Referrals and Early Advice Sessions

If your child is not yet at school you can register for one of our Early Advice Sessions to talk about your child's speech, language and communication skills or any other concerns you may have, with a Speech and Language Therapist. These are currently held virtually.

**If an Early Help Assessment has been completed for your child and you are awaiting a General Developmental Assessment (GDA) with the Paediatrician or a Multi-Disciplinary Team assessment (MDT) you do not need to book an Early Advice Session. Your child will be on a waiting list to be seen as part of a team and more bespoke support will be offered at your assessment. In the meantime, please see our Early Communication section on our  Speech and Language Therapy Toolkit page for further advice and support. **

To register for a virtual 'Early Advice Session', please complete the following form: Early Advice Session Registration Form. If you need any help filling in your form please email cpm-tr.SLTmailforparents@nhs.net. After completing the form your child will be registered and added onto our waiting list for a video call with a Speech and Language Therapist. You will be contacted once a video call appointment has been arranged for you and your child. The video call will last a maximum of 15 minutes. The Speech and Language Therapist will talk to you about your concerns and discuss next steps for your child. To find out more about how your video call will work please see our Early Advice Session information leaflet.pdf [pdf] 79KB

INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL

Please Note: Referrals will only be accepted from schools. If your child is home-schooled please contact the service for information on how to refer. Special schools are to contact their Link Therapist to discuss referrals. The below process is for first time referrals and re-referrals.

Please see our attached guidance regarding making a Request for Involvement (RfI) to our service:  RfI Guidance for SENCos Sept 22.pdf [pdf] 746KB

Primary Online Request for Involvement form (school SENCo to complete)

Parent/carer consent form for RfI.pdf [pdf] 463KB

ICAN checklist.pdf [pdf] 571KB (Class Teacher to complete)

Screening tools (please note if a child has complex needs and is non-verbal these don't need to be completed):

EYFS & KS1 Language screen pictures.pdf [pdf] 1MB

EYFS & KS1 Language screen form.docx[docx] 4MB

KS2 Language screen pictures.pdf [pdf] 1MB

KS2 Language screen form.docx[docx] 59KB

Speech screen pictures.pdf[pdf] 265KB

Speech sound screen form.docx[docx] 60KB

Stammering screening tool.docx[docx] 63KB

Please email the PDF of the completed Online RfI form, the parent/carer consent form, ICAN checklist and screens to cpm-tr.SLTmailforparents@nhs.net Please attach and clearly label each document separately to the email.

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS/CARERS

If you have concerns about your child’s speech, language or communication please speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) at your child’s school. They will be able to talk through your concerns and may undertake screening assessments to identify specific areas of difficulty for your child. School will then put into place strategies and/or interventions to support your child’s difficulties. Schools can access free training and advice from the service to enable them to do this. If despite these strategies and interventions being in place, sufficient progress isn’t being made and your child’s difficulties are having a significant impact on their communication and/or learning then the SENCo will complete a Request for Involvement (RfI).

How is a Request for Involvement (RfI) made?

Once you have consented to an RfI being made to our service, you will be provided with a consent form to sign and the school SENCo will complete an online RfI form with information about your and school’s concerns. School will also complete relevant screening tools with your child. These forms are then emailed into the service for an experienced Therapist to review. The Therapist may request for further information from you or school to help inform their decision. Once a decision has been made, you and school will be emailed a letter explaining the outcome of the referral which may be as follows:

a) The Therapist may advise that a referral is not required at this time as your child’s communication appears typical from the evidence given.  

b) The Therapist may give some advice to the SENCo or suggest that they be placed in an intervention or group already running in school.  

c) The Therapist may decide that they would like to directly assess your child which will involve a face to face appointment.  

What should I expect at my child’s appointment?  

Your child's appointment will take place in a clinic, health centre or via video call. During the appointment, please be prepared to discuss your current concerns or worries regarding your child’s communication. The Therapist may ask you questions about their development, when the problem started and how it affects them. If you have any other relevant information from other health professionals such as Audiology, Educational Psychology or Paediatricians please feel free to share this with the Therapist.  

Appointments tend to last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on your child and their needs. During the appointment, the Therapist may: 

• Observe your child and have a chat with them. 
• Complete some informal/formal assessments. 
• Discuss your child’s communication with you and inform you of any likely diagnosis or difficulty that they have seen. 
• Discuss next steps with you.

Whilst waiting you may find it helpful to look at our online toolkit with ideas of how you can support your child at home: https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/speech-and-language-therapy-toolkit

INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL

Please Note: Referrals will only be accepted from schools. If your child is home-schooled please contact the service for information on how to refer. Special schools are to contact their Link Therapist to discuss referrals. The below process is for first time referrals and re-referrals.

Please see our attached guidance regarding making a Request for Involvement (RfI) to our service:  Secondary schools RfI Guidance for SENCos Sept 22.pdf [pdf] 583KB

Secondary Online Request for Involvement Form

Parent carer consent form for RfI.docx [docx] 65KB

13+ Secondary consent form for referral - Sept 22.docx [docx] 66KB

Secondary screening checklist.docx [docx] 58KB

Narrative Screening Task- secondary age.docx [docx] 56KB

Stammering screening tool.docx [docx] 63KB

Please email the PDF of the completed Online RfI form, the parent/carer consent form and/or young person consent form (13+), screening checklist and screen (if relevant) to cpm-tr.SLTmailforparents@nhs.net Please attach and clearly label each document separately to the email.

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS/CARERS

If you have concerns about your young person’s speech, language or communication please speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) at their school. They will be able to talk through your concerns and may undertake screening assessments to see if a referral to our team is required. If a referral is felt to be appropriate then school will complete a Request for Involvement (RfI) to the service.

How is a Request for Involvement (RfI) made?

Once you have consented to an RfI being made to our service, you will be provided with a consent form to sign and the school SENCo will complete an online RfI form with information about your and school’s concerns. School will also complete relevant screening tools with your young person. These forms are then emailed into the service for an experienced Therapist to review. The Therapist may request for further information from you or school to help inform their decision. Once a decision has been made, you and school will be emailed a letter explaining the outcome of the referral which may be as follows:

a) The Therapist may advise that a referral is not required at this time as your child’s communication appears typical from the evidence given.  

b) The Therapist may give some advice to the SENCo and suggest strategies that may support the young person them in school.

c) The Therapist may decide that they would like to directly assess your young person which will involve a face to face appointment.

What should I expect at my young person’s appointment?  

Your young person's appointment will tend to take place in school. Appointments tend to last anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on your young person and their needs. The assessment may take place over two visits. During the appointment, the Therapist may: 

• Observe the young person and have a chat with them about what they need easy and difficult in relation to their communication
• Complete some informal/formal assessments with the young person
• Discuss the young person with a member of teaching staff

The Therapist will then write a report with recommended strategies and advice, which will be shared with you and school. If you have any questions once receiving this report, you are welcome to contact the service.

Whilst waiting you may find it helpful to look at our online toolkit with ideas of how you can support your young person at home: https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/speech-and-language-therapy-toolkit

If you have concerns over a child's eating/drinking and are a Health Care Professional please contact us directly to discuss your concerns. If you are a parent, please visit your child’s GP or discuss your concerns with their Health Visitor in the first instance.

If you have concerns about your child’s voice or your child has lost their voice for more than 3 weeks, you should see your GP to request a referral to ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat) at the hospital. The ENT consultant will carry out an examination of the larynx (i.e.voicebox). If they consider it appropriate, they will make a referral to the Children's Speech and Language Therapy team. We are only able to accept referrals once the child has had this ENT examination. 

What should I expect at my child’s appointment?  

Once your child has been seen by ENT and the referral accepted by the community Speech and Language Therapy team, they will be offered an initial assessment appointment with a Speech and Language Therapist. Your child's appointment will take place by telephone or via an 'Attend Anywhere' video appointment. In the future, appointments will take place in your child's school or in a health centre. Please be prepared to discuss you concerns regarding your child’s voice. The Therapist will ask you questions about your child’s voice and the impact the difficulties have on the child or the family. For older children, it can be helpful if they contribute to this discussion.

The appointment tends to last an hour. Another appointment may be arranged to complete the assessment if necessary. During the appointment, the Therapist may:

• Talk about how the voice works.
• Discuss the findings from the ENT appointment.
• Discuss your child's voice difficulties with you.
• Discuss how you and your child can support your child's voice.
• Discuss next steps.