Delivering Speech Bubbles In a School That is Closing by Flo Katesmark

This year it has been a privilege to continue to deliver Speech Bubbles in a school, despite it closing due to falling role this summer. It has been a really positive experience as a practitioner and has provided an important role in supporting all the children we have worked with. We ran the program as a small school program, meaning we worked with Reception and Year 1 children in one group, and Year 2 in another group.

We also managed to deliver 2 parents and carers sessions. We started the year with the usual referral process, identifying and supporting those children with communication and language needs. However, as the year progressed and children left to move on to their new schools, we took on children who might not have been referred in a normal year. We had expected it to be a challenging year, but instead found it to be lots of fun and a great learning experience for ourselves and the children.

All children from the school were or will be going off to new schools, often without their friends, often in the middle of the year. They have all come from a small, nurturing school, where they know all the adults well. Many will be joining larger schools. Speech Bubbles plays an important role in giving children a voice, encouraging them to express themselves. Play and cooperative skills are highly valued. Quieter children gain the confidence to communicate more freely, whether through talk or gesture. These are all things children will need in abundance in a new school setting. It will not just be challenging for children to adjust to new classrooms, teachers and work. They will also need to form new friendships, navigate the playground, break and lunchtimes.

Why is Speech Bubbles so supportive?

However good some children’s communication skills are they can always improve.

Over the year, the children’s confidence has grown a huge amount. The repetitive structure meant children quickly became experts and  supported any new children that joined the groups when the original referred children left.

Children who lacked confidence at the beginning of the year became role models when new children joined the groups. As the year progressed and some children moved on to new schools, old faces from Year 2 came back, who had been part of the program last year. These children were excited to be back and had clearly made lots of progress. They were delighted to revisit games, activities, and sing the banana song again. They had remembered so much! Speech Bubbles had clearly been an important part of their school experience. One set of twins had both experienced Speech Bubbles in separate years were now part of the same group. A younger sibling joined a group. The TA reported that children were talking about these shared experiences at home. It felt like nearly all the younger children in the school had a Speech Bubbles experience!

What were the challenges?

The year was not without its challenges. It took a few weeks to pitch the sessions at the right level, particularly for the younger group, which was half made up of Reception age children. But by keeping instructions very simple and keeping sessions slightly shorter we made progress.

The ebb and flow of the groups when some children left and newcomers arrived meant groups were a bit unsettled for a few weeks, but children adjusted surprisingly quickly.  The great working relationship with the school and especially the TA was especially supportive during these times. Her knowledge of the children was invaluable. It felt a bit like being on a boat facing unsettled waters sometimes, as we had to get to know new children quickly and adjust plans to accommodate differing interests and needs.

We didn’t always know when children were leaving, which meant not every child told a story, and we didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone. Some children spoke of missing friends. Speech Bubbles provided a space to express these feelings.

A space to play and have fun

Overall Speech Bubbles provided a space for children to play and have fun at a challenging  time for the school staff, parents and carers and children. The parents and staff who attended the open sessions were playful and had lots of fun, and the children clearly valued this shared time with adults. It was a great memory to give a few children who were leaving in the next week.

Despite the challenges it turned out to be one of the best experiences of delivering Speech Bubbles.