Face to Face Training at WMSLT

We offer a comprehensive range of training sessions delivered face-to-face in your school or to groups of schools. Whether you’re planning a full INSET day, a twilight CPD series, or a bespoke training programme, our experienced Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists can support your team.

All training is tailored to your setting, the staff you want to upskill, and the specific needs of the learners you support. Sessions are grounded in current best practice and can be shaped to complement your graduated response framework—whether you’re building a robust universal level of support, or looking for targeted support around individual pupils with identified needs.

  • Our training is designed for:

    • Mainstream primary and secondary schools

    • Specialist provisions and alternative settings

    • SENCOs, class teachers, LSAs/TAs, pastoral staff and senior leaders

    • Whole-school staff teams or smaller groups

    • Parents and carers through bespoke parent workshops

  • Every school is different. We’ll work with you to understand:

    • Your current SEN provision and approaches

    • What staff feel confident with—and where they want to grow

    • The needs and profiles of your learners

    • The systems and frameworks you already have in place

    We’ll then shape the training content, delivery style and pace to make sure it’s practical, engaging, and relevant to your setting.

  • We believe in the importance of working in partnership with families to support students’ communication, sensory, and emotional development. That’s why we offer a range of accessible, engaging parent workshops designed to empower families and strengthen the home-school link.

    Our workshops help parents and carers to:

    • Better understand their child’s communication, sensory, motor, or emotional needs

    • Learn practical strategies they can use at home

    • Build confidence in supporting their child’s development

    • Know when and how to access additional support

    • Feel more connected to what’s happening in school

    We know that families are an essential part of the picture when supporting pupils with SEND. Our workshops are delivered in plain, jargon-free language, with space for discussion, questions, and reflection. We ensure that the sessions are inclusive, supportive, and relevant to the real-life experiences of the families in your community.

    Where appropriate, we also co-deliver parent workshops alongside our NHS colleagues working within the Balanced System® framework. This joined-up approach ensures consistent messaging between school, home, and local services, and strengthens the wraparound support for our students.

Universal Training

  • Overview of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

    This training will explore how various AAC options can be used to enhance communication in different settings, including school and home, for purposes such as requesting, commenting, and expressing emotions. It will also emphasize selecting AAC systems that align with the individual’s strengths and preferences, promoting autonomy, participation, and empowerment in everyday life.

  • Identifying and Supporting Developmental Language Disorder

    This training is designed to equip school staff with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to identify and effectively support students with DLD in school settings. Participants will learn how to recognise the signs of DLD, including differences with expressive and receptive language skills, vocabulary development, grammar and syntax, narrative skills, and pragmatic language abilities. Explore strategies for accommodations and modifications to support students with DLD in the classroom.

  • Understanding the Link Between SEMH and SLCN

    This training is dedicated to exploring the complex connection between social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) and speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) in children and adolescents. Participants will gain insights into the complex relationship between the two, and understand the challenges faced by individuals with co-occurring difficulties. Discover strategies for creating supportive environments that address the unique needs of individuals, including and communication friendly behaviour management techniques. 

  • Creating a communication friendly environment

    Visual supports play a crucial role in promoting understanding, independence, and communication for individuals with Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) in educational settings. This training emphasises the significance of visual supports and offers practical guidance on creating and implementing them effectively. Explore a variety of visual supports commonly used in educational settings, including visual schedules, visual timetables, choice boards, and graphic organisers.

  • Using Key Words to support understanding of spoken language

    Information Carrying Words (ICWs) are a powerful tool for supporting comprehension and expressive language skills in individuals with SLCN. Learn how to identify and select ICWs within spoken and written language that convey essential meaning and context in communication. Explore how to tailor the selection and use of ICWs to meet the individual needs and abilities of students considering factors such as age, language level, cognitive skills, and communication goals.

  • Supporting Speech, Language and Communication Needs

    Ideal for a wider staff group, this training provides practical strategies for supporting speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) in education settings. Gain a comprehensive understanding of SLCN, including the range of communication difficulties students may experience and the impact of SLCN on academic, social, and emotional development. Explore inclusive practices for supporting students with SLCN in the classroom, including creating communication-friendly environments, integrating language-rich activities, and adapting instruction to meet diverse learning needs. 

  • Maximising Communication Potential: supporting students with Learning Disability

    This training program is designed to equip staff with practical strategies for maximising communication potential in children, teenagers and young adults with learning disabilities. Explore strategies for developing functional communication skills in people with learning difficulties. Participants will learn how to observe communication strengths and needs, implement evidence-based interventions, and promote independence and social inclusion for children and young adults with learning difficulties in their setting. 

  • Approaches to Develop Attention and Listening

    Attention and listening skills play a crucial role in academic success, social interactions, and overall learning and development, particularly in primary school-aged children. This training equips educators and support staff with a diverse range of strategies and techniques to effectively support children, including those with additional SLCN, in developing and enhancing their attention and listening skills. 

  • Supporting Handwriting in the Classroom

    This training provides effective techniques and interventions for supporting handwriting development in the classroom. Gain insight into the stages of handwriting development, including pre-writing skills, letter formation, spacing, sizing, and writing fluency, and the role of handwriting in academic achievement and self-expression. Explore strategies for promoting proper pencil grip and hand positioning, and hand strengthening exercises, to facilitate comfortable and efficient writing. 

  • Supporting Narrative Skills Across a Curriculum

    This workshop is dedicated to exploring innovative strategies for embedding narrative skills development across the curriculum to support students' language and literacy development. Participants will learn how to foster students' oracy skills, comprehension, and expressive writing skills. Explore the use of visual aids, intervention resources, and technology tools to enhance narrative learning activities across the curriculum. 

  • Supporting Sensory Processing Differences

    This training will deepen understanding of sensory processing differences and their impact on individuals. Learn about the sensory system, sensory processing differences, and the impact of sensory sensitivities on individuals' behaviour, attention, regulation, and participation in daily activities. Learn how to identify common sensory triggers and stressors in the environment, and explore a range of sensory supports and accommodations, including visual supports, sensory tools and equipment, sensory diets, and individualised sensory plans, to meet the unique sensory needs of individuals with sensory processing differences. 

  • Understanding and Supporting Selective Mutism

    Learn how to recognise signs and symptoms of selective mutism in school students, including common behaviours and communication patterns, and understand the importance of early identification and intervention. Explore strategies for creating a supportive and inclusive environment for students with selective mutism, including classroom modifications, visual supports, and accommodations to reduce anxiety. 

  • Supporting Children Who Stammer

    This training session provides practical strategies and techniques for supporting students who stammer. Gain insight into the nature, characteristics, and impact of stammering on students' academic, social, and emotional well-being, including common misconceptions and myths surrounding stammering. Explore strategies for creating a supportive and inclusive environment that fosters acceptance, understanding, and empathy for students who stammer, including promoting positive attitudes and reducing stigma. 

  • Supporting Motor Coordination

    Understand the development of gross motor coordination skills in children, and explore the importance of gross motor skills for children's physical health, fitness, and academic readiness, and understand how deficits in gross motor skills can impact children's participation and confidence in physical activities. Learn how to embed gross motor skill-building activities into daily routines, classroom activities, and play experiences to provide children with continuous opportunities for movement, exploration, and skill development.

  • School Readiness

    This supports early childhood educators, parents, and caregivers in preparing children for school and ensuring a smooth transition to formal education settings. Through this comprehensive training, participants will explore key areas essential for school readiness, including social skills, communication, independence, and emotional regulation. Discover ways to promote autonomy and confidence in school, and a positive attitude towards school. 

  • Vocabulary Learning

    This is a training session dedicated to equipping educators with evidence-based strategies for teaching vocabulary in school settings. Participants will explore research-backed techniques for vocabulary instruction and reinforcement, including explicit instruction, meaningful exposure, word learning strategies, and repetitive word learning. Explore techniques for reinforcing vocabulary learning, including interactive games, vocabulary journals, word walls, and digital resources. 

  • Supporting Social Communication

    Understand the importance of social communication skills for school age students' academic success, social confidence, and overall well-being. Explore the areas of neurotypical and neurodivergent social communication styles in students, including perspective-taking, turn-taking, active listening, nonverbal communication, emotional literacy, and problem-solving skills. Explore strategies for creating inclusive and supportive classroom environments that foster a sense of belonging and acceptance for all students.

  • Developing a Total Communication Approach in Specialist Settings

    Total Communication is an inclusive approach that recognises and values the diverse communication abilities and preferences of individuals with complex communication needs. This training program is designed to empower educators and support staff in specialist educational settings to create environments that all forms of communication, including speech, sign language, gestures, symbols, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems, and assistive technology, to support the communication and participation of individuals with complex needs. 

  • Supporting Speech Sound Development

    Training focuses on enhancing understanding of speech sound development and the early identification of speech sound disorders. Participants will explore the typical stages of speech sound development in children and learn how to recognise signs that may indicate a speech sound disorder. Schools have the option to receive training on the WMSLT School Phonology Screening Tool, a practical assessment designed to help identify specific speech sound difficulties. Through this tool, trained school staff can assess which speech sounds a child may be struggling with and determine areas that require further intervention.

  • Supporting Fine Motor Skills

    This workshop is dedicated to equipping educators with effective strategies and engaging activities for supporting the development of fine motor skills in children. Explore the importance of fine motor skills for children's handwriting, self-care tasks, manipulative play, and school readiness, and understand how deficits in fine motor skills can impact children's participation and performance in daily activities. Identify and explore fine motor tools and resources, including adaptive tools and play materials, that can support children's fine motor development.

Targeted Staff Upskilling

  • Building Attention in Early Communicators

    This daily intervention is designed to support Autistic children by developing shared attention, early communication, and vocabulary through a clear and structured routine. It includes activities such as ‘Bucket Time’ and other highly visual, motivating experiences that are interactive, playful, and hands-on. The focus is on capturing and maintaining attention, promoting turn-taking, and building the foundations for learning in a way that’s fun, consistent, and accessible.

  • Brick by Brick (Lego Therapy)

    Training for delivering the Brick by Brick intervention (previously known as Lego Therapy) to support social communication and language development in children and young people with SEN. It encourages different social skills, such as verbal communication, turn-taking, sharing, and problem-solving. It provides a fun and engaging way for children and young people to practice social skills in a supportive and non-threatening environment. 

  • Building Sentences with Visual Supports

    This practical workshop introduces a visual, colour-based approach to developing sentence structure and grammar skills in children with language needs. The strategy supports learners in understanding who is doing what, to whom, where, and when, by linking each part of a sentence to a consistent colour.

    Participants will explore how this approach can be embedded across the curriculum — from storytelling and literacy work to conversation practice and topic-based learning. It's especially effective for children who benefit from structured, visual support to express themselves in fuller, clearer sentences.

  • Connecting Through Interaction

    This session explores an approach designed to support individuals with complex learning profiles in developing early social communication and interaction skills. Grounded in the importance of building meaningful relationships, the approach focuses on recognising and responding to an individual’s unique ways of communicating.

    Participants will learn how to use techniques such as mirroring, imitation, shared attention, and responsive turn-taking to foster connection, engagement, and social reciprocity. The session also looks at how to tune into and build upon spontaneous communication in everyday interactions, creating authentic, trust-based exchanges that meet each learner where they are.

  • Developing Language for Reasoning, Emotions, and Problem Solving

    This practical session explores how to support older children and young people with speech, language and communication needs — particularly those with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.

    We’ll look at the specific language challenges these learners may face, including difficulties with inferencing, emotional vocabulary, prediction, sequencing, and navigating social situations. Through interventions, we can build on communication skills needed to access pastoral interventions, manage relationships, and think critically about situations.

    We’ll explore how to use resources such as ‘Language for Thinking’ and ‘Language for Behaviour and Emotions’, which you may already be using in your setting.

  • SLCN and The Role of a Communication Champion

    This is an engaging and bespoke session designed to explore the crucial role of a communication champion in promoting effective communication and language development within educational settings (both Primary and Secondary settings). Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the responsibilities, skills, and strategies associated with being a communication champion and learn how to effectively advocate for and support communication and language initiatives within their schools. Through interactive discussions, reflective activities, and practical examples, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and tools to become effective advocates for communication and language development in their educational setting.  

  • OT needs and The Role of an Occupational Therapy Champion

    The Occupational Therapy Champion Workshop is an engaging and bespoke session designed to explore the crucial role of an OT champion in promoting inclusivity for daily occupations within educational settings (both Primary and Secondary settings). Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the responsibilities, skills, and strategies associated with being an OT champion and learn how to effectively advocate for and support children with sensory or motor differences, and OT initiatives within their schools. Through interactive discussions, reflective activities, and practical examples, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and tools to become effective advocates for development in their educational setting.  

  • Word Aware 3

    This training is designed to enable teaching and support staff to deliver small-group interventions to build on vocabulary knowledge and independent word-learning abilities, both in primary and secondary schools. Participants will learn about the principles of the overarching Word Aware approach, which emphasises a celebration for vocabulary, and creating a vocabulary-rich environment both at home and in school. Through teaching and practical activities, participants will learn how to deliver the intervention sessions, and measure progress with pre and post data.