Speech and language therapy for early years

Please click here to download a leaflet about the Early Years Speech Languange Therapy (SLT) service.

This service is available to preschool children (0 - 5 years), who have problems with their speech, language and communication, or with eating and drinking. All children who live in Kensington and Chelsea or have a GP in the borough can access this service.

The service mostly takes place in clinics, children’s centres, nurseries and nursery classes attached to schools. Support provided includes assessment of needs, group and individual therapy for children, and training and collaborating with parents, carers, and staff involved in the child's care. The focus in early years is on prevention of communication concerns and on early identification and support of needs.

In addition, therapists support early year’s practitioners to ensure that children’s centres and nurseries/schools can also help develop children’s speech, language and communication. This is achieved by training staff, sharing resources such as language enriching activities, and ensuring the child’s environment promotes language and communication.

The SLT team have developed a new telephone advice service for practioners who would like any advice from an early years SLT; such as on interaction strategies, accessing training, creating communication supportive environments, and referrals. Further details, including dates and times when the service is taking place can be found here. 

A specialist feeding service is available to assess and support children who face difficulties with eating and drinking. When a feeding referral is received the Therapist will contact the family within two weeks. Support consists of advice and a programme, which is reviewed regularly. 

Reception year

The service aims to ensure that the transition between the early years and schools service is seamless for children and their families. SLTs work collaboratively with school staff, and provide resources and advice, to ensure that they can help to meet these children’s needs within the school environment. For children who require specialist SLT support, the service provide direct input to support transition into school at reception age.