Speech Pathology Upskilling

The Healthy Ears, Better Hearing, Better Listening (HEBHBL) program supported outreach speech pathologist, Louisa Rostron, and Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD) to provide language development upskilling sessions in Tamworth. Three sessions took place at different preschools, which were selected based on centres with a high proportion of Aboriginal children. Educators from other local centres were also invited to extend the reach of these educational sessions, with a total of 46 teachers participating by the end of May 2018.

During the upskilling sessions the educators were presented with information around what speech pathology is, covering signs in detecting possible speech difficulties in young children, as well as strategies on how best support this age group and their parents.

The sessions evolved into Q&A style open discussions, which Louisa reported as being a very successful format as it provided the educators with a great opportunity to apply the learning tools being presented, troubleshooting alongside their fellow peers.

Louisa experienced high levels of audience engagement throughout the sessions with the educators making positive developments and being very responsive within the timeframe of the sessions.

The educators and preschools involved also provided very positive feedback, expressing that the sessions made them want to be proactive in identifying difficulties and aiding the children’s development. Many left feeling equipped with specific and relevant tools, and increased confidence to better support children with speech and language difficulties.

Louisa is confident that the educators will continue to progress and adapt the teachings to suit the specific needs of their preschools so that the sessions can be utilised again in the future.