & Kaplan C.A. (1998) ‘Language impaired preschoolers: a follow up into adolescence’, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 41, No. 2.
Dockrell, J. & Connelly, V. (2009) The impact of oral language skills on the production of written text. British Psychology Society, BJEP Monograph Series.
Deák, G.O. (2014) ‘Interrelations of language and cognitive development’ in Brooks, P. & Kampe, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of language development. Sage Publications, pp. 284–91.
Ofsted (2012) Moving English forwards: actions to raise standards in English. Manchester: Ofsted.
Goswami, U. & Bryant, P. (2007) Children’s cognitive development and learning (Primary Review Research Survey 2/1a). Cambridge: University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.
Dockrell, J., Ricketts, J. & Lindsay, G. (2012) Understanding speech, language and communication needs: Profiles of need and provision. DfE Research Report, DFE-RR247-BCRP4.

10. Speech, language and communication lotto
The lotto board is divided into examples of speech, language and communication
Listen to the examples and decide which category is which
Place the card on the board when you’ve decided – there’s one example of each
Notes
You need to prepare this activity from Section 03.
Remind participants to close their books for this activity.
The aim of this activity is to support participants to use these categories and examples to help them understand the different elements of speech, language and communication. This in turn will help them identify what is going wrong when children are struggling.
Give out one set of cards and one lotto board to each group.
Explain that the lotto board is divided into examples of speech, language and communication.
Read out the examples in a random order and ask participants to sort the examples into speech, language and communication categories and place them on the board.
Make sure participants don’t look at the answers until they’ve completed the activity.

11. Speech, language and communication lotto
Notes
Ask participants to check their answers in their books, or if you have time, go through the answers as a group and discuss any differences of opinion.
You can ask the participants to give examples of children they know who have difficulties with different categories. For example, do they know:
a child with clear speech and well structured vocabulary who can’t take turns in a conversation?
a child with unintelligible speech who can still get their message across using excellent non-verbal communication skills?

12. Communication breakdown activity
Work in groups of three
One person takes a sentence and tries to get the message across to the others
They can’t use the words in bold
The others can ask questions to clarify the message
Notes
You need to prepare this activity from Section 03.
The aim of this activity is to demonstrate the impact of poor communication; it shows how participants need to work hard as listeners and how the right questions make a difference to understanding the sentence.
Lead the discussion about how communication in the group broke down, how people felt, what was going on, what helped and what didn’t help get the message across.
Link what was happening to them to speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) –how hard it can be for children to understand and to get their message across.
Point out that although this scenario wasn’t real, there were feelings of frustration after just five minutes – children with SLCN can feel this frustration throughout the day, every day.

13. Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)
On their own or in any combination
Speech difficulties, e.g. saying one sound instead of another
Communication difficulties, e.g. not looking or listening well. Interaction and communication is then impaired
Language difficulties, e.g. not using necessary words, or lack of understanding
Notes
Bring together the information given so far about SLC and apply it to SLCN, in which all the elements we’ve highlighted can break down – the Communication breakdown activity gave participants a bit of insight.
SLC is multi-faceted and multi-layered – it may involve elements of speech, language and communication as discussed above:
For example there is language, within which is vocabulary, grammar, understanding, etc.
In addition, there are layers to each of those different elements. So when thinking about grammar, for example, it may be at a very simple level of a young child understanding simple nouns (‘car’), or it may be complex as an older child understanding a passive sentence (‘The car was pushed by the man’) or a post modifying clause (‘The man who is eating the doughnut is fat’).
There are different elements or facets within SLC and within these elements are different layers of complexity – all of which work together to enable effective communication.
Any of the facets or layers within these can be impaired, causing some kind of communication breakdown.

14. SLCN fact or fiction activity
Children from economically deprived backgrounds are at considerable risk of language delay
SLCN is more common in boys than girls
By age 4 an average child would have experienced almost 45 million words
Children with weaker vocabularies are more likely to learn new words from incidental exposure than children with larger vocabularies
Young people who are slow to develop language are likely to be slow to develop reading skills and written language
Children do better if you make them work and talk together
Notes
You need to prepare this activity from Section 03.
Use the FACT and FICTION cards – have one pair for each group/pair of participants.
In pairs/groups, ask the participants to discuss each point and decide if it’s fact or fiction.
Ask participants to hold up either the FACT or FICTION card, depending on what they think.
Discuss the answers.
Answers: SLCN fact or fiction activity
Fact: Between 40 and 50% of children growing up in socially disadvantaged areas are starting school with delayed language (Law et al, 2011; Locke et al, 2002)
Fact: See ‘Gender is associated with the greatest increase in risk for SLCN with boys overrepresented relative to girls 2.5:1’ (Dockrell et al, 2012).
Fact: An American study by Hart & Risley (1995) found differences in the amount and type of language heard in children from different backgrounds – by age 4 a child in a professional family would have experienced almost 45 million words, compared to a child in a family receiving public assistance who experienced around 13 million words. Children from professional families experienced the most encouragements and fewest discouragements in a ratio of about 6 to 1, compared to children from low-income families who experienced more discouragements than encouragements in a ratio of about 2 to 1.
Fiction: Children coming into school with poor vocabulary are less likely to take in and learn new words than their peers who have more words in their vocabulary (Boyer, 1991).
Fact: 50 to 90% of children with persistent communication difficulties go on to have reading difficulties (Stothard et al, 1998).
Fiction: Just putting children together to work in groups does not mean better outcomes. Giving children skills and guidance to work together and putting them together in groups does mean better outcomes (Alexander, 2009).
References
Law, J., McBean, K. & Rush, R. (2011) ‘Communication skills in a population of primary school-aged children raised in an area of pronounced social disadvantage’, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, Vol. 46, No. 6, 657–64; Locke, A., Ginsborg, J. & Peers, I. (2002) ‘Development and disadvantage: implications for early years’, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, Vol 37, No. 1.
Dockrell, J., Ricketts, J. & Lindsay, G. (2012) Understanding speech, language and communication needs: Profiles of need and provision. DfE Research Report, DFE-RR247-BCRP4.
Hart, B. & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Boyer, E.L. (1991) Ready to learn. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Stothard, S.E., Snowling, M.J., Bishop D.V.M., Chipchase, B.B. & Kaplan, C.A. (1998) ‘Language impaired preschoolers: a follow up into adolescence’, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 41, No. 2.
Alexander, R. (ed) (2009) Children, their world, their education (Final Report and Recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review). Abingdon: Routledge.

15. Impact Notes Discuss the impact of SLCN:
Attainment: children with SLCN get fewer GCSE A–C grades than their peers:
‘Educational achievement statistics show a significant gap between the achievement of children and young people with SLCN … Just 15% achieve 5 A*–C GCSEs compared with 57% of all young people’ (Bercow, 2008).
Behaviour: children with SLCN are at risk of behaviour difficulties. Also, lots of children with behaviour difficulties have hidden SLCN (Cohen et al, 1998).
Emotional development: language is needed for self regulation, self talk and emotional development:
‘A pattern of social difficulties is characteristic not only of relatively early peer relations but remains marked through later childhood and adolescence’ (Durkin & Conti-Ramsden, 2010).
Self esteem: a study of children in Key stage 2 with SLCN showed that they saw themselves as less popular, less clever and less liked than their peers (Somekh et al, 2003).
Social skills: having SLCN means that social interaction and the development of social skills is more difficult. Difficulties with language are linked to behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (McCabe, 2005; Toppelberg & Shapiro, 2000).
Literacy: there are well rehearsed links (covered already). Reduced vocabulary size is associated with later literacy and educational achievement (Dockrell et al, 2007), and problems with reading comprehension have been linked with poor language skills (Stothard & Hulme, 1995). Many poor readers have underlying problems with oral language (Nation et al, 2007).
Learning: we need language for learning (covered already).
References
Bercow, J. (2008) The Bercow Report: A review of services for children and young people (0–19) with speech, language and communication needs. Nottingham: DCSF.
Cohen, N.J., Barwick, M.A., Horodezky, N.B., Vallance, D.D. & Im, N. (1998) 'Language, achievement, and cognitive processing in psychiatrically disturbed children with previously identified and unsuspected language impairments‘, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39, 6, 865–77.
Durkin, K. and Conti-Ramsden, G. (2010) ‘Young people with specific language impairment: a review of social and emotional functioning in adolescence’, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 26, 2, 105–21.
Somekh, B., Lewin, C. et al (2003) Evaluation of the GridClub Educational Service: Final Report to the Department for Education and Skills. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University.
McCabe, S. (2005) ‘We need to talk’, Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 41: 35–41.
Toppelberg, C.O. and Shapiro, T. (2000) ‘Language disorders: A 10-year research update review’, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39: 143–52.
Dockrell, J., Lindsay, G., Palikara, O. and Cullen, M.A. (2007) Raising the achievements of children and young people with specific speech and language difficulties and other special educational needs through school, to work and college (RR837). Nottingham: DfES.
Stothard, S.E. & Hulme, C. (1995) Children with reading comprehension difficulties: Processes and interventions. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Nation, K., Angell, P. & Castles, A. (2007) ‘Orthographic learning via self teaching: effects of exposure, durability and context’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 96, 71–84.

16. Session 2: Selecting children for Talk Boost KS1
Notes
Allow 80 minutes for this session, including activities (Slides 16–28).

17. Children with delayed language (40–50% in some areas)
Who is Talk Boost KS1 for?
Children with typical language levels
Children with delayed language (40–50% in some areas)
Children with persistent SLCN (10%)
Children with specific SLCN (5–7%)
Notes
We’re focusing on children with delayed/impoverished language due to lack of good communication models and support for their communication and language development in the early years. In areas of social disadvantage and low income children and young people are more than twice as likely to have SLCN (Dockrell et al, 2012; Law et al, 2011; Locke et al, 2002).
With additional input at the right time, we believe these children can catch up with their peers, therefore avoiding some of the impact of longer term SLCN.
Talk Boost KS1 may also help us identify those children who are more resistant to change – who though they appear to be delayed, may have a more significant underlying difficulty. These children will need further assessment and specialist support.
References
Dockrell, J., Ricketts, J. & Lindsay, G. (2012) Understanding speech, language and communication needs: Profiles of need and provision. DfE Research Report, DFE-RR247-BCRP4.
Law, J., McBean, K. & Rush, R. (2011) ‘Communication skills in a population of primary school-aged children raised in an area of pronounced social disadvantage’, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, Vol. 46, No. 6, 657–64.
Locke, A., Ginsborg, J. & Peers, I. (2002) ‘Development and disadvantage: implications for early years’, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, Vol 37, No. 1.

18. Who does best in the Talk Boost KS1 intervention?
Notes
Explain that Talk Boost KS1 is designed for children with language delay.
This means children who have intact language learning ability in themselves but for some reason haven’t had the opportunity to develop age-appropriate language skills.
Talk Boost KS1 is not designed for children who may need the support of a speech and language therapist.
Signpost to the Participant Book where this information is supplied.
Explain ‘repairing’ conversations if necessary: this is where communication breaks down because the listener doesn’t understand, and the child is unable to reword, add explanations or adjust their communication.

19. Criteria: children to be included in Talk Boost KS1
Difficulties may impact on other areas of learning or socialising
Difficulties may be due to a lack of opportunity or experience in the early years
Children who have the potential to ‘catch up’
Children with English as an additional language (EAL) also benefit from Talk Boost KS1
Notes
Include children who have difficulty using language to describe, direct others, negotiate, engage in play activities and converse with adults and peers.
Talk Boost KS1 is not designed or targeted at children with EAL who have a good, strong home language. Children with a solid foundation in their home language should have no problem in learning English given time and good teaching support. Parents should always be encouraged to continue to use their home language.
However, children with EAL who are showing language delay in both their home language and English have been shown to benefit from being included in Talk Boost KS1 groups, making good progress in English language skills. If, however, there is any concern about a child’s language levels then assessment in their home language as well as English is essential to get an accurate picture of where the difficulty lies.

20. Criteria: children who will not benefit as much
Notes
Explain that children with identified SEN who are already receiving specialist support may benefit from Talk Boost KS1, but the pace and level of activity may be challenging, and advice from a speech and language therapist should be sought first to see if the intervention is appropriate. There is further advice on Talk Boost KS1 and SEN on the Talk Boost KS1 website.
The children who’ll benefit most are those who have the potential to catch up in a relatively short period of time with a fast-paced intensive programme of activities.

21. Case study: discussion activity
Jack is 5 years old and sits quietly and smiles, but seems to struggle with everything in school. He misses a lot of school for medical appointments, and he seems very ‘babyish’. The other children in his group try and help him with everything
Taylor is 5 years old, and he loves playing outside and is really good at football. He loves maths but struggles with sitting still to listen to stories and answering questions. He makes mistakes naming objects and still uses ‘me’ in sentences, and he laughs loudly, distracting other children at worktime
Notes
Allow 10 minutes for this activity.
Read out this brief case study information, and mention that these are only ‘snippets’ of information.
Ask the participants to discuss which child they’d put forward for Talk Boost KS1 and why.
Both children would probably benefit from Talk Boost KS1 to some degree, although Taylor may benefit more:
Jack may have more long term learning needs and is already missing a lot of school, so may not complete the entire intervention.
Taylor fits the criteria with poor listening and attention skills, poor vocabulary and delayed use of simple grammar. He’s already using distracting techniques when he can’t cope with tasks.

22. Which children? Notes Ask participants to:
talk about the children they know
decide which ones fit the criteria and would benefit from using Talk Boost KS1
select four children in their class who they feel would most benefit from using Talk Boost KS1.

23. Assessment and monitoring
The Talk Boost KS1 Tracker is provided:
to help you select children for the intervention
to monitor the progress of the children after Talk Boost KS1
Note that the Tracker is not designed as a whole class screening tool
Notes
The Talk Boost KS1 Tracker is designed to record children’s communication and language development in key areas.
It can be used not only to select which children will benefit most from taking part in Talk Boost KS1, but also to evaluate their progress following the intervention.
The Talk Boost KS1 Tracker is not a diagnostic tool and does not in any way replace the detailed speech, language and communication assessment by a speech and language therapist that some children will need.

24. Talk Boost KS1 Tracker
Covers children’s language and communication skills in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
For each year group the Tracker has five sections
The sections cover different aspects of language and communication
Licensees delivering training in Scotland should adjust the year groups to fit Scottish Primary terminology e.g Primary 1 etc.
Please refer to documents explaining using the Tracker in Scotland for more information.

25. Talk Boost KS1 Tracker
Understanding spoken language: children’s ability to understand what other people say
Understanding and using vocabulary: children’s ability to understand, use and learn new words
Sentences: children’s ability to talk using grammar appropriate to their age and put together sentences
Storytelling and narrative: children’s ability to put together well ordered stories and accounts when talking
Social interaction: children’s ability to listen, take turns in conversations and use their language to interact with others
Notes
In each section there are statements in blue relating to what a child should be able to do or say, and direct questions to ask the child in bold. Additional information or guidance for you is in italics.
The statements are based on developmental norms; these are the expected levels of language development for children of this age.
Although all children differ in their language development, there are certain things we would expect them to be able to do at different ages.
It’s these key skills that have been highlighted in each section. Without these levels of language, children may struggle to learn and interact with other children and adults.

26. Talk Boost KS1 Tracker
Each answer is given a score of 1, 3 or 5 depending on how much detail the child gives or how accurate they are
There’s guidance on appropriate responses and how to score
You can complete the Score summary and use the online scoring tool to calculate the child’s level
The results are colour coded: RED, AMBER and GREEN
Notes
Children falling completely in the RED column will need further assessment and may well need specialist support.
Children with difficulties (mainly AMBER) in all areas would benefit from Talk Boost KS1.
Children falling completely in the GREEN column don’t need additional support, just universal good practice to support language and communication.
Children with mixed profiles, e.g. with difficulties and strengths in different areas, will need additional assessment and/or support.
It’s good practice to continue monitoring all children, as difficulties with language may not always be apparent.

27. Tracker practice
Understanding and using vocabulary: example responses of a child in Reception
1. Correctly pointed to ‘over’, ‘behind’, ‘pull’, ‘break’ and ‘next to’
2. Correctly pointed to ‘dancing’ and ‘hiding’
3. Named ‘knife’, ‘glass’, ‘banana’, ‘licking’, ‘chips’, ‘cakes’ and ‘toast’
Notes
Ask participants:
In the Reception Tracker, go to Understanding and using vocabulary and find Pictures 3, 4 and 5 that go with this section.
Score this child’s responses.
Look at the Score summary: is this child in the RED, AMBER or GREEN column for this section?
Participants can use the Tracker to help them select the children they think may benefit from Talk Boost KS1:
They can compare a child’s scores before and after the intervention to see how much progress they’ve made.
I CAN is keen to collect this data so we can see how Talk Boost KS1 has worked in their school, and has developed an online scoring system to help with this.
Explain that:
The Tracker will not give a ‘months of progress’ score as in the evaluation studies.
This is because we used standardised tests in the study which give an age score.
The Tracker doesn't give this, but is quicker and easier to use than standardised tests.

28. Scoring the Tracker
Follow the guidance and use the online Tracker to get a numerical score and measure this against the child’s age:
Children scoring in the AMBER bands will benefit from Talk Boost KS1
Children in the RED band may need further support, liaison with parents and consideration for external referral
Children in the GREEN band will not benefit particularly from Talk Boost KS1
Notes
The Tracker should be completed with individual children and not in a group situation.
The online scoring system will allow teachers to input the child’s scores before and after the intervention and to generate a report on the progress that child has made. The report can also be printed and used for reporting within the school (e.g. Ofsted, Governing Body, SENCo).
The online scoring tool for the Tracker is available at and includes a guide to help teachers to use it.
Tell participants that later in the course they’ll be looking at the online system and how they can register their school.
They should also check the website regularly for updates and more information.

29. Session 3: Using Talk Boost KS1: Intervention Manual content and activities
Notes
Allow 80 minutes for this session, including activities (Slides 29–49).
Hand out the following materials, one to each pair:
Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual
Talk Boost KS1 Teacher Manual
Children’s Activity Book.
Also have The Communication Cookbook and the Toolkit ready to show to participants.

30. Supporting materials Introductory training
Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual
Teacher Manual
The Communication Cookbook
Children’s Activity Book
Toolkit
Notes
Introductory training: this is what participants are having now.
The Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual includes:
session plans
posters, certificates and stickers
resources for each session
Monitoring form.
The Teacher Manual includes:
class activities
the Trackers (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2)
Children’s attitude survey
Moderation guidelines.
The Communication Cookbook: some of the activities in Talk Boost KS1 are from this resource.
The Children’s Activity Book contains activities for the child to complete at home with their parents.
The Toolkit includes all the resources prepared and all the toys participants need to get started straightaway.

31. Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual
Notes
Look at the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual together to ensure that participants can navigate it.
Look briefly at each section, pointing out where practitioners need to use materials from the Toolkit and where general resources are included.
If time permits here, use the Toolkit to point out example resources from the Organiser box and toys from the sack.

32. Talk Boost KS1: overall structure
Talk Boost KS1 breaks language and communication down into five component parts:
Attention and listening
Vocabulary
Building sentences
Telling stories
Conversations
The 10-week programme has a focus each week linked to these five component parts
Notes
Highlight that each component part is colour coded throughout Talk Boost KS1.
Weeks 9 and 10 don’t have a specific focus, but aim to draw the whole programme together.
Show the posters from the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual and put them up round the room.

33. Throughout Talk Boost KS1
Notes
Emphasise that it’s important to reinforce the understanding of language, not just what children are saying.
Talk Boost KS1 builds meta skills through self awareness and adults making learning explicit – e.g. this game helps with... this is why it’s important – to give children awareness of what they know and what they’re learning.
There’s evidence that this really supports learning – and it’s just as important for learning language and communication skills.
Vocabulary is suggested for all the activities, though ideally you’ll use the topic vocabulary that’s being used in class.
Because Talk Boost KS1 is aimed at children between 4 and 7 where developmental stages will vary, each activity suggests how to make it easier or harder – it’s really important to adapt the activities if needed.
It’s also important to get the levels right so that you’re scaffolding learning – pushing children on to the next level.

34. Five areas of language: activity
Attention an d listening
Vocabulary
Building sentences
Telling stories
Conversations
Consider each area:
Think of one way each area is
supported and developed in class
Notes
Working in small groups, ask participants to spend 10 minutes thinking about the different areas of language – how do they currently support these skills in class?
Put ideas on sticky notes and place them on flipcharts throughout the room, with the relevant posters above each one.
Then read the ideas from the group, share ideas and discuss.

35. Key activities
There’s a key activity for each language area except for Conversations
This teaches the principles for that area of language
This is the activity that also needs to be carried out with the whole class
Notes
In pairs, ask participants to find a key activity in either Week 1, 2, 3 or 4 of the Intervention Manual.
Read and feed back to the whole group what this activity is.
Can participants see how this could become a whole class activity – with the Talk Boost KS1 children as the ‘experts’?
Point out that all the whole class key activities are also included in the Teacher Manual.
The skills covered in Conversations are practised all the time during the Talk Boost KS1 activities.

36. Teaching good listening
Attention and listening
Make listening an active and explicit process
This means making key behaviours explicit:
Sitting still, looking and thinking
Explicitly linking these behaviours to listening:
‘You’re doing good sitting, Sam, and that’s good listening.’
Provide children with strategies for good listening
Lots of activities and practice for listening
Give regular, ongoing and specific feedback
‘Catch’ children listening well and praise for exactly what they’re doing – all day, every day!
Notes
Explain that this slide is based on research into teaching listening (Dollaghan & Kaston, 1986).
Listening principles:
Make listening an active and explicit process.
Provide children with strategies for good listening.
Give regular, ongoing and specific feedback.
Explain:
What do we mean when we say ‘listen’?
What exactly are we expecting children to do?
Often we say ‘listen’ though we don’t always teach the skills needed to do it.
It’s useful to make the component skills of listening explicit.
This is based on research on comprehension monitoring.
The key is linking the listening behaviours with listening.
Reference
Dollaghan, C. & Kaston, N. (1986) ‘A comprehension monitoring programme for language impaired children’, Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, Vol. 51, 264–71, August.

37. Vocabulary: principles
Teach meaning and phonic makeup
Link to current knowledge to make it meaningful
Use the words – repetition and practice in different contexts
There’s a lot of research around teaching vocabulary. What works is to give children:
semantic information: what does the word mean?
phonic knowledge: how is the word made up?
meta skills: what do they know already?
The tool used to teach this is Word magic...
Notes
Explain the notion of semantic/phonic knowledge and the importance of meta skills.

38. Word magic template Vocabulary Notes Word magic Describe it
What do we do with it?
Where might we keep it/see it/use it?
Who has seen/likes/would use/knows this thing?
Anything else?
What does it begin with?
What does it rhyme with?
How many syllables does it have?
A copy of the Word magic template is in the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual (Resource 7) and in the Participant Book.

39. Vocabulary: teaching using Word magic
Today’s new word is pineapple
Have you heard the word pineapple before?
What do you know about pineapples? Go through the template – describe it, what do we do with it?… etc
When you reach ‘anything else?’, talk about the sounds in the word
Then it’s down to practice:
Put it in a sentence
Put it in a rhyme
Use it in the classroom
Write it for your word bank
Put it on the word wall
Use it on your topic table
Notes
Go through the Word magic template using the word pineapple.
In small groups, ask participants to use the Word magic template from the Participant Book.
Give each group a word to work through – one person takes the lead and practises the process.
Use your own choice of words, or try these suggestions: alligator, cactus, tepee, rucksack, greenhouse, diary, torch.

40. Building sentences: principles
Build a solid understanding as well as talking
Target the right level and ‘scaffold’ from there
Model and encourage longer sentences
Supporting both understanding and expressive language in practical ways
Adults modelling what they want to hear
Making children aware of their own language skills
Notes
Emphasise the key importance of teacher talk – there’s lots of evidence around how important this is for children’s development of talk in the classroom.
How adults use their language skills is the main influencer of how children’s language develops.

41. Silly and sensible sentences
Building sentences
Notes
Explain the colour coding for: a person (orange), an action (yellow) and an object (red).
Ask participants to look at the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual and find Week 3: Session 1: Building sentences.
Ask participants to look at the Building sentences activity described in Week 3 (Silly and sensible sentences) and then to find Resources 11, 12 and 13.
Show the participants how to use the resources in the activity.

42. Telling stories: principles
• Focus on the importance of day-to-day narratives and stories
• Spoken stories and narratives come before written
• Children need clear and explicit narrative structures to support
these skills
We all tell stories throughout our day – it’s the basis of much of our communication
Many children struggle to organise their thoughts into a cohesive narrative
Giving children a clear narrative structure has been found to be effective for children with SLCN
This has also been found to be effective to support written narratives
Notes
Reinforce the notion of stories being our everyday stories or narratives, not just those in a story book.
Ask participants to look in the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual and find Week 4: Session 1: Telling stories
Look together at the Story words activity.

43. Telling stories: teaching narrative
First, teach the components of a story
Each story must have:
a person, a place, a time
activities or events
a conclusion
A good way to support this is to explicitly teach these components through story words

44. Story words Telling stories
Story strips can be put on desks in the classroom to encourage structured narratives, both spoken and written
Notes
Ask participants to look in the Talk Boost KS1 Intervention Manual and find Week 4: Session 1: Story words.
Ask participants to look at the activity and the resources given to support teaching narrative.
If one of the groups has looked at this activity in the Key activities task, you can look at Week 4: Session 3: Telling stories.

45. Conversations: principles
Focuses on verbal and non-verbal elements
Share with children the importance and purpose of conversations
Provide opportunities for conversations, both for social interaction and learning
This is about practising and making use of language skills – for a purpose:
To get what you want
To make friends
To tell people how you feel
To explain, negotiate, clarify, put your point across
This demonstrates to children how useful language and communication can be
Notes
Give examples, e.g. in the evaluation study of Talk Boost KS1 staff reported that children started having real conversations, listening to what others had to say, asking relevant and genuine questions.
Staff also reported that they got to know the children much better – and the children got to know each other.
Explain there is no real key activity for this – children just need ways, opportunities and desire (see also Slide 46).

46. Conversations: teaching
Notes
Explain that children need:
Some way of communicating: the task needs to be within their communicative ability.
Something to communicate about: experiences, feelings, activities – and teachers may need to facilitate this.
Opportunities to have conversations: for friendships and for learning.
In small groups, ask participants to discuss how they could do this in a busy classroom; when are the best times to facilitate conversations that are useful and productive?

47. Session plan Each session will include: Attention and listening
Vocabulary
Building sentences OR Telling stories
Conversations
Notes
Explain that:
There are four activities in each session – some will be quicker than others.
At the beginning of Talk Boost KS1 some staff in the evaluation study found that the sessions can take longer than 30 minutes.
If sessions look like they’re running over the Conversation activity can be missed out, but don’t do this every time.
It’s important not to do just favourite activities – often children will choose the activities they like best because they’re easier, but it’s the harder activities that really move them on.

48. Session plan example
All sessions follow the principle of plan...do...review
All encourage children to be aware of their own learning
Each has the same structure, for example:
Attention and listening: Good listening
Vocabulary: Word magic
Telling stories: Group story
Conversations: Finding out
Notes
Divide participants into pairs and give each pair a week to look at (use Weeks 1–8 only).
Give the groups time to look through the week they’ve chosen, find the materials they need for each activity and choose one activity to carry out.
Ask them to choose one person to be the child and one the adult, and then carry out the activity for the rest of the group.
Discuss any issues or concerns that arise from this – what do participants feel they’ll need to do to overcome any challenges they identify?
Ask each group to feed back briefly to the whole group:
a summary of what the week covers
what they particularly liked
any challenges and what the solutions are.
Point out that in Week 3: Session 2: Guess who? some photos are provided, but instead they can use ones their children know better if they prefer.

49. Children’s review
It’s important they get the chance to feed back to someone
At the end of each session children review what they have learned
Who could this person be?
Notes
The Children’s review is an important aspect of Talk Boost KS1, as it reinforces what the child has learned.
Ask participants to think about when they have to explain something to someone else – doing this helps you understand and remember better. This technique of reinforcing learning is what Talk Boost KS1 uses here with the children.
Remember to draw the participants’ attention to the wallet at the back of the Intervention Manual. Check they know this contains the Register, Monitoring form, Introduction cards, posters and stickers.

50. Session 4: Teacher Manual, Children’s Activity Book, planning and questions
Notes
Allow 80 minutes for this session, including activities (Slides 50–60).

51. Talk Boost KS1 Teacher Manual
Provides class teachers with:
The background to Talk Boost KS1
Information to select the right children and track their progress
Information to oversee the groups and support the teaching assistant in their role of organising and running the groups
Mandatory class activities each week in the classroom for the whole class
Notes
Ask participants to put away the Intervention Manual and get out the Teacher Manual.
Ask them to have a look through the sections.
The Teacher Manual is aimed at the class teachers of children who will be involved in a Talk Boost KS1 group, and:
outlines in brief what Talk Boost KS1 is and the background to the intervention
guides teachers in selecting the right children and tracking their progress
supports teachers in managing the overall operation of the groups and supporting the teaching assistant in their role of organising and running the groups
gives detailed advice to teachers on how to include the mandatory class activities each week in the classroom.

52. Classroom link activities for class teachers
Notes
Making links between targeted support and the classroom is general good practice for all interventions. Talk Boost KS1 uses the same terminology, therefore making links between the group and the class for the children and magnifying their opportunities to learn.
The first four weeks’ key activities are used in the group to teach the key principles for each area of language. It is important these are also used in the classroom to consolidate, reinforce and provide opportunities for practising skills. All other activities build on these key principles.
The whole class activities are useful in supporting language and communication in all children, so will benefit other children in the class.
These activities will also support teachers in integrating well-evidenced speaking and listening techniques into their teaching.
Children taking part in Talk Boost KS1 can be used as ‘experts’ for particular activities, supporting groups to carry out the activity or use resources.
Teachers are therefore encouraged to integrate one of these key activities into their teaching each week. Initially, these activities are to support key principles for teaching language skills, applicable to all children. Later in the 10-week programme, these activities are often simple practice exercises that can be integrated into teaching and learning approaches.

53. Teacher Manual: quality and outcome measures
Talk Boost KS1 Tracker
Children’s attitude survey
Moderation guidelines
Notes
Ask participants to find the Children’s attitude survey in the Teacher Manual.
This is an optional survey participants’ schools can use to look at how children rate their own communication skills.
We know consulting with young children, particularly those with SLCN, is challenging. This isn’t a perfect measure, but it should give schools some information.
Use the survey before and after Talk Boost KS1.
Both the survey and the Trackers can be scored online – which we’ll look at next.
Point out the Moderation guidelines in the wallet at the back of the Teacher Manual. It is good practice to use this checklist on a regular basis as part of the quality process for the school.
This might be something that the school SENCo would do as part of their role. Participants should think about who in their school would take on this role.

54. Reports Access the online scoring system from the website
Add scores before and after Talk Boost KS1
Use the online scoring system for both the Talk Boost KS1 Tracker and the Children’s attitude survey
Notes
Explain that:
I CAN is very keen to continue to learn about how Talk Boost KS1 is working in schools.
Part of how we do this is encourage schools to share their outcome data with us.
Teachers can use the online scoring system for the Tracker and the Children’s Attitude Survey
When you use the online Tracker you can download and print off reports.
These reports can be used for Senior Leadership Teams, Ofsted and Governors – as well as sharing the information anonymously with I CAN.
Access the online Tracker to show participants how it can be used.

55. Children’s Activity Book
Notes
Ask participants to look at the Children’s Activity Book.
Each child in the Talk Boost KS1 group has their own special book; children can draw in them, and keep their stickers and certificates inside.
The Children’s Activity Book includes 10 weekly language activities for children to share with their parents/carers.
The book provides a home/school link to Talk Boost KS1.
Parents are encouraged to play with their child, and are given explanations of what to do and why. For example:
Top tip: Saying words over and over again at different times is the best way to learn and understand them.
Discuss how participants will use this resource with their parents.
Participants can order more books separately for future groups.

56. Next steps for you What will you do now? Timetable/planning
Whole class activities
TA/teacher links
List three actions to take place before Talk Boost KS1 begins
List three actions to maintain throughout
Notes
Describe how staff involved in the evaluation study commented that one of the key elements was planning/timetabling so that it was clear from the outset when and where the Talk Boost KS1 sessions would take place.
Staff needed some planning time and preparation time – between 30 minutes and 1 hour a week.

57. A quick quiz to recap! Who is Talk Boost KS1 for?
How many children are in the groups?
How often do the groups run?
For how long?
How many weeks does Talk Boost KS1 last?
What are the five areas of language?
Name one of the key principles for teaching each of the five areas
Can you name one key activity?
What is the main barrier for us?
How will we overcome it?

58. Any questions?
Notes
Allow time for the participants to ask questions.

59. Course certificates and evaluation
Please complete an evaluation of the Talk Boost KS1 Practitioner Training course online at:
When you do this you’ll be able to download a certificate
Notes
Tell participants that to obtain an I CAN-approved user certificate they need to register online.

60. Thank you Thanks for your attention Tutor name Title Date Notes
Remind participants of your name – they will need this to register online.