The Scarborough Pledge has supported the Headteachers of the coastal schools in Scarborough to address their concerns about poor levels of Speech and Language development for their pupils. This has been made possible through the Language Link intervention training for the school staff and the delivery of an interactive child-friendly system that screens children from reception to Year 6.

The initial screening process identifies each child’s specific needs and supplies a programme to target that need. A tracker monitors the progress of the target pupils/groups. Initially, the project was for a pilot of five schools, but due to the success of this pilot the project has been expanded and more schools have join the scheme.

On completion of the target interventions, children have made accelerated progress. Limited language skills and low levels of communication are the major barriers to learning in areas where there are higher levels of deprivation and low levels of aspiration. The Language Link programme enables whole classes to be assessed an provides a programme to break this barrier.

To find out more information about Language Link and how this may affect your child please contact school.