Elklan

Speech & Language Support for 5 to 11 year olds

ELKLAN is a well-established, evidence-based course which has been delivered in the UK for over 20 years.

Elklan courses will improve your ability to communicate with your pupils and their ability to communicate with you.

The course is written for those supporting all children with their communication development, but especially those with speech, language and communication needs.  It will equip participants with innovative tools and methods to enhance pupil learning in the classroom and promote quality first teaching.

Participants are taught using engaging and relevant teaching methods which includes practical activities, videos and group discussions.  We are initially offering a three day course ‘ Speech and Language Support for 5-11s’ which will be delivered over time, to allow participants to use some of the strategies in their schools, and reflect on what they have learned. Those who attend the 3-day course have the option of completing a learning log and being assessed for a Level 2 or Level 3 qualification. The course will run in groups of no more than 18 participants to allow for optimum learning experiences.

2025-2026 training,  available centrally at  The Pavillion, Cheltenham 

Dates for our second ELKLAN event,

~ Three-day Course ~

Wednesday 22^nd April

Wednesday 20^th May

Wednesday 24^th June

Cost per person £250     Attendance certificate available

Speech & Language Support for 5-11s

What does this course teach?

1. What is communication? 
   • Identify the processes involved in communication
   • Demonstrate the wide range of communication difficulties
2. Improving listening, attention and independent learning skills
   • Identify non-verbal communication behaviours
   • Explore strategies to support children with poor listening and attention. 
3. Listening, memory and understanding spoken language
   • Explore a simple model of memory
   • Learn about strategies to enable differentiation whilst supporting memory and independent    learning
4. Modifying adults’ speech to help a child understand language 
   • Practise modifying the adult’s language through an understanding of Information Carrying Words. 
5. Understanding beyond simple sentences
   • Discuss supporting verbal reasoning skills, including why & how questions, inferences,    sequencing, predicting
   • Practise modifying the adult’s language accordingly
6. Promoting vocabulary development
   • Identify vocabulary to target
   • Develop a range of strategies to support the learning and retention of new words.  
7. Encouraging expressive language and narrative development
   • Identify the processes involved in expressive language
   • Consider issues pertinent to children learning additional languages
   • Discuss the development of expressive language and story-telling and how to support children acquire these effectively
8. Promoting effective communication and social skills
   • Reflect on the effects that interaction-patterns between adults and children have on    communication
   • Share ideas to encourage children to ‘Speak Out‘ and seek appropriate help
   • Identify skills required for successful social communication and learn strategies to develop these
9. Supporting children with unclear speech and exploring the link between speech, reading and writing
   • Explore the development of speech sounds and clear speech
   • Discuss strategies to support children with unclear speech 
   • Consider the link between speech, reading and writing 
   • Review phonological awareness. 
10. Management of Stammering and other issues raised during the course
    • Share ideas to support children who stammer
    • Present evidence of applying knowledge gained across the course during everyday classroom activities