What is RICE?
Renfrewshire’s Inclusive Communication Environments (RICE) is an approach which is delivered jointly by Renfrewshire Educational Psychology Service and Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. The aim is to develop the capacity of all educational establishments to support and develop the language and communication skills of all children through training to develop knowledge and understanding, and coaching from specialist staff in Education and Speech and Language Therapy to develop skills and practice.
‘Inclusive Communication Status’ will be achieved through a self-evaluation and supportive assessment process. This will provide a multi-agency endorsement of an establishment’s capacity to support the development of all children’s communication skills.
RICE Key Indicators
There are 3 key indicators which form the basis of supportive practice:
- A physical environment that enhances and promotes opportunities for speech, language, and communication for all pupils.
- Adult communication (verbal and non-verbal) that promotes interaction and responds to individual needs.
- The use of supportive learning strategies to develop language and communication skills and promote participation from all learners.
These indicators are all strengthened by an establishment being able to demonstrate ongoing development (e.g., training, further reading) to meet the speech, language and communication needs of all pupils.
To find out more:
How does my establishment get involved?
We have now brought RICE into the RNRA journey for establishments, and they are able to choose to focus on RICE instead of a Nurture Principle. Please speak to your Educational Psychologist for more information.
RICE Whole Establishment Flow Chart (RNRA)
RICE Whole Establishment Flow Chart (non-RNRA)
P1 Support & Development Groups
We are piloting the delivery of support and development groups for Primary 1 staff in each locality (Paisley, Renfrew/Erskine, Johnstone/Linwood/Villages). These groups will be facilitated by staff from Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, and education outreach. They will support staff to consider how to promote a learning environment that enhances opportunities for language and communication development for children with speech, language, and communication difficulties and for the benefit of all children.
Staff can sign up to these groups via CPD Manager until the beginning of September 2022.
