10 years ago I was delighted to work with Professor Sue Roulstone gathering evidence for the Bercow Review. We engaged with and listened to parents, children and practitioners across England about their experiences of speech and language therapy services. We gathered our findings into this report as a key part of the evidence that informed the Bercow Report.
The Bercow Review found services to be highly variable and often inadequate. The final report highlighted 40 recommendations and the Government accepted all of these. There followed the National Year of Speech Language and Communication led by Jean Gross which provided many exciting opportunities for raising awareness of speech language and communication needs.
However, ten years on we find that although some things have changed we still have far too many children in England starting school with delayed speech and language skills. This has a significant impact on their ability to form friendships, to learn and their emotional wellbeing. And children, their families and those who work with them, often still struggle to access appropriate specialist services and support.
We welcome the launch of Bercow: 10 Years On, by I CAN, in partnership with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. The findings of this independent review of the state of provision for children’s speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) will be published in early 2018.
So if this resonates with you I would encourage you to take this opportunity to contribute to the Bercow Review: 10 Years On. I will be actively engaged where and when I can through our Clickety Early Language and Literacy CIC and raising awareness via social media at every opportunity. I hope you will too. You can also share your experiences, and engage in the evidence gathering, by completing a 10 minute online survey here or by submitting written evidence before the 16th March.
To find out more visit the Bercow: 10 Years On website.
