Specific Administration Questions
When is the best time to use WellComm?
Whenever you want to take a snapshot of the pupils in your care (such as on entry to primary school), or when you suspect a child of having underlying speech and/or language problems. You can screen again after 3 months, to measure the impact of the interventions you’ve put in place, and continue to work through the cycle of Assess – Plan – Do – Review.
Can I change the wording if needed to support the children to answer the question?
No, you should stick to the exact wording in the question, otherwise it may change what the child is being assessed on.
Paper: Anything highlighted in bold in the rules is a statement/question that the practitioner must say verbatim.
Digital: Anything in a royal blue speech bubble is a statement/question that the practitioner must say verbatim.
I know the child well as I’m with them every day, can I complete the assessment without the child being present?
For children of 6 – 41 months of age, the assessments include observation questions which can be completed through general observation or discussion with the parent/carer(s). However, from 12 months upwards the assessments require direct screening for some or all questions which must be carried out in a one to one capacity.
In the paper toolkit observation questions are indicated by being presented in colour, in WellComm Digital they are indicated by the eye icon.
How do I select the right section to start screening with WellComm?
Follow the WellComm Age Guide at the front of the Little Book of Scoresheets and Rules to calculate the child's age in years and months and to select the age-appropriate section for the child. In WellComm Digital, the appropriate section is calculated based on the child’s date of birth and presented to the user.
If a child is having significant SLCN difficulties can I start screening at a lower section?
If the child is having significant difficulties, use your judgement to decide which section to use. Please note that if they score Green at the lower section, you will then need to continue to the section above it. It is assumed that children for whom the age-appropriate section is skipped have an outcome of Red for that section.
If you are part of a locality project, please consult your project leader or SaLT team for advice.
If I start screening at the age-appropriate level and it is much too hard for the child, can I skip the rest of the section?
Yes, if the section is well above their ability, you can use your judgement to skip down to a lower section. Please refer to the advice above.