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[Audio] To answer my research questions, I developed 3 AIMS: FIRSTLY, I wanted to find out what skills children need to acquire before going to school according to SLPs I was Secondly curious to now what school-readiness services SLPs thought fall within their scope of practice. And lastly, I set out to explore how prepared SLPs are for their new role in delivering school-readiness services..

[Audio] The survey results indicated that all the participants attached significant value to language, emergent literacy, and math vocabulary as school-readiness skills. 98% said auditory processing and listening skills are important, and to a somewhat lesser extent, SLPs also included reasoning and problem solving, reciting stories and rhymes, auditory memory, general knowledge and reasoning skills on their list. Just a few selected general knowledge, self-help skills, morals and values and to my surprise and disillusionment, only one said pragmatic and social skills are necessary..

[Audio] To address Aim 1, FG participants were asked how they define SR and what the thought the most NB skills are for children to acquire before entering grade 1. Two themes developed from this question. I'm quoting the words of one participant who said :"I think there are two sets of school-readiness skills, SLP-related school-readiness skills" and "those that are outside of our scope of practice". socio-emotional well-being, maturity, and independence * Physical aspects of development fine- and gross motor skills, vision, and visual perception, sensory- and self-help skill SLP-Related School Readiness Skills * Language Academic vocabulary * Speech production * Emergent Literacy * Auditory Processing and Listening Skills * Social Skills.

[Audio] According to American psychologists Margot Prior and colleagues ( 2011) the most influential factors predicting school readiness: are A child language competencies (which involve listening and talking) And a child's pre-literacy capacities specifically knowledge of sounds at school entry Ellis, in her 2012 study SLPs Perceptions and Practices with regards to emergent literacy and found that SLPs most valued phonological awareness skills ( such as rhyming, blending, sound identification) oral language awareness skills (including print knowledge, book handling skills, grapheme- phoneme correspondence) oral language skills (that involves vocabulary, storytelling ability, auditory comprehension, conceptual development, speech sound production, pragmatics) AS SKILLS that CHILDREN SHOULD MASTER BEFORE ENTERING SCHOOL.

[Audio] To address aim 2, Respondents were asked to rate how important SLP involvement is in assessment, diagnosis, intervention, teacher and parent training. A rating scale of 1- 5 was provided and results indicated that respondants thought SLPs should have a moderate involvement in the assessment (n=39) and diagnosis (n= 33) whereas the majority believed SLPs should be completely involved in intervention (n= 32) and in the training of teachers (n= 39) and parents (n= 45)..

[Audio] To address aim 2, the Focus Group participants were asked who they thought the key role players in school-readiness ought to be and what their respective roles are From this question, three themes developed namely: role of the SLP, the need for a multidisciplinary approach and the importance of collaboration between members and then also the role of the parents "I think we as speechies [SLP]s, we can actively facilitate school-readiness" The group discussed the importance of screening and follow-up assessments once a teacher raised concern, and then providing intervention in language, literacy, listening and social skills. What was most significant about this finding was that the participants envisioned themselves as significant role players amongst teachers who were referenced 20 times, occupational therapists 6 times, physios were mentioned 4 times, audiologists twice, psychologists/ counsellors twice and social workers once. Participant 4 believed teachers play the most vital role in the preparation of the child as they spend the most time with the children. While the depth of each of the professions involved in school-readiness was not part of the interview, it became clear that all the afore-mentioned professionals/ stakeholders have an important role to play in assisting children to be ready for formal learning. But most importantly…. They envisioned themselves as key role players A common view amongst the focus-group participants was that a multi-disciplinary team needs to be involved in delivering school-readiness services. Multidisciplinary role players in preparing ready children, schools and families are not a new idea, but the inclusion of SLPs as stakeholders are novel. Participants in this study indubitably envisioned SLPs as valuable role players. Focus group participants revealed that stakeholders would primarily include, but is not limited to, speech-therapists, occupational therapists ( OTs), physiotherapists ( PTs) , audiologists, psychologist and social workers and teachers. .( Oosthuizen et al., 2016). It must be noted that children with medical conditions have not been a topic of discussion and as a result, medical professionals involved in such cases, have not been included in the multidisciplinary team as proposed by the focus group..

[Audio] In 2013 Wium & Louw described the roles and responsibilities of School-Based as multitiered: level one support on the level of the learner, level two support on the level of the educator, level three professional input on the level of the curriculum and level four, collaboration at strategic level. This study was focussed on the support levels of the learner and educator. It could be of great value to perform a similar study, exploring the perspectives of SLPs on their role in school-readiness on the level three and level four..

[Audio] Specific survey questions were developed to investigate the participating SLP's knowledge and preparedness, confidence and training with regards to school-readiness services. Result from the survey indicated that SLPs highly rated their own ability to identify school-ready children and felt confident in their skills to assist those who are at risk. 85% respondents indicated that they have received some sort of training in the areas speech, language literacy and social skills for preschool learners and 95% would embrace future opportunities for additional training in school-readiness..

[Audio] SLPs in South Africa are, however, not yet active role players in delivering school-readiness services because of the major support gap in the education sector. Kathard et al. explain that SLPs in SA who provide services for children under 6 years of age are mostly employed by the Department of Health. Although SLPs are employed by the education sector, they mostly work in schools catering to learners with special needs. There is a major gap in the support for school-age learners who do not have accompanying medical conditions. Focus group were thus.

[Audio] language was singled out by SLPs as most NB! to school-readiness emergent literacy, perceptual skills, content vocabulary and social skills were also listed as important SLP-related school-readiness skills SLPs indicated on the survey that they highly value the professional contribution they can make in terms of school-readiness assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and teacher- and parent trainingand they feel moderately confident in their knowledge in skills to provide these services but they are still faces many challenges in providing these services..

[Audio] All studies might be limited due to attributes of the sample. Of the 300 surveys that were sent out, 65 were completed and returned. Even though online survey responses tend low and highly unpredictable, ranging between 11% to 79% the response rate of 22% for this survey was within acceptable limits. To further validate the survey's response rate, a focus group was conducted. In total, 5 participants joined in the discussion. The small sample might have limited breadth of data but was compensated for by the richness of information provided by the experts that participated in the focus group..

Implications. Clinical : New prospectice role for SLPs Filling a gap in the literature: New definition of school- rediness according to SLPs Theoretical: in lie with the theoretical framework of the study (Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory) Creating awareness &Promoting Advocacy.

New prospective roles for SLPs Step closer to an official role description.

[Audio] This study explored the perspectives of SLPs on the 1 and 2 (the support on the level of the learner and the educator) future research could focus on level 3, professional input on the level of the curriculum and level 4 where collaboration at strategic level is required. In our multi-lingual South African society, there is a need for a school-readiness assessment tool for SLP's in multiple languages that could be developed by future researchers..

Dilshad, R. M., & Latif, M. I. (2013). Focus Group Interview as a Tool for Qualitative Research : An Analysis . 33 (1), 191–198. Ellis. (2012). Rural Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perceptions and Knowledge of Emergent Literacy Instructional Practices: A Mixed Methods Study [University of Kentucky]. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1547708170?accountid=14548%0Ahttps://julac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/HKU_ALMA/SERVICES_PAGE??url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&genre=dissertations+%26+theses&sid=ProQ:ProQuest+Diss Prior, M., Bavin, E., & Ong, B (2011) Predictors of school readiness in five‐ to six‐year‐old children from an Australian longitudinal community sample , Educational Psychology, 31:1, 3-16, DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2010.541048 Merriam, S., & Tisdell , E. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation , (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass. Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and language. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wium, A.M, & Louw, B. (2013). Revisiting the roles and responsibilities of speech-language therapists in South African schools. The South African Journal of Communication Disorders. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif Vir Kommunikasieafwykings , 60 (December), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.7196/sajcd.247 Wium, A., Louw, B., & Eloff, I. (2010). Speech-language therapists supporting foundation phase teachers with literacy and numeracy in a rural and township context. South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 57 (1), 14. doi: https ://doi.org/10.4102/sajcd.v57i1.45 Huotilainen M, Näätänen R. Auditory Perception and Early Brain Development. In: Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Peters RDeV , eds. Paus T, topic ed. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/brain/according-experts/auditory-perception-and-early-brain-development . Published June 2010. Accessed April 5, 2020..