Early Communication Together Team

Admissions/Referrals

Referrals are provided for children who have completed an initial block of therapy with the Oxleas Early Years Speech and Language Therapy Service. This is the only pathway for referrals. 

What is the purpose of the 6 Week Hub?

For parents:

1. To learn strategies for communicating with their child, with the guidance of professionals.
2. To understand how their child communicates.
3. To build confidence in communicating with their child.
4. To gain access to expert advice and support. 
5. To meet and build relationships with other families

For the child:

1. To communicate what I need or want
2. To build attention and understanding skills
3. To manage transitions between activities with support
4. To develop my play, including others if appropriate

What do the Hubs look like for me and my child?

• The ECT Hub is made up of Speech and Language Therapists and specialist education staff including a specialist teacher. 
• Key workers from the child’s nursery are also invited to attend one session to gain information on how to continue these strategies in nursery.
• Each week the families take part in strategies or interventions tailored to the child's development and needs, as well as some planned activities such as Interactive Music Making and snack time. 

Families are supported to help their child’s skills using key strategies such as:

• Imitating their child’s sound, words and actions
• Following their child’s interests in play
• Interpreting their child’s attempts at communication
• Introducing more fun to their child's play 
• Giving a reason to communicate and waiting for a response
• Using visual timetables and/or objects to support transition
• Any other relevant strategies

What happens when my 6 week hub is finished? 

Once the six-week programme is completed, the ECT team will do an outreach visit once a term to the child's setting to work with the staff to support the child's needs. Please see the ECT Policy below for more information.

ECT Policy and FAQs

ECT Policy    FAQs 

What other support can I access with ECT?

The Early Communication Together Team run weekly Stay and Play sessions (term time only) at Pound Park Nursery School, 1 - 2.30pm.

You do not need to book, you are welcome to drop in.