Transition To The School Boards
The Junior Kindergarten Year

Some children require additional support following junior kindergarten. Services can be accessed through the local school boards and the Community Care Access Centre of York Region (CCAC).

It is important, therefore, that careful planning for the senior kindergarten year take place during the junior kindergarten year. The York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program (YRPSLP) must clearly communicate the child's speech and language needs to the receiving school.

• Policy
• Transition Procedure

POLICY

The York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program and the York Catholic District School Board and the York District School Board will establish and maintain communication strategies around the servicing of Junior Kindergarten aged children with speech and language needs.

The timeliness of referrals to the YRPSLP is important in order to maximize the services available to families during the Junior Kindergarten year. Referrals for children in their JK year must be made by December of that school year in order to receive services.

Where appropriate, Junior Kindergarten students may receive classroom consultation by the School Board Speech Language Pathologist and direct treatment from the York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program SLP or CDA. It is, therefore, important that the clinicians from the YRPSLP and the school boards have regular communication.

The York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program may continue to offer service to the child and family over the summer following Junior Kindergarten. Therefore, transition may not be completed until entrance to Senior Kindergarten, early September, when the child is discharged from the York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program .

The Community Care Access Centre does not provide speech and language services to the Junior Kindergarten child, but will accept referrals for future services within this school year for children with moderate and severe speech disorders.

PROCEDURE

1. When the child is assessed, the family signs a release of information to allow a copy of the assessment report to go to the school and the corresponding school board SLP. The report is sent only if the child is currently in school. Reports are not sent to the school boards until the September that the child enters school.

2. During treatment, the YRPSLP SLP or CDA may contact the school board SLPs if there is clinical information that could be used for programming in the classroom. Updates can be provided via voice mail. Voice mails are to include:

   1. YRPSLP SLP’s or CDA’s name

   2. Child’s name

   3. Child’s school/teacher name

   4. Clinical updates

   5. Suggested goals that school board SLP could program for in class (SLP only).

   6. Referral to the CCAC (SLP only)

   In turn, school board SLPs will contact the YRPSLP to inform them of the following:

1. suggestions for new/additional goals

2. discuss the need for a referral to the DACS

3. YRPSLP will not service children in the schools or provide consultation to the classroom teacher/EA.

4. For those students eligible for specialized service in the school, the YRPSLP SLP may be requested to attend a team meeting for planning.

5. With parental consent, a list of names of children entering in to Junior Kindergarten will be sent to each school board. A "Transition to School Report" will also be generated for each child who has a severe speech and language delay/disorder.

6. Upon discharge from YRPSLP, a Transition to School report is produced for all kids that have received services through YRPSLP. At this time, if articulation/phonology, fluency and/or voice are of concern, a referral to CCAC may be made. During the final block with YRPSLP (January/February, April/May, July/August), the family is asked which school the child is anticipated to attend and the name of the school is placed on the CCAC Referral Form (18C). A consent form is signed, allowing YRPSLP to exchange the family’s information with both CCAC and the School Board. The information is released only if the child is currently registered for school.

7. For children who require ongoing speech and language services and do not meet eligibility criteria for CCAC, the York Region Preschool Speech and Language Program will make a request for service only to the School Board. This is done on the Transition To School report.