You will notice over this year that there have been some additions of colourful picture boards around the school. These have been introduced to support all children’s learning and communication across the day with the support of a speech-language therapist. What we know from research is that the use of visual pictures helps to teach children lots of things about communication and frequently leads to better verbal communication. These boards (and other pictures in the environment) will be used to:

• Help support children’s understanding and following of directions: When we point to a picture and say the word children are more likely to be able to understand and follow what we say and gain better understanding of what is being said. Whereas the words we say are fleeting and need to be repeated, a picture stays around for the children to reference again if they need.
• Supports children who are feeling a bit reluctant to express their ideas: for some children they might be more willing to point to a picture which means they are then able to communicate an idea successfully and learn other interaction skills.
• Support the development of early concepts and powerful words that can be used across a range of activities.
• Help support children use more verbal words: research has shown that the introduction of visual aids for communication tends to lead to children using more words verbally.
• Reduce frustration: we all get frustrated and upset when we cannot make ourselves be understood. These visual boards provide another way that children might be able to express themselves and their needs.

These boards have been developed for use across the day and within a range of activities. They are a new system for everyone and are new for the kaiako as well as the tamariki so we are all learning together how to use them.