Empowering practitioners to develop high-quality, universal language learning provision for all children in early years and primary school settings
Our goals
The SSLiC programme aims to:
- Support the development of high-quality, universal language learning provision for all children in early years and primary school settings
- Provide a forum for knowledge exchange between educational practitioners and researchers to investigate how the evidence base related to language and communication might be applied to educational settings
Our impact
Since 2017, the SSLiC programme has been successfully implemented in over 30 primary schools and early years settings in London and the South West. Our facilitators worked with settings to provide them with the research evidence, resources and tools to meet the escalating need to support the development of children’s speech, language and communication.
Across settings and regions, the programme has contributed to an increase over time in children’s learning engagement and an improvement in the quality of classroom language learning environments.
SSLiC really gave us the opportunity to raise the profile of speech, language and communication across our whole school.
Why our programme matters
One in five school-aged children in the UK experience speech and language challenges. Unresolved communication difficulties affect many aspects of children’s lives and outcomes:
Learning
Only 14% of children who are behind in speech and language aged five gain a 9-5 pass in English and Maths GCSE
Wellbeing
81% of children with emotional and behavioural disorders have significant and often unidentified speech, language and communication needs
Employment
Children who are behind in communication and language aged five are twice as likely to experience insecure employment as adults
Outputs and publications
SSLiC outputs and publications, including case studies, reports and impact studies.
Contact us
Get in touch if you would like to know more about the SSLiC programme.