How to use the FACT in Key Stages 1-4 - Milton Keynes Council

Children and Families The "First Assess Communication!" Tool
(The FACT)
Second Edition
Assessment of children and
young people with additional needs Acknowledgements Parents and a multi-professional team from Milton Keynes Council and
Central and North West London - Milton Keynes (CNWL - MK) have worked on
reviewing the FACT and developing the FACT Plus. The documents are
testament to the skills, experience, knowledge and hard work of a willing
group of people who fitted this project into their busy professional lives.
Their legacy is two profiling tools that will help vulnerable children and
young people with additional needs in speech, language, communication and
social interaction. Team members: Linda Bartlett, Amanda Bousaki, Maggie Bovair, Louise
Bridgens, Sally Cass, Julie Cawthorpe, Sue Crawley, Clare Doran, Sarah
Dutt, Doris Evans, Jo Friday, Gurbax Ghattora, Candy Goodes, Nicolette
Green, Fola Ikuyinminu, Alexis Judd, Nick Jackman, Julie Lack, Sarah
Lawson, Mike Lewis, Wahida Malik, Caroline Marriott, Lesley-Ann Martin,
Gill Messenger, Lisa Munro, Daniela Murphy, Gurpreet Panesar, Mary Peddie,
Chris Rutter, Robin Scott, Chris Setchell, Nina Soloff, Sue Swann, Uday
Thakrar, Sharon Weeks-Woodford, Jacqui Wheeler, Chris White. Schools that helped to trial the materials: Milton Keynes Primary Pupil
Referral Unit, Romans Field, New Bradwell, Charles Warren, Howe Park,
Heronshaw, Priory Common, Summerfield, St Mary and St Giles, The Hazeley
and Lord Grey. FACT front cover: Sarah Briggs aged 10
FACT Plus front cover: Aiden Green aged 11 Team members for the original FACT (not involved in the current project):
Sarah Armitage, Pauline Bentley, Marion Binks, Lyn Byatt, Helen Caldwell,
Liz Corby, Jacqueline Hashemi, Diz Minnitt, Gill Rees Kay, Gill Shurrock.
Published February 2015
Due for Review June 2018
Revised June 2016
Copyright 2015 Milton Keynes Council
Contents Introduction Page 4 SLCN and the SEND reforms Page 5 Should I use the FACT with this child/young person? Page 6 How to use the FACT with EAL children Page 7 The FACT Pathway in Key Stages 1 - 5 Page 9 Guidance on using the FACT Page 11 FACT (SLCN) SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
DESCRIPTORS KEY STAGE 3 - 5 Page 14 Secondary FACT (First Assess
Communication Tool) Speech, Language
and Communication Checklist for Teachers Page 19 Triggers for the FACT Plus in Key Stages 1 to 5 Page 21 KS1 - KS5 FACT (Speech, Language and
Communication) Descriptor Profile and
Outcome and Review Form Blanks and Examples Page 22 Strategies and Resources KS3 - KS5 Page 31 Appendix I Supporting Children and Young
People with Hearing Impairment and SLCN Page 51 Appendix II A Communication Supportive
Environment Audit Tool Page 53 Appendix III Key Stage 3 - 5 Monitoring Sheet Page 65 References Page 67 Glossary and Abbreviations Page 68
Introduction The First Assess Communication Tool (FACT) has been produced by a range of
people working with children and young people with speech, language and
communication needs (SLCN) in Milton Keynes. It is fulfilling one of the
recommendations in the Final Report of the Milton Keynes Bercow Working
Party (2009), the joint Local Authority/Community Health Services' response
to the Bercow Report (2008). It has been created to support the Milton
Keynes Inclusion Strategy, with the intention of helping settings and
schools to meet learners' speech, language and communication needs. "...A
child or young person with SLCN is one who does not have the speech,
language and communication skills to meet the demands of the social and/or
academic contexts of the setting or school..." (adapted from Naremore,
Densmore and Harman, 1995). Incidence of SLCN and its relationship to other areas of need
In some areas, more than 50% of pupils start school with speech, language
and communication needs (SLCN). 10% of all pupils have long-term SLCN. 7%
of all pupils have Specific Language Impairment (SLI). 1% of all pupils
have severe and complex SLCN. Some pupils have SLCN as a primary need, but
it is known that pupils in the majority of other special educational needs
(SEN) categories will have associated SLCN. Research shows that this is
particularly true for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social
difficulties (BESD) (e.g. Ketelaars, et al., 2010). The Better
Communication Research Programme (2012) - which was commissioned in
response to the Bercow Review - has more information about profiles of need
and provision of services for children/young people with speech, language
and communication needs. Hearing impairment (HI) can have an impact on speech, language and
communication acquisition and development. The number of pupils with a
significant hearing loss is usually very small (840 babies born a year in
UK), but the impairment can have a major impact on their speech, language
and communication if left unrecognised and unsupported. Many more pupils
suffer hearing loss through 'glue ear', which can be persistent. They may
be unable to hear words, hear distorted sounds, or find it confusing and
tiring to focus on verbal communication. See Appendix I for more
information about Hearing Impairment and SLCN. Addressing a child's SLCN can bring about significant benefits to their
learning and well-being, whatever their primary special educational need.
It follows that practitioners should use this document as part of the
assessment of other areas of need; hence the message in the title: First
Assess Communication. Figure 1: The relationship of SLCN to other areas of need
(adapted from Don't Get Me Wrong, The Communication Trust, 2011) SLCN and the SEND reforms The SEND reforms are part of The Children and Families Act 2014. They are
a significant set of cultural and systematic changes which are designed to
improve outcomes of children and young people with SEN or Disability
(SEND). Providers are directed to put in place ways of engaging with
children and young people with SEND and their families. The emphasis is on
using person centred approaches, and working with families. Children,
young people and parents should be at the centre of decision making,
including making sure parents are fully informed and involved with how
pupils are progressing. It follows that supporting pupils' SLCN will
enable them to participate meaningfully in the SEND processes. The benefits in pilot local authorities have been found to be:
. Families feel more in control, better informed and more satisfied with
the services they receive;
. Professionals find genuine partnership working with families is very
rewarding and generates better results;
. The reforms are bringing about a culture shift in assessment and
planning, with a growing emphasis on personalisation, multi-agency
working and outcomes-based approaches. High quality teaching, appropriately differentiated for individual pupils,
is the first step in responding to possible special educational needs. For
pupils that need special educational provision the code sets out the
principle of a graduated response. This acknowledges that some children
will benefit from specific support from the school or external experts
(such as an Educational Psychologist or a Speech and Language Therapist).
It is important that staff match their practice to the minimum standards of
Quality First teaching, targeted provision and personalised provision. The
categories of School Action and School Action Plus no longer apply and have
been replaced with a new system called special educational needs (SEN)
support. The new approach is designed to ensure support is focused on
individual need and personal outcomes rather than classifications (Timpson,
2014). See Implementing a new 0 to 25 special needs system: LAs and partners (DfE,
2014) for more information.
Should I use the FACT with this child/young person?
Firstly, a decision will need to be made about whether it is appropriate to
use the FACT with a child or young person with additional needs. The table
below provides guidance for practitioners to help in making this decision.
The principle of creating a communication-supportive environment is
important for all learners, both those with additional needs and those
without. For some groups of children, it will be beneficial to use the FACT
as a teaching resource, without necessarily having to profile their needs
in detail. However, wherever there is any indication of a speech, language
and/or communication difficulty, the FACT process for describing, profiling
and meeting a child's needs should be followed. In view of the relationship
between BESD and SLCN, it is particularly important to use the tool with
children who are presenting with behaviour difficulties. The FACT is
relevant for children with literacy difficulties, as these pupils might
have underlying language difficulties. Whenever a child or young person is
involved in