The Words First Advice Line for schools

At Words First, we have seen the devastating impact on children’s lives if they do not have access to the support they need. We have also noticed and felt the extreme difficulties with recruitment in the field of Speech and Language Therapy. At Words First, we are always looking at ways to support schools to help their children and therefore to plug the gap between recruitment and ‘in school’ SaLT needs, we have set up an innovative and forward-thinking way of support schools.

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  • Is your school struggling to access Speech and Language Therapy services
  • Do your Teaching Assistants feel lost when trying to support the speech and language needs of their pupils
  • Would you or your staff benefit from support, advice, guidance or supervision from a qualified Speech and Language Therapist
  • If yes, the Words First Advice Line is a good option for you.

Our advice line is managed by Ann Mason, a qualified and HCPC registered SaLT. Ann is available for 22.5 hours every week. All you have to do is drop Ann an email and she will get back to you with a Teams link for your first call.

Words First works with 200 schools in and around London and we are very fortunate to be able to provide a weekly / consistent service to these schools. We know that not all schools have access to this support, however. Therefore, our advice line is open to ANY school, anywhere in the UK (or internationally) that requires SaLT advice.

The first call is absolutely free and during this call, Ann will discuss your concerns and goals and together you will determine whether the advice line is fit for purpose. If it is, you will receive a further five 45 minute calls during which you will be able to bring your questions about SaLT to Ann. Ann will listen to your needs and will be able to give advice and guidance within her skills set. She will also sign post you to our resources or to other resources she feels may be beneficial.
Ann will not be seeing or working directly with any children. You can therefore bring theoretical questions (that come from real life situations) to the sessions and Ann will answer them using experience and research-based approaches. Please note that Ann’s experience is in Primary and Early years but she will be able to take questions from Secondary schools and sign post as needed.
The sessions are £40 each (£200 for 5 x 45 minute sessions)
After your 45 minutes, Ann will spend 15 minutes writing up the session and giving recommendations for next steps. You will receive one email after each session detailing these points.

Please email A.mason@wordsfirst.uk

More about Ann

Sessions will be hosted by Words First Speech and Language Therapist Ann Mason (MSc, reg HCPC, RCSLT). In addition to her Masters degree, she holds an Honours degree in Psychology and an International Montessori Diploma.

Prior to practising as a Speech and Language Therapist she taught in pre-schools, mainstream schools and adult education.