Information checklist

Communication-friendly classrooms are especially important for groups of children who may need to learn together using different systems. This checklist is for schools and early years settings and provides a starting point for discussion and review.

Do your staff:

• Have a thorough knowledge of child development and the development of interaction, communication and language systems?
• Have programmes of support for all children to develop their interaction and communication?
• Recognise and support the different methods of communication that children use?
• Provide activities that are accessible to children who may use different types of communication?

Do leaders and managers:

• Make the development of children’s communication, speech and language skills a priority?
• Require all staff to access professional development in communication systems, speech and language?
• Have a communication policy which sets out the strategies used by staff to encourage children to interact, communicate and build relationships?

Can you demonstrate that:

• All staff record and analyse observations of children’s interaction and communication development?
• All staff plan activities to ensure they meet the needs of all children whatever their preferred system of communication?
• Visual timetables are used to support each child’s understanding of the sequence of activities?
• All staff work in partnership with parents, specialist support services and voluntary agencies?
• All staff know about Early Support and the Common Assessment Framework?