Preschool Staff Professional Development Program

We offer a staff training course to Early Child Care and Educational Centres working with young children.  This course supports teaching/caregiving staff in developing children’s speech and language skills in the early educational and childcare environment, regardless of whether they have communication difficulties or not.  The course includes both an evening presentation covering the following topics:

• Preverbal Communication Skills,
• Typical Speech and Language Development,
• General Strategies & Practical Tips to Support Children’s Communication Skills in the Preschool Environment

As we believe that the combination of hearing and seeing Speech Pathology in action is a more effective way of helping staff to both identify children who may be presenting with communication difficulties as well as implementing the strategies to support children’s speech and language skills on the ground, we also provide practical demonstrations and coaching for staff in the convenience of the classroom.  The practical coaching day/s include 1:1 training / demonstration to centre staff re:

• Identification of typical Speech and Language development vs. delayed Speech and Language skills
• Identification of when and how to engage children in conversation in structured and free play activities
• Application of language / communication support strategies in ‘real – life’ preschool / child care situations as discussed during the presentation

All staff attending the course are presented with Attendance Certificates on completion of the two days.