Welcome to the MSc Speech and Language Therapy (pre-registration) course. We are delighted that you have decided to study with us. We hope you enjoy your time on the course and the transformative process of becoming a speech and language therapist. As a teaching team we are committed to supporting you throughout your time at university, so please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. I look forward to getting to know you over the next 2 years!

Jane Horan
Course Director

Key dates

Academic Calendar: 12-week Trimesters (long break)

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome and Induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

Welcome and Induction

Please ensure you view and engage with your Welcome Schedule.

Please note that timings given in your Welcome Schedule for occupational health vaccinations are indicative timings only. Please check below for the exact time of your appointment, which will be dependent on your surname (A-Z). 

Visit us in the Health Hub to get your questions answered and have a soft drink and biscuit on us!

In addition to your course welcome activities, you can also join us at our Health Hub, timings below, where we can help you with any questions you may have or direct you to the most appropriate service.

You are now on your own exciting journey, but you are also part of our community where we support each other to grow and flourish at university and beyond. Drop in and stay connected, meet new friends and your peers. Meet and chat to our placements team, academic course administration team and existing students.

Drop in on the 1st floor of the Rowan Williams Court building in RWf39 during any of the times below:

  • Thursday 19 September, 9am to 4pm
  • Friday 20 September, 9am to 4pm

Follow us on our CCCU_Health Instagram account to keep up to date with what is happening for students.

Getting started

Please ensure that you engage with occupational health clearance and DBS processes required by the Admissions Team. Failure to complete this by the time you register on the course may result in you not being able to proceed with your studies. Please also ensure your engage with the Placement Planning Form FoMHSC 2023/2024 (office.com).

It would be helpful if you are familiar with a range of IT (Information Technology) skills as a large part of our learning, teaching and communication with students is via email and Blackboard (our virtual learning environment). Other software used consistently is Microsoft Office365 including Outlook, Word and PowerPoint.

Occupational Health Clearance

As part of starting your studies here at Canterbury Christ Church University, you will need to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment during Welcome Week.

Please note, as a Speech & Language Therapy student you will not be supplied with uniform by the university.

Students need to obtain occupational health clearance to ensure they are fit to practice. You will be prompted via your ‘MyRecord’ to complete a clearance check and directed to an online health questionnaire.

Once you have submitted your questionnaire, you are required to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment appropriate to your placement requirements. We use an external company called OH Works for this. Ahead of your appointment, please gather any vaccination documentation (paper or electronic) from your GP or workplace to take to your occupational health appointment.

View your occupational health appointment location and time.

For enquiries about your occupational health clearance please email cccustudents@ohworks.co.uk or phone 01227 286288.

Placement Badge

On placement you will be required to wear a placement badge, which will have your course title and preferred first name. This placement badge is provided to you free of charge. You will be supplied with your placement badge once you have started your course. Please note, this is not your student ID card. 

You will receive an email from the Uniform Team regarding important tasks that you will need to action prior to your Welcome Week. If you have any questions about your uniform or placement badge, please email health.uniform@canterbury.ac.uk.

Pre-course reading

We would encourage you to review the course structure and module options via your course page before you arrive.

To start your preparation for the programme here are a few suggestions of books which will give you some insight into some of the communication difficulties and theoretical issues you will meet during your training. These are not required reading, but we hope you will find them to be both interesting and thought-provoking. We also welcome any suggestions about books and materials that you might recommend to others.

Novels and Biographies

Bauby, J.D. (1997) The diving bell and the butterfly. Fourth Estate, London

Diamond, J. (1999) C: Because Cowards Get Cancer, Too. Random House Publishing

Draper, S.M. (2016) Out of My Mind. Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Gardner, N. (2007) A Friend like Henry Hodder and Stoughton

Genova, L. (2015) Still Alice. Simon and Schuster

Haddon, M. (2004) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Vintage

Haig, M. (2019) Notes on a Nervous Planet. Canongate Books

Hale, S. (2003) The Man Who Lost His Language Penguin

Healey, E. (2015) Elizabeth is Missing. Penguin

Higashida, N. (2014) The Reason I Jump: one boy’s voice from the silence of autism. Sceptre

Longden, E. (2013) Learning from the Voices in My Head (TED Books Book 39)

Maxwell, G. (2010) Falling and Laughing: The Restoration of Edwyn Collins. Ebury Press

O’Shea, M. (2005) The Brain: a very short introduction OUP

Pinker, S. (1995) The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind Penguin

Rauf O. (2018) The Boy at the Back of the Class. Orion Children’s Books

Rymer,R. (1994) Genie: A Scientific Tragedy Harper Perennial

Sacks, O. (1986) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Picador

Swain, J., Finkelstein, V., French, S. and Oliver, M. (eds) (1993) Disabling barriers – enabling environments Sage

Taylor, J.B. (2009) My Stroke of insight; A brain Scientist’s Personal Journey Hodder

Wyn, N. (2007) Blue Sky July: A True Tale of Love, Light and Impossible Odds’. Seren Publishers

General Skills

Bolton, G. (2014) Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional development. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Crystal, D. (2004) Rediscover grammar, 3rd edition Pearson Longman

Crystal, D. (2004) Making sense of grammar, 3rd edition Pearson Longman

Egan, G. (2007) The Skilled Helper 8th CA: Thomson Higher Education.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyams, N. (2007) An Introduction to Language Eighth Boston, USA: Thomson Higher Education

Goleman, D. (2002) Emotional Intelligence Little, Brown

Nelson- Jones, R. (2015) Basic Counselling Skills: A helper’s manual. London: SAGE Publications Ltd

Wright, J. and Kersner, M. (2009) A career in speech and language therapy Metacom

Films

https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resources/films/

For example:

  • The Peanut Butter Falcon
  • My Left Foot
  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
  • Iris
Websites

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

CourseSupport-health@canterbury.ac.uk