Communication for All hosts a loan library of specialist Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) equipment to support children and young people across Northamptonshire to develop communication skills and have more control over their lives. The resources in the loan library are available for professionals to borrow for a period of 3 months, free of charge. The resources include:

• Buttons and switches
• Communication aids such as single- and multi-message recordable switches
• Paper-based communication aids such as E-Trans and PECS
• Switch adapted toys
• Environmental controls
• Toys and games 
• Mounts 

Our loan library catalogue is available with further information on some of our more popular loans:

Professionals should email their request for equipment to:

Below are a range of how to guides that you may find useful:

The Communication for All team are offering training and support for parents, carers and professionals working with children and young people on our caseload. We will have regular opportunities across the academic year to attend online training via Microsoft Teams. 

Training sessions will take place in November, March and July. Currently, this offer is available for children and young people who use Clicker Communicator and Grid. If you have training needs for Proloquo2Go, Dialogue AAC, Predictable, GoTalk Now or any other software, please email the service at to speak to a member of the team. 

Please see below training guides for both parents and professionals:

Vision Statement

Our vision statement "Inspiring everyone to shine" sums up our commitment to the Fairfields community to create an environment where everyone is valued and supported to reach their full potential. 

Beliefs and Values

At Fairfields we believe that:

Inclusion is at the heart of all we do

• We have inclusive classes where children are grouped according to their age and compatibility. When considering class organisation attention is given to models and practices that are designed to meet the unique SEN needs of our pupils enabling them to be educated in an inclusive setting.
• We support everyone to feel that they have a sense of belonging.
• We ensure children have opportunities to interact with each other throughout the school day enabling them to develop their communication and social skills.

Children learn best when teaching is memorable, purposeful and meaningful

• Our curriculum is delivered through a highly personalised approach enabling pupils to follow their own learning journey.
• We continually develop our skill based curriculum which encourages problem-solving and the ability to reason by generalising skills taught in a range of different learning situations.

All children can achieve

• All children can achieve because we accurately assess their starting point; carefully track their progress and have clarity about their next steps in learning.
• All pupils are provided with effective learning experiences which promotes their progress.
• We ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to experience success in learning and achieve as high a standard as possible.
• We celebrate all successes recognising that for some children small step progress is an enormous achievement.

How children learn is as important as what children learn

• We ensure that all our staff have an underlying understanding of how children learn and apply this to their everyday practice.
• We take account of individual learning styles and motivators.

Children learn when they are happy and secure

• We foster caring and trusting relationships between pupils and staff.
• Through our in depth knowledge and understanding of each child we ensure that we meet their physical, social and emotional needs in order to maximise their potential for academic learning.
• We establish a positive environment in which every pupil is encouraged to respond with socially acceptable behaviour.
• We provide a happy, secure and caring atmosphere where pupils achieve the highest possible standards.

British Values

At Fairfields we recognise the multi-cultural, multi faith and ever changing nature of the UK. We promote British Values through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education offering many broad and balanced opportunities for development throughout the curriculum. British Values are integral with our school values: courage, resilience,  determination, kindness and fairness.

British Values have been identified as five key elements detailed below, together with examples of how this is achieved in everyday practice, linked to different areas of the curriculum:

Democracy:  We encourage pupils to play cooperatively, to share, to turn-take. Pupils are encouraged to work as part of a group to solve problems and to negotiate.

The rule of law: Pupils are encouraged to follow school rules, to develop an awareness of behaviour boundaries and behaviour expectations. Pupils respond well to school routines, structures and a variety of social situations.

Individual liberty:  Pupils are encouraged to express their preferences using their preferred communication mode.They are provided with opportunities to express their likes and dislikes; to develop a sense of “self.”

Mutual respect:  Pupils are encouraged to develop an awareness of others. They are provided with opportunities to work and play alongside others, to listen to others and respect differences.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs: We provide pupils with opportunities to experience cultural customs; encouraging them to respect similarities and differences.