/ NVSS WELCOME PACKAGE
WELCOME BACK TO A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!
We hope you’re returning feeling rested, recharged, and ready for a brand-new school year! Your Northern Voices speech team is excited to work alongside you and your school team again this year.
FORMS
As we prepare to visit your school for our annual fall speech screens, there are a few things we need from the school to help make the screening process as smooth and seamless as possible.
/ CLASS WIDE SPEECH SCREENS: PRE-K/NURSERY - GRADE 2
All Nursery/Pre-K to Grade 2 classrooms will receive class-wide speech screens. Because these screenings are being offered to the entire class, individual parent/guardian consent is not required.
Below is a parent handout for teachers to distribute that lets families know that a Speech Therapist will be visiting the classroom to complete speech screens. This is intended to keep families informed, and parents/guardians are always welcome to connect with our team and/or opt their child out if they do not wish for them to participate.
/ INDIVIDUAL SPEECH SCREENS: GRADE 3 AND ABOVE
We are more than happy to support students of any age who may be experiencing speech or communication difficulties!
However, students in grades 3 and older no longer participate in class-wide speech screens. If there are any students in Grade 3 and above who you would like our SLP to screen, we simply require a signed consent form.
Please note: To help your school organize the required consent forms, your SLP will connect with you regarding any students who were seen in Grade 2 last year and are now moving into Grade 3. This will help ensure that consent is in place so we can follow up and rescreen these students this fall.
CLASS LISTS
To help us complete screens as efficiently as possible, please send your SLP this year's Nursery/Pre-K to Grade 2 class lists before their visit. Alternatively, printed copies can be prepared and available for the SLP when they arrive at the school. Having class lists ready allows our team to get started right away and helps ensure that every student is accounted for. Thank you!
SCHOOL SET UP FOR SCREENS
This year, we would love for our SLPs to have more opportunities to connect with classroom teachers and ensure that teachers are familiar with the supports available to them throughout the year, including the School Portal, monthly newsletter, and Ask the SLP forum.
We recommend setting up a small table and two chairs in the hallway (outside of the classroom being screened). This allows the SLP to move efficiently from class to class, reduces time spent escorting students to and from a separate screening spaces, and makes it easier for classroom teachers and SLPs to briefly connect if questions arise.
If a hallway setup is not possible at your school, no problem! Your SLP will work with your team to find an arrangement that works best!
What Happens After the Screens?
1. REVIEW & REPORT
Once fall screening is complete, our SLPs will review each student’s results and prepare an individualized screening reports to share with families.
2. PLAN & RECOMMEND
Every family will receive information about their child’s communication skills, along with access to helpful resources through the Teach Speech app, whether or not their child qualifies for direct support with the school speech center.
3. BUILD THE CASELOAD
The SLP will then meet with your school speech team to review screening results, discuss recommendations, and develop the 2026–2027 speech caseload. For students participating in the Northern Voices speech therapy program, parent/guardian consent will be required before services begin. Program consent forms will be provided following the screens.
Annual NVSS Conference
Get Ready! Our annual Northern Voices Speech Services conference will take place October 14–16, 2026.
School speech teams will receive a separate Conference Registration Package with all registration details and information required to prepare for the conference.
Post-Conference School Visit
Following the conference, we will schedule a follow-up visit with school's speech team.
This visit helps ensure that everyone feels confident, organized, and ready to get speech programming up and running for the year!
Questions?
WE’RE HERE TO HELP!
If you have questions at any point, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the SLP or send an email to the address below:
Lbrillinger@northern-voices.ca
Always in your corner,
— Northern Voices Speech Services