Units and Resource Bases

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British Association of Teachers of the Deaf

MAGAZINE • November 2011 • ISSN 1336-0799 • www.BATOD.org.uk

Units and resource bases

Reminiscences from Northern Ireland NatSIP’s Outcomes Project Connevans is 50!

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Contents From your editor Units and resource bases This edition of the Magazine Unit provision – an overview 4 focuses on units and A continuum of provision 8 resource bases. As with Starting from scratch 12 teaching assistants there are many different ways Meeting individual needs 14 of describing units and Challenges and changes 16 resource bases and, A good mix 19 as you will read, there are many different ways Wallisdean’s journey 20 in which they work. There are also articles Inclusion at Auriol 22 looking at the historical development of units, In at the deep end 23 setting one up from scratch and changing 8 A change is as good as a holiday... 24 status from mainstream comprehensive to academy. There should be something of interest to everyone. General features Criteria for success 27 As usual the Association Business section of Improving working memory 30 the Magazine contains a page called ‘What From a different perspective 32 went on at NEC’. This gives a hot-off-the-press Carrots and Condoms 33 account of the most recent NEC meeting. Innovation in assistive technology 35 Those of you who would like more detail are encouraged to go to the members’ area of the A fresh start 36 website where you will find the full minutes of Connevans @ 50! 37 those meetings and, something we have Preparing to teach 38 started recently, the papers which were tabled A lifeline for deaf children 40 at the meeting itself. We hope that you will find Sign language for all the family 41 this a useful and interesting part of the website An international gathering 43 to visit. Outcomes benchmarking 45 32 Forthcoming topics January 2012 Hearing aids March Communication Regulars May Conference edition – ICT news 54 Shaping sensory support for Reviews 56 the future This and that 57 September Deaf education around the Abbreviations and acronyms 58 world Calendar – meetings and training 60 54 November Continuing professional development Association business Stronger together 2 BATOD was there representing you… 42

Magazine editor Change of address notification form 44 Writing up your research 48 The Yellow Brick Road 50 I’ll just try it for a week 51 What went on at NEC on 24 September 2011 53 Subscription rates 2011/12 59 Officers of Nations and Regions inside back cover 51

Need to contact BATOD Cover about other matters? Courtesy of Oxfordshire Hearing Support Service, Special Educational Needs Support Services Talk to Executive Officer Paul Simpson email: [email protected] answerphone/fax 0845 6435181 For information on advertising rates see www.BATOD.org.uk sep_batod_2_3.qxp 10/10/11 20:19 Page 12

Association business Stronger together Familiarise yourself with the new Ofsted framework and be prepared when the inspectors come calling, urges Gary Anderson

n my role as SEN consultant I have been making When a school is notified that it is to receive an SENCOs aware of the Ofsted guidance document Ofsted inspection the lead inspector will prepare a Ifor inspectors, SEND in mainstream schools (full Pre-Inspection Briefing (PIB) based on national data guidance can be found on the Ofsted website). This from RAISEonline and other school information. This article is therefore intended to support Teachers of the will include numbers of pupils with SEND and their Deaf both in specialist resource bases and in peripatetic attainment in relation to all pupils. The PIB frames the services in preparing, in partnership with colleagues in hypothesis that the lead inspector explores about the mainstream schools, for Ofsted inspections in the future. school and it is the focus for the two-day visit. If the I believe that with a sharper focus on the value of school has a specialist on-site resource, the inspection specialist support services it is vital that ToDs maintain team should, as far as is possible, include a specialist their own profile and role in supporting schools to secure in this area, or an inspector who has a specialism in the best outcomes for deaf pupils. another aspect of SEN.

This information is based on the current (2009) Ofsted Given that inspections happen on a regular cycle (to framework relating to section 5 inspections but by the be differentiated further in the new regulations by risk time you read this the new Ofsted regulations for assessment and targeted visits) it is therefore vital that, mainstream schools and academies will be finalised and through their regular and ongoing visits, ToDs liaise ready for introduction from January 2012. Following the closely with SENCOs to ensure that data about the 2011 Education Bill, future inspections will report on ‘the attainment, achievement and progress of deaf pupils in quality of education provided in the school’, giving the school is secure. Teachers in charge of resource priority to the: bases need to liaise closely with their headteachers to • achievement of pupils at the school ensure that there is a specialist inspector on the team • quality of teaching in the school where possible. • quality of the leadership in and management of the school During the actual inspection the main focus will be the • behaviour and safety of pupils at the school. quality of teaching and its impact on learning for pupils with SEND, and the pupils’ progress. RAISEonline as However, we know already that the focus on pupils with well as the school’s own assessment information over special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is to the last three years will be used to form a view about become even sharper, as the current Government is as their progress. This will sit alongside the evidence that concerned as the previous administration with closing emerges through lesson observations. Inspectors will the attainment gap between pupils with SEND and their look for the quality and rigour of moderation for pupils peers. working within P levels; the progress being made by pupils based on age and prior attainment, not simply There is a real interest in how schools address this, both based on the pupils’ primary need; the impact of through the provision made and through an evaluation specialist support and additional provision; opportunities of its effectiveness. This is vitally important for deaf for pupils to work independently of adult support and children who are represented across the cognitive how high the expectations are of pupils in lessons. spectrum. ToDs have a key role to play in monitoring Schools will be expected to demonstrate the impact and evaluating pupils’ provision, as it is fundamental to of ‘additional’ provision, not just to explain what is their work as specialist teachers. I therefore want to look provided. at the main features of the Ofsted inspection process and provide a series of suggestions that ToDs may find Ways in which a ToD can support the school helpful as an aide-mémoire. The term ‘Teacher of the • Discuss with the SENCO any deaf pupils for whom Deaf’ in this context includes on-site resource-based, the progression materials have been used in relation visiting and advisory teachers. In settings with resource to age, prior attainment and the setting of ambitious provision, the teacher in charge rather than the SENCO end of Key Stage targets against quartiles of may be responsible for the identified areas. Similarly the expectation. term ‘pupil’ has been used to refer to all deaf children • Discuss with the SENCO moderation opportunities, being educated at school. especially in relation to those pupils working within

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Association business

P scales, and where the school has few pupils needs and/or disabilities are making the same progress working at this level. in acquiring attitudes and skills leading to greater • Work closely with the SENCO to assist in the independence. They will challenge the assumption that baseline recording and monitoring of progress additional support always improves progress. They will against relevant specialist assessments, such as look at whether teaching assistants always work with audiology and receptive and expressive language. the lowest attaining pupils and at what point teachers • Support the SENCO in recording and reviewing and specialist teachers intervene in teaching pupils with the impact and outcomes of any provision that SEND. They will look at the opportunities for pupils with is ‘additional to or different from’ the normal SEND to interact with their peers and the physical differentiated classroom provision, for example environment to enable full access. specific interventions or programmes to support audiology or literacy needs. Ways in which a ToD can support the school • Support the SENCO in effectively recording the • Work closely with the SENCO to ensure adequate progress made by deaf learners against annual monitoring of the quality of in-class support provision review objectives, individual education plans or and the impact and outcomes of that provision. provision management targets. • Discuss with the SENCO the balance of teaching • Review with the SENCO the appropriate deployment assistant and teacher input required to support the and use of additional adult support that also allows for deaf pupil’s needs. the development of independence and opportunities • Provide the school with appropriate guidance to for the deaf learner to work with hearing peers. ensure full access to the curriculum, the environment and information to meet the needs of individual deaf Under the proposed new Ofsted regulations the focus pupils. on behaviour and safety is strengthened further. Inspectors will look at whether pupils with SEND Ofsted inspectors will also challenge access and feel safe in school (particularly from bullying); how participation, with regard given to the Equality Act. observations around the school at break and lunchtime This will include all aspects of school life, including show the way in which pupils treat each other; how well residential visits. Schools should be able to tell all learners are engaged in learning during lessons; inspectors the proportion of pupils with special and if there are any links between behaviour and low educational needs and/or disabilities participating in literacy levels. Inspectors may also conduct short additional activities and should know if this is in line observations in a series of bottom sets and groups with other groups. If there are pupils with disabilities, with a large number of SEND pupils and speak to a how are ‘reasonable adjustments’ made? For example, group of pupils with special educational needs and/or lack of access to transport is not an acceptable reason disabilities about their school experiences. They will for pupils being unable to participate. Inspectors will also look closely at attendance of pupils with SEND also focus on additional intervention/provision and compared to other groups in the school, including links how this is selected, ie based on the pupil’s needs, to progress, support, persistent absence and exclusions. interests and abilities and an evaluation of the intervention on improving outcomes. Ways in which a ToD can support the school • Work closely with the SENCO to ensure that the Ways in which a ToD can support the school individual needs of deaf learners are known and • Provide schools with appropriate guidance and understood by the school. support on policies relating to deaf pupils, for • Support the school with guidance on specific example Single Equality Duty and Accessibility Plans. references to deaf children within policies, such as • Advise schools on decisions relating to access to anti-bullying, child protection, equality and inclusion, individual or small group withdrawal and in-class to promote equality of opportunity and avoid support requirements as well as participation in discrimination. clubs, day and residential trips. • Undertake Learning Walks, including at break and lunchtimes, with the SENCO/others to monitor the I would strongly urge all ToDs in England to become needs and inclusion of deaf pupils. familiar with the new Ofsted framework so that they • Facilitate discussions with deaf pupils to ascertain are able positively to influence the provision and their views on the quality of their school experiences. outcomes for deaf pupils at each stage of their • Discuss the attendance of deaf pupils with the educational journey. It is also vital that as specialist SENCO and intervene in a timely manner where teachers we are seen by mainstream colleagues to this becomes a concern. be adding value to those pupils.

In judging the quality of teaching and the use of assessment to support learning, Ofsted inspectors will want to find out if pupils with special educational

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Units and resource bases Unit provision – an overview Steve Powers takes a look at the historical development of units and resource bases

n 1982 when I moved from my post at a school for special classes in the old schools for the deaf or deaf children in London to a new job in a secondary in newly created schools for the partially deaf, for I‘unit’, the headteacher of the special school said he example at Birkdale in Lancashire and Tewin Water thought units and mainstream schools didn’t work for in Hertfordshire. However, a few local authorities did deaf children. Well, we’ve come a long way since then. establish ‘special classes’ for partially deaf children Now the norm in the UK is for deaf children to be in the in ordinary schools, and the first of these opened in mainstream (including those with profound deafness), London in 1947 and Salford in 1948 (which coincided and I am sure that most educators would argue that with the introduction of hearing aids available through the majority of deaf children are well placed there the NHS). This type of provision grew very slowly so (although they might be critical of such matters as that by 1955 there were still only five special classes, poor acoustics and mainstream teachers lacking deaf and by 1960 only 25. It was only in the mid-1960s that awareness). An Ofsted report in 2003 on pupils with real expansion began. sensory impairment in mainstream schools concluded that the pupils were suitably placed and making The first special classes were only for primary-aged satisfactory or better progress – adding particularly pupils as it was assumed that by the age of 11 the ‘where there was access to a pool of high quality pupils would be able to transfer to full-time education specialist expertise’. A later Ofsted report, this time on in the ordinary secondary school, but this happened in pupils across the range of special educational needs, only half of the cases. The pupils mixed with hearing entitled Does it matter where pupils are taught?, children only in subjects like PE and craft, if at all. Over highlighted the effectiveness of ‘unit’ provision in time these classes for partially deaf children became particular when it found ‘more good and outstanding known as partially deaf units, and from 1962 as provision in resourced mainstream schools than ‘partially hearing units’. elsewhere’. The ‘Handicapped Pupils and Schools Regulations’ in The history 1962 were doubly significant for deaf children; first, they The idea of educating deaf children in specially changed the terminology from ‘partially deaf’ to ‘partially resourced mainstream schools has a long history, hearing’ thereby giving recognition to the importance of although it was slow to get going. The London School residual hearing; and second, they allowed children with Board established a class for deaf children in an severe or profound hearing impairment to be educated elementary school as far back as 1874, and by 1888 in ordinary schools. However, although there was a there were 14 such classes. Other classes were rapid rise in the number of ‘units’ from 43 in 1962 to established for the ‘partially deaf’ in Bristol around over 200 by 1970 (with a corresponding rise in the 1907, and were followed by more in London. However, number of pupils attending), this rise was mainly due these did not prove satisfactory and were disbanded. to improved detection rates of pupils with moderate hearing impairment. It was not until the mid-1970s that there began a significant shift away from special It was only in the mid-1960s that real schools to units for pupils with more severe degrees expansion began of hearing impairment.

A special committee set up in 1938 to report on the Units then were under scrutiny and problems of children ‘suffering from defects in hearing not amounting to total deafness’ suggested a new there were concerns as to whether classification for deaf children: Grade I being children they were working in mainstream schools not needing special help; Grade IIA children in normal schools needing special help; An important contribution to the development of units Grade IIB partially deaf children in special classes or for deaf pupils was a survey of ‘units for partially schools; Grade III deaf children in special schools. hearing children’ conducted by Her Majesty’s These recommendations were implemented after the Inspectors (HMI) and medical officers during the Second World War when the two categories of ‘deaf’ sixties. They defined a unit as: ‘a group of partially and ‘partially deaf’ became statutory, allowing the hearing children which is being educated in any one possibility that ‘partially deaf’ children could be taught school which also has children of normal hearing, in ordinary schools (‘deaf’ children were required by and is under the care of one or more teachers of the law to be taught in special schools). deaf… [it] may consist of one class, several classes or a number of individual pupils distributed among the Despite this, the majority of partially deaf children ordinary classes who return to the special teacher continued to be taught in special schools – either in for tutorial periods.’ (DES, 1967)

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Units and resource bases

In fact, out of the sample of 74 units in the survey, report of a secondary unit; Lynas in 1986 provided 64 ‘functioned as classes’ and in only ten were a useful history of the development of units as pupils dispersed into ordinary forms. well as first-hand reports of the attitudes and perceptions of pupils and teachers in units and The survey was in response to the ‘doubts and other mainstream provision; and Powers in 1990 feelings of disquiet’ about unit provision. Units then provided an overall picture of current practice were under scrutiny and there were concerns as to through an investigation into 121 secondary units whether they were working. Although the survey in England. By this time unit provision was well findings ‘tended to confirm these doubts and to established in the UK and the future of units reveal manifest weaknesses which could have seemed secure for the foreseeable future. been avoided’, they also indicated the essential conditions if units were to be successful. One of Educational placement of deaf pupils their concerns was that units were often dependent Figures on the educational placement of deaf pupils on a single teacher, making them vulnerable are available through the BATOD survey (now the to teacher absence and creating the problem CRIDE survey), and the most recent reliable of professional isolation. However, the report information is from 2000 (since then return rates concluded that: ‘Given the right conditions units had have been very low). Table 1 shows figures for that much to commend them’ especially ‘as a system of year for England for moderately to profoundly deaf educating partially hearing children’; however, one pupils. of the recommendations was that profoundly deaf pupils should not be admitted. Table 1 School placement of children with moderate to profound hearing loss in Reception to Year 13 The difficulties in planning caused classes in England in 2000 by low incidence were again Special schools for deaf children 14% Units/resource bases (RBs) 24% recognised during the 1980s Mainstream schools without RBs; and further education (FE) supported by LEA 49% Another of the report’s recommendations was that Other types of special school 14% the future extension of units should be planned on a regional basis (given the low incidence of childhood deafness). This was the first of several calls for (Figures do not add up to 100 because of rounding regional planning, but it has always been difficult to off. Also the third category includes deaf pupils in implement. A major problem for local authorities in FE who were supported by the LEA. The BATOD providing a range of provision is the low incidence raw data does not allow these to be separated out. of childhood deafness – an even greater problem However, we can probably assume these numbers where there are low and dispersed populations. would have been small. Most in FE in year 2000 The difficulties in planning caused by low incidence would not have been supported by the LEA, but were again recognised during the 1980s when the rather by FE support staff.) Department of Education and Science (DES) called for a national plan for the education of deaf pupils If we exclude pupils in other types of special school and for greater regional co-operation. Unfortunately, the figures for the first three categories in Table 1 no national plan emerged and the co-operation become 16%, 28% and 56% respectively; and if we between neighbouring authorities of the sort look only at pupils with profound hearing loss they recommended by the DES did not occur. become 44%, 42% and 14%.

Some years after the 1967 DES report there were still Cochlear implants have already doubts being expressed about the viability of units. Fisher in 1972 was not convinced of their claimed begun to influence educational advantages and he called for a review of the whole placement system; however, he also suggested that the trend to increase unit provision might be unstoppable. As we have said, these figures are now out of date; it is hoped, however, that the 2011 CRIDE survey There were other reports about units. Hemmings in results will provide robust and useful information 1972 reported on how units in the south of England about the current situation. There are more recent were functioning; Loxham in 1982 reported on figures for Northern Ireland where the Inspectorate mainstream teacher attitudes towards units; Attfield has reported a decline in the numbers of deaf in 1984 described the role of the unit teacher; Moss children in units over the period 1995 to 2005 as in 1987 described the change from ‘locational’ to well as a corresponding reduction in the number ‘functional’ integration in one secondary unit; Cross of units from 20 to 12; also a growing trend to and Prowse in 1988 provided a further case study placement in mainstream classes with support.

Units and resource bases

Whether this same trend has occurred in England develop a positive identity as a deaf person), while is unknown. However, recent technological also learning to live in the hearing world. Despite developments are certainly having an influence. some of the claims we hear, the new technology is Newborn hearing screening leading to earlier fitting not making deaf children into hearing children and of hearing aids and earlier referral for cochlear for the foreseeable future there will continue to be implantation is resulting in improvements in the a need for some form of specialist provision. development of spoken language pre-school, which in turn influence decisions regarding educational Some old concerns are still with placement. Cochlear implants have already begun to influence educational placement. us, for example the dependence on just one ToD Titles of ‘units’ The title of a ‘unit’ would seem to be important Unit provision is clearly very different now from how for two reasons; first, it indicates the purpose of a it was in the 1960s and 1970s, with many more facility and perhaps can influence the nature of the profoundly deaf children and children with additional work carried out there; and second, it influences needs attending units, and more signing programmes how the facility is perceived (by teachers, deaf available. Some old concerns are still with us, for pupils, hearing peers and parents). A study of example the dependence on just one ToD and their 121 secondary ‘units’ in England in the late 1980s professional isolation. Also we have new concerns revealed 26 different names being used! ‘The unit about the future of unit provision in the current for hearing-impaired children’ (54) and ‘the unit context of the academies programme and cuts to for partially hearing children’ (26) were by far the services. How exactly units will change and develop commonest titles. Other titles included ‘the hearing- over the next few years is uncertain. impaired department’ (nine) and ‘the partially hearing unit’ (five). In five cases titles used ‘hearing’ Steve Powers was formerly a senior lecturer in rather than ‘hearing-impaired’ (for example ‘the education at the University of Birmingham. hearing unit’). In four cases there was no mention of hearing in the title – ‘special education resource facility’ (two) and ‘resourced room’ (two).

A quick look through the ‘BATOD Directory of Educational Establishments’ indicates that titles have changed in the last 20 years so that the terms ‘resource base/centre’ and ‘deaf’ are used more and the terms ‘unit’ and ‘hearing-impaired’ are used less. However, it is clear that there is still no one agreed title.

For the foreseeable future there will continue to be a need for some form of specialist provision

Summary This article has attempted to provide a brief look at the development of ‘units’ from their tentative beginnings to their well-established position today as a major part of the educational provision for deaf pupils in the UK. In my early career as a Teacher of the Deaf I often thought that large units offered the best of both worlds – and I still think that unit provision is probably the best option for many deaf pupils (although not all). Decisions about the choice of school for a deaf child are often not easy, and perhaps every decision is some sort of compromise. However, units offer the obvious benefits of allowing deaf pupils to live at home and to be near to their local community. They also provide opportunities to socialise with other deaf children (which can help to

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Units and resource bases A continuum of provision

A network of resource bases provides flexible provision for deaf children in Oxfordshire, as Nicky Ereaut explains

xfordshire has had a countywide Hearing Support Service since 1988. The service was designed Owith considerable input from parents and with Con Powell’s involvement as an external consultant. Many Teachers of the Deaf will remember Con as the course lead for the Oxford Brookes’ Teacher of the Deaf training course, and Oxfordshire was fortunate to have his insight and guidance at that time.

The resource bases were designed to be part of a continuum of provision with an opportunity for deaf children and young people to move into and out of resource-based provision as and when needed. To be able to offer flexibility to meet low incidence need in a largely rural authority, ToDs are expected to work both setting where there is enhanced provision for deaf in and out of the resource bases as required, hence children. An operational brief outlines the responsibilities all ToDs are appointed to a countywide service as of both the Hearing Support Service and the host school specialist advisory teachers. They are based in three for each resource base. This defines the professional area teams (North, Central and South) and historically relationship, responsibilities and expectations of the each area had both a primary and a secondary host school (headteachers and governors) and the resource base. There is also one countywide resource senior officers and managers (Hearing Support Service) base in Oxford from which the post-16 team of ToDs responsible for the resource base. It covers all aspects and communication support workers (CSWs) work in of the partnership, including admissions procedures, an outreach capacity. Over time the number of pupils staff management, budget, resources, curricular and needing a resource base placement has dropped and professional issues, monitoring/reporting arrangements there are currently four active resource bases – two and health and safety. primary and two secondary. All the resource base pupils are on the host school roll and there is a designated Each year the specialist team manager discusses the resource base co-ordinator in each with responsibility projected staffing requirements with the resource base for liaison and planning with the host school as well as co-ordinators to determine the staffing level in each co-ordinating support for each deaf pupil. setting. All the ToDs, including the resource base co-ordinators, have a caseload that includes both Each area team works in an outreach capacity from a resource base and outreach settings. This allows resource base, although the North team has for many for considerable flexibility, with more teaching input years been solely an outreach team. The area resource available when most needed, for example for literacy in base provides a physical space for the ToDs to work primary schools. It also allows ToDs with a particular from as well as a storage place for equipment and subject specialism to support pupils where needed and resources. Each team also has an administrative officer. to ensure that the needs of deaf children are fully met within the daily life of the school. Funding for the resource bases has remained centrally held despite pressures at various times for it to be The ToDs and specialist teaching assistants (TAs) and delegated. This has allowed each area team to adjust CSWs working in the resource bases provide support staffing to reflect what is needed at any one time, in a variety of ways, both in class and for individual without a loss of trained staff when pupil numbers have and small group work. In-class support can include fluctuated. Parents of deaf children feel that there is a mentoring of mainstream staff as well as team teaching choice regarding placement and this has probably led where appropriate. to a greater number of families having the confidence to choose a local mainstream setting for their child. Each of the schools hosting a resource base was selected for its inclusive school environment, and The resource bases have published admission criteria the Hearing Support Service staff work closely with that focus on the need for the child to be placed in a mainstream staff to maintain good relationships.

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Audiological provision, equipment and resources Pupils have access to up-to-date technology that is appropriately managed and maintained. They use a range of audiological equipment, including personal hearing aids, modern radio systems and Soundfield and public address (PA) systems. ToDs work in collaboration with the health authority to ensure that this equipment is working optimally. The resource base rooms are all acoustically modified to meet BB93 regulations and they provide a variety of work spaces for both individual and small group work. The host schools have each had a full acoustic audit carried out and appropriate adaptations have been made, where possible, to provide optimal acoustic learning staff training, students at the secondary resource bases environments as part of the countywide schools access have produced a DVD about their listening needs and programme. Adaptations include the use of sound- the teaching strategies which they find most helpful. absorbent flooring, acoustic wall panels and acoustic ceiling tiles. Soundfield systems are installed in primary Support staff aim to ensure that the curriculum is classrooms and in key subject areas in the secondary accessible to deaf children and young people across schools as well as PA systems in the halls. the full range of subjects and activities and that it is appropriately differentiated to meet individual needs Additional support is provided from the Sensory and support the development of particular abilities. Impairment Team (Social Services), often in relation to Support models are flexible and respond to changing assistive listening devices for independent living. Again, individual need. ToDs work closely with their colleagues, and Sensory Impairment Team staff regularly visit to talk to pupils. In-class support can include checking that instructions and material have been understood; assisting with Deaf children and young people are encouraged to individual, pair and group tasks when required; take responsibility for their equipment. The move notetaking for use in lessons and homework; and towards independence and self-confidence in all differentiating and modifying resources. matters relating to their hearing impairment is both promoted and carefully tracked. Older students are Individual and small group teaching takes place in the also encouraged to support younger pupils with resource base and can include pre-and post-teaching practical issues such as battery changes, changing aspects of the curriculum, further promoting the FM frequencies and replacing earmould tubing. Aims of the resource bases Specialist teaching and support The resource bases aim to help deaf children and Resource base teachers all have a specialist young people to: qualification in deaf education, and TAs and CSWs • have the same educational opportunities and receive specific training and develop specialist skills in challenges as their normally hearing peers working with deaf students. There is staff induction and • develop language and communication skills that an ongoing programme of training and all TAs and enable access to the language of their peers, their CSWs are encouraged to take accredited training. family and their community Support staff have skills and training relevant to the • be positive and ambitious about what they can age group with which they are working. achieve • fulfil their academic and social potential in an Regular in-service training and guidance are given to inclusive mainstream setting mainstream staff so that: • enjoy school and feel fully included • they develop a good understanding of how deafness • be involved in decisions regarding their own can impact on learning education and take increasing responsibility for • their expectations for the deaf pupils are high their own learning • lessons are appropriately differentiated • be independent and self-confident in all matters • the use of facilitative teaching strategies for deaf relating to their deafness students is maximised in class. • move successfully on to a new school, further education, higher education or work Deaf children are regularly involved in the provision of • develop good personal safety skills and training for staff and students. For example, students independent living skills and be prepared for life in have assisted in delivering in-service training on the wider community. Soundfield systems and cochlear implants. To support

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development of language and literacy. Much use is models. There are also clubs available at lunchtimes made of ICT for both teaching and communication. and after school which deaf students have enjoyed attending. The personal, social and health education Assessment and monitoring curriculum and the teaching of personal safety skills Expectations in terms of the achievement of deaf are adapted to meet the needs of deaf children and children and young people are high and there is a young people so that these are fully accessible. strong focus on raising achievement. The Hearing Support Service has an assessment policy which Working in partnership all staff follow. There is joint working with the school Resource base schools have an inclusive ethos and to identify weaknesses and to put appropriate a commitment to improve outcomes for all children. programmes of support in place, with ongoing review. The resource base staff work in close partnership with There are shared recording and tracking systems in the school and parents, together with any agencies place between mainstream staff and resource provision involved with the students, such as audiology, speech staff. In addition to attainment outcomes the Hearing and language therapy and educational psychologists, Support Service ensures that wider outcomes are also to ensure that deaf children and young people receive tracked, including hearing awareness, social inclusion, the support required to meet their needs. access in class and speech discrimination. Parents are fully involved in the planning and reviewing The school monitors academic progress and the of provision. Strong links with home enable parents to expectation is that the progress of deaf children contribute to their child’s learning and may, for example, and young people is at least in line with normally include support with hearing aid management, hearing pupils of similar ability, with the aim that curriculum access, language and communication any attainment gap narrows over time. Small step development and literacy and numeracy skills. assessments and/or P levels are used to monitor progress, particularly where pupils have significant Deaf children are fully involved in target setting, additional needs. Deaf students who are gifted and reviews of their statements and individual education talented are identified and appropriately challenging plan/annual review meetings. They also complete targets are set for them. feedback forms regarding their access in lessons and inclusion and they are encouraged to suggest how Students’ progress and provision are regularly things can be improved. monitored via procedures outlined in the SEN Code of Practice. In addition, specialist assessments are used Achievements where appropriate to set targets for deaf children Students receive a range of qualifications and their and young people, often with a particular focus on destinations when they leave school are tracked. developing language and literacy. Effective transition planning, relevant work experience and an emphasis on developing independence have Social and emotional well-being ensured that all students to date have continued on to Resource base pupils have opportunities to take post-16 courses at school or college, either for A-level on roles of responsibility within the school and to studies or to pursue vocational courses. contribute to decision making. Present pupils have been involved in their school councils and in meetings The Hearing Support Service is careful not to be with the school governors. As members of the school complacent and it places a great deal of importance on community, resource base pupils have opportunities to evaluating the effectiveness of each type of provision, be involved in all school activities, both curricular and including its resource bases. It looks at performance extra-curricular, for example school drama productions measures, including academic attainment data, literacy and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Specific levels, language progress and attendance and risk assessments are in place that carefully evaluate destination statistics, as well as taking account of health and safety risks in relation to all activities and feedback from students, staff, parents and external environments both inside and outside the school. inspection. This all helps to inform future direction; the resource bases have continued to develop and change The pupils are also encouraged to make a positive over time while the principles that underpin their contribution to the wider community, for example operation remain strong. volunteer work in a care home. Social links with normally hearing and other deaf students are facilitated Nicky Ereaut is the Specialist Team Manager, Sensory, as in, for example, deaf-awareness sessions for Physical and Complex Needs, Oxfordshire SEN normally hearing peers. Countywide primary and Support Services. In putting together this article she secondary activity days provide opportunities for links would like to acknowledge the help of Alison Holmans with a wider group of deaf young people within and Kath McDermott, both advanced practitioners with Oxfordshire and for spending time with deaf role the Hearing Support Service.

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Units and resource bases Starting from scratch Setting up a new resource provision for deaf students in Westminster has kept Stevie Mayhook on her toes, as she reveals

hen we hear about changes in provision for deaf youngsters these days, it too often raises W the spectre of a reduction in services, less favourable working conditions or a dilution of specialist support. Westminster’s decision to open a new resource provision for deaf learners in a secondary school was therefore a welcome development and provided a rare and exciting opportunity for me to be involved with the planning and realisation of the project.

In 2008, St Augustine’s CE High School in Westminster obtained Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding for a major refurbishment, including a new resource provision for deaf pupils. Several bodies were involved in the project, and the Ewing Foundation was approached to advise on the development of such a facility. A series of meetings considered the details, including potential benefits to the school and borough and what its creation would entail. Maximum capacity would be 14 students, spring of 2011, the refurbishment was going well and starting with three to four in 2011 and increasing the provision had been created in line with my original annually. suggestions. An opportunity for further Ewing Foundation involvement arose because a ToD had Four sides were to be created around an atrium, so only recently been appointed and couldn’t start until the acoustic properties of the corridors, balconies September, so procuring resources and recruiting staff and stairwells, as well as classrooms, needed careful were behind schedule. I spent a couple of days a consideration. The provision’s designated area was a week in school and phoned and emailed the ToD Tony large, first-floor space, and plans were drawn up to Gillies regularly. This relationship might have been create a suite of five distinct areas. The EAL and SEN tricky if we hadn’t already known each other. teams were neighbours. I felt a mixture of excitement at being able to equip the The plans included appointing a ToD from January facility from scratch (as Goldie Hawn says in Private 2011, allowing him or her time to become familiar with Benjamin, ‘Shopping: the one job I’d trained for all my the school, recruit and train support staff, purchase life!’) and trepidation at doing so on someone else’s equipment and provide deaf awareness training in behalf – I spent ages trying to decide what size preparation for the first cohort of deaf students. By the paperclips Tony liked and whether he would prefer files to be uniformly or randomly coloured! The funding for the start-up came through three different sources, which was confusing, but it was reassuring to know that there was money available for whatever was needed.

As a title for the facility we decided, after much discussion, on ‘Deaf Students’ Provision’ (DSP) to reflect the terminology currently used by organisations in the field. Three students were identified for our first cohort: one already attending St Augustine’s, a Year 9 pupil currently placed out of borough and a Year 6 pupil at a feeder school. The SENCO was an invaluable source of information at this stage.

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As soon as I could access the school’s ICT system, I sent an email to all staff introducing myself and the DSP. I placed orders with NDCS, Forest Books and Amazon to build up a collection of reference materials, novels containing deaf characters, and biographies for use by staff and students.

Jeremy Hine from Connevans visited to discuss equipping the DSP and enhancing access around the school. This allowed us to explore the relative merits of different bits of ‘kit’ before placing a very expensive order. At the time of writing, the new term is dawning. The While the process hasn’t been problem free, we are delay in appointing a ToD has meant that no learning pleased with our progress. My tips for someone in a support assistants have been employed, but we are similar position include the following: treating this as a benefit. Tony will track the three • Be clear about the ethos of the provision, draft students to identify and plan appropriate support and eligibility criteria, job descriptions and communication I will continue to have a part-time administrative role and audiology policies well before they are needed. until desired staffing levels are met. We are taking • Determine how much money is available, its delivery of final stock items, providing deaf awareness source(s) and how to access it. training, promoting the use of the new Soundfield • Visit similar provisions to discuss what works, potential systems and liaising with relevant external agencies. problems and their opinions of your proposals. We also need to prepare information for local Year 6 • Build a realistic timeline and stick to it. pupils who will be potential candidates for enrolment • Use the national and specialist press and websites in 2012. Busy, busy, busy! to advertise vacancies; use every networking opportunity to raise awareness of your new facility. Stevie Mayhook is an education consultant with the • Trust your instincts! Ewing Foundation.

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Units and resource bases Meeting individual needs Fiona Sellar describes life in a unit-based resource centre in Nottingham

y the time this article is numeracy and some foundation subjects in two published our signing choir specialist teaching rooms in the INC. With this facility Bwill be cheering us up with to move children in and out of mainstream, each child catchy Christmas tunes and going has an individual timetable with varying amounts of out to different venues to promote time in mainstream class. Facilitating this flexible deaf awareness in the community. approach to inclusion and communication mode At the end of last term, two pupils requires a high staffing level as pupils are spread left for secondary school and across all phases. We have five full-time teaching one child moved to a unit assistants and three part-time assistants. Teaching resource in the north of the assistants keep records of work done in mainstream, country. Meanwhile, we have two new referrals from have allocated individual education plan times to the special educational needs team in Nottingham pre-teach, go over work or work on individual targets and must respond to the suitability of placing these including speech and language therapy targets. They pupils in our Individual Needs Centre (INC). All pupils carry out audiology checks, liaise with mainstream in the INC have a statement of special educational teachers and differentiate resources and the language needs and suitability of placement is based on the of the classroom to meet the needs of deaf pupils. impact on the peer group, our ability to meet the child’s individual needs and the efficient use of The communication approach resources. The centre is funded by the local authority Where communication differentiation is for one child it and managed in partnership with the governing body is relatively easy to support that child using his or her and school. Firbeck Primary and Nursery School has preferred language. When teaching a group or two a bilingual communication policy as well as deaf children with very different needs it can be more issues and audiology policies, which define practice challenging. In the INC we try to use both English in school. As head of the INC I am part of the senior and BSL discretely, for example in a shared story one management team, which helps embed deaf issues adult will read the story and another will interpret it in within the school ethos. We are a deaf-friendly school BSL. If children can make choices they are asked if as defined by the National Deaf Children’s Society they want input in BSL or spoken English. When we (NDCS) and are working towards meeting all the work with children with complex additional needs we criteria set out in the NDCS quality standards for use language appropriate to their learning needs. We unit-based resources. There are deaf adults working have a resource library that includes DVDs, signed in school and links with the deaf community, which graphics and symbols to support most areas of the help to maintain a sign bilingual approach. schemes of work.

Since I began work at Firbeck we have had an As a resource base in a mainstream school the INC is increasing number of profoundly deaf children with fully integrated in the school improvement plan and is additional needs to their deafness. Our cohort of 14 therefore affected and ‘challenged’ by all aspects of children (approximately 7% of the school) includes whole-school initiatives. Some of the initiatives that seven children with cochlear implants, nine pupils with have presented challenges for the INC include the additional needs and one child who is not deaf but teaching of phonics, age-appropriate target setting has Landau Kleffner syndrome. Every child has a and cross-curricular planning. different language profile and needs an individual approach to meet his or her communication or special Deaf children in mainstream are taught phonics educational need. We use both BSL and English as using a daily programme supported with some visual appropriate. The communication mode is dependent phonics and the actions from Jolly Phonics. Children in on the child’s language preference and his or her the INC use visual phonics adapted from the Longwill cognitive ability/special educational need. Primary School Visual Phonics by Hand. Using daily phonics in the INC has made the children more aware There are two Teachers of the Deaf who support the of where to look, listen and feel for sounds. Profoundly pupils in mainstream classes by planning with the deaf pupils in mainstream are more aware of spelling teachers and teaching assistants. We teach literacy, patterns and options for a particular phoneme. We

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Assessing language/reporting standards Being part of a mainstream school allows the flexibility to develop deaf awareness in mainstream peers and to provide an inclusive positive learning experience. Since 2004 we have been tracking deaf pupils’ attainment using Progress Indicators for Value Added Target Setting (PIVATs). This has enabled us to measure small-step progress for the pupils with additional needs. In the past, it has not been possible to report on pupils working towards level 1 but this year we have entered data in the local authority school information management system which can track PIVAT/P level pupils and includes an average point use both SymWriter and Communicate: In Print from score equivalent. This allows us to report on SEN pupil Widget software with signed graphics from DeafBooks progress using the same criteria that Ofsted uses in to adapt and simplify work. the progression tables for pupils with SEN.

The signing environment We have a high number of pupils with English as a second language and the emphasis on communication and diversity ensures that all pupils are included and feel part of the school ethos. The training budget from the local authority pays for staff, pupils and parents to study for BSL qualifications and we are a registered centre to teach and assess BSL Level 1. The BSL tutor works two days a week to teach pupils, staff and parents. As all staff and pupils are encouraged to sign and have regular deaf-awareness training, the deaf pupils can communicate confidently with staff and pupils in the mainstream and do not rely on support from INC staff to facilitate this. In the last two years For annual reviews we carry out assessments most many hearing and deaf pupils have taken BSL appropriate to the language needs of the deaf child. qualifications and the tutor has received a regional These assessments help to define the child’s award from Signature in recognition of her work. The individual language plan and targets for the year. INC staff have recently reviewed how to support pupils in reading using signed English and have The introduction of progression data for SEN pupils has standardised signs for English which we plan helped us to monitor progress. For some pupils with to share with parents to help with reading at home. significant additional needs there is a fine balance between what we provide and a special school Each classroom with deaf children has a Swift IR placement. We have close links with a school for pupils Soundfield system and both staff and children give with severe learning difficulties and one child has a joint positive feedback on how these support them. There placement. This allows the child to develop BSL in a is regular training from the cochlear implant team and sign bilingual setting and to access specialist resources educational audiologist for new hearing aids issued. with an appropriate approach to the curriculum. Attending a unit-based resource where everyone signs With the increased numbers of pupils with special can make all the difference to a child struggling to educational needs the ToDs work closely with the communicate meaningfully and we have seen pupils school SENCO to liaise with services from the with additional needs make remarkable progress. local authority inclusion support team. We have regular support and training from the autism and Our jobs are never dull and always challenging. We physiotherapy teams. There is an increasing are faced with cut-backs and changes to SEN but amount of work linked to the Common Assessment fundamentally children’s needs do not alter. Working Framework and we are glad of the support of with colleagues in our environment and watching deaf the Headteacher and SENCO to help with these children interact and grow in confidence is always meetings. Firbeck has an in-house counselling rewarding and an immense privilege. service, Place2Be, which supports pupils, staff and parents. This continues to be an invaluable service Fiona Sellar is Head of the Individual Needs Centre and several deaf children have benefited from for Deaf Children at Firbeck Primary and Nursery counselling using an interpreter. School in Nottingham.

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Units and resource bases Challenges and changes Ensuring a flexible range of support is just one of the challenges that staff at Lyndon Hearing-Impaired Centre are happy to take on, as Brenda Riley and Kay Slawson report

hen we were asked to write this article, we W spent a serious amount of time wondering what we should write about. Recent and future legislation? The history of resource base provision? The pros and cons of resource base provision? These and many other ideas sprung to mind, but in the end we decided simply to write about what we do in our resource base and why we do it, including the challenges and changes that have led to current practice.

Lyndon Hearing-Impaired Centre (HIC) is part of Lyndon School Humanities College, a thriving mainstream secondary school with a very mixed catchment area situated in Solihull. The centre is well established and has been • in-class support, including communication as based at the school for more than 30 years. During necessary this time, and particularly more recently, we have • a personalised curriculum: some students are seen many changes and have had to face a range of taught history and/or English in the centre; new challenges that have impacted on, and continue alternative courses are offered and students can to impact on, our practice. study fewer GCSE courses • an additional period in the centre at the end of the Our numbers, staff and students, have fluctuated day for all students over the years but we are a fairly small resource • residential visits base – last year’s cohort of 14 was our largest ever. • a focus on transition and life skills We have three small teaching rooms within the • BSL classes school, which were not purpose-built but have • support from outside agencies such as the speech evolved over time. and language therapist and the EAL team • support for audiological needs (from HIC staff, Our ethos, in brief, is that all our students should be Solihull’s educational audiologist and outside enabled to ‘do their best’ in all areas of school life agencies). and grow into confident, independent young adults. All students who attend the centre must be in HIC staff liaise closely with parents/carers and mainstream lessons for the majority of the school relevant outside agencies as appropriate. week; we are not a special school but we offer students a deaf peer group and more support than The nature of the students we work with has a purely mainstream setting. The support we offer changed over time for a multitude of reasons that to each student depends heavily on their individual you will all be familiar with. Our intake of BSL users needs but includes some or all of the following: has constantly fluctuated; at present, most of our • tutorials students are oral. Currently we have nine students

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with a range of degree of hearing loss; the majority Regardless of additional needs, the students we have additional needs. This has led to an increase work with are, first and foremost, teenagers! All in our provision of alternative courses and groups of students present challenges related to qualifications. We usually find that regardless of their age, and teenagers are clearly no exception. hearing loss and mode of communication, students’ The desire to fit in, to not stand out in any way, levels of reading and written English have the seems to become magnified during these years. greatest impact on the levels of support that we Those of you who work with secondary-age students offer. We have students achieving a B grade in will surely know the ‘embarrass me in this classroom mainstream English and others who are withdrawn and I will never work with you again’ look. Being to follow a more personalised English curriculum, ‘cool’ enough to be allowed to give effective in-class focusing on functional English in real-life situations support can be a real challenge; and then there’s as well as aspects of the Key Stage 4 curriculum, deaf awareness. Most of our students do not want leading to an Entry Level qualification. It is essential us to talk about deafness in front of large groups to ensure that we are able to provide the most of their peers because it draws attention to them. relevant English curriculum for each individual Watching a profoundly deaf student stating that she student and to keep up to date with GCSE courses doesn’t need the DVD subtitles that you’ve asked as well alternative accreditations. staff to use because somebody in the group ‘pulled a face’ can be heartbreaking. We feel our way Keeping abreast of new legislation and the forward with each student on this issue; in fact, good ever-changing curriculum is clearly a challenge negotiating skills are essential, and good training for for all involved in education. In our situation, we anyone considering a future career with the United find ourselves having to get to grips with new Nations! However we manage to approach this with specifications for all the subjects our students take individual students, a key aspect of our job is still to on an increasingly regular basis. This is in order that ensure that mainstream staff have an awareness we can offer high quality provision, including subject- and understanding of each individual student’s specific tutorials, pre-teaching, back-up lessons and needs and preferred way of working, as well as in-class support. This is a real challenge particularly, giving them an overview of good practice when we suspect, in a secondary setting with a small working with deaf students generally. resource base staff. On the plus side, HIC staff are quickly in great demand to provide ‘homework help’ Students start secondary school with very different for family and friends. perceptions of themselves, including their views on

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typically only been back for a week before the inevitable question arises: ‘Where are we going next year?’ In short, we believe strongly in supporting the development of the whole student so that they can become confident, fully rounded young people. Not surprisingly, an ongoing issue is that in spite of the fact that we see many of our students blossom, quantifying our input in this area isn’t easy.

We realise that there are many things that we have barely touched on, and some that we’ve missed altogether, but we have assumed that some aspects of our provision are likely to be self-evident and therefore don’t need expanding on in the context of this article: of course we work closely with mainstream staff, and good audiological management clearly underpins much of what we offer. As for future challenges, we know some and can guess others, but we feel that resource bases still offer excellent flexible provision for some deaf students who may need more support than can be offered in a purely mainstream setting, but for whom a special school is not suitable. We hope that in an being deaf. From the outset, some are very socially era of change they remain a part of the continuum of adept and confident and quickly establish strong provision. friendship groups; others struggle. Unsurprisingly, much of this seems to be down to personality and Brenda Riley and Kay Slawson are ToDs based at life experiences rather than any other factors. For Lyndon Hearing-Impaired Centre in Solihull. those who struggle to be themselves and accept who they are, we offer opportunities to move forward and begin to develop this confidence. Our time in the centre is vital for working with students, building on their strengths and trying to provide activities to help them to address their weaknesses.

Targets are definitely unavoidable, arguably necessary and occasionally unrealistic. Some of our group spend their school careers struggling to meet targets that are aimed at students without the wide range of needs that they themselves experience. We encourage all our students to aim high, but never getting to the top of the hill is demoralising for the most resilient, and many of our students do not have this strength, or the ability to achieve to their full potential without a lot of support. Negotiating shorter term, realistic targets, recognising all achievements and encouraging our students to do the same can be serious challenges when they perceive A*–C to be the ‘holy grail’ of secondary education. As well as constant discussion and positive reinforcement, we run an additional period at the end of every day from Monday to Thursday. This gives us the chance to offer extra support with homework and coursework, and to hold sessions where students can explore and discuss issues specific to themselves, and friends with similar concerns, in the safety of the HIC. We also organise an annual residential holiday, often focusing on team building, challenges and life skills. We know this is popular because we’ve

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Units and resource bases A good mix Two 15-year-old deaf students, Deanna Numan and Sadia Ghaffar, paint a vivid picture of life at King’s Academy in Middlesbrough

‘Houses’ in school: Romans (red), Medes (blue), Greeks (green) and Hebrews (yellow). We ask all the hearing students to get involved to do a signing competition and the winner gets points in the House Cup competition. All the Heads of Houses, Principal and Vice Principals must also get involved. It is fun! We do Deaf Awareness Week every year so that the hearing people are aware of what it’s like to be deaf. Mrs Ward teaches all the Year 7 students deaf awareness and some basic signs. Every year we also go to a tennis competition for the deaf at Tennis World, where we meet lots of deaf pupils from other schools.

Sadia Ghaffar is from Middlesbrough and travels to We have a good social time in school. Every half term school by bus every day. Deanna Numan lives in at least, Mrs Broome has a deaf assembly for all the Stockton and travels to King’s Academy by taxi deaf students. We get a chance to talk about just the deaf school things and it helps us to be a bit more e go to King’s Academy because we are deaf confident. Deaf Club is another good thing we do and there is a lot of support there for the deaf every two weeks. In addition to the other activities Wand students who have other disabilities. It is we can do in school, we do lots of different sports, also good for us to mix with hearing people. There games, parties and school trips. are 25 deaf students in our school. There are four Teachers of the Deaf and ten support staff. Being in a mixed school means that all the deaf students have the opportunity to meet different Mrs Broome is Head of the Deaf/Hearing-Impaired hearing people, like the receptionists, the library Department. Every Monday, we go to tell her if we staff and other form tutors. These people get used need the hospital to check our hearing moulds or if we to hearing our voices and we hear theirs and we have a problem with our hearing aids. All problems are practise communication with the hearing every day, sorted out when the hospital comes into school. We which helps to prepare us for the future. We also do also have a weekly meeting with one of the Teachers Work Experience Week. This is good. This year we of the Deaf to check that our hearing aids, cochlear went for two weeks. Deanna went to a nursery near implants and radio aids are working properly. her home and learnt lots of things with the little children, such as how to communicate with them and All of our lessons, apart from science, are integrated the staff. Sadia was in a primary school. This was with hearing students and we use sign support. In really great for us because it helped us to think about science we work with a Teacher of the Deaf called what we might want to do with our lives when we Mr Jackson and there are no other students in this leave school and go to work. lesson. In school, lots of teachers and students learn sign language and go to sign language lessons. Mrs Once a week we have a live English lesson with Ward, who is deaf herself, is the sign language Mrs Gray, the Teacher of the Deaf, and Michelle, teacher. This is really good because lots of teachers the visiting speech therapist. This helps us to and students can communicate with us and other deaf communicate with hearing students, teachers and students in the school. Also, they do exams in BSL parents. We also practise lip-reading and listening and lots have BSL Level 1 and Level 2 certificates. skills, using the right verbs and talking to hearing Most students and teachers are deaf aware. After adults. This is a good lesson to help us in the future school the deaf students can attend regular activities and it is important because it helps us with any or they can go to Deaf Club or Deaf Book Club. communication problems.

In school we have lots of activities that involve all We have enjoyed our time at King’s Academy and it students. We can also arrange trips for deaf students has helped us to be ready for life after school. only. We have to help to raise money by doing cake sales and car washing for the teachers. One activity Deanna Numan and Sadia Ghaffar are Year 11 we do is Deaf Awareness Week. We have different students at King’s Academy in Middlesbrough.

Units and resource bases Wallisdean’s journey Looking back over the last 13 years, Penny Earl charts the move from an oral/aural unit to a mixed-mode type of resourced provision

hen I arrived at Wallisdean School’s Resource Towards the end of 2005, a consultation paper was Provision for Deaf Children in January 1998 published by Hampshire Local Authority addressing W we had 12 pupils who were all learning the provision for deaf children within the county. through the Natural Aural Approach. The philosophy Its main proposal was to amalgamate resource towards manual forms of communication stopped provisions so that there would be an even spread of short of us sitting on our hands – though I clearly provisions across the county, each of which would remember taking a group of children to the Deaf meet the communication needs of all deaf children World Exhibition and seeing the looks of complete under the same roof. bewilderment on their faces as they experienced sign language for the first time. The rationale behind the proposal was presented on pedagogical and practical grounds. Although We admitted, at this time, children who had a controversial, the proposal was eventually implemented significant hearing loss but no additional learning and in January 2009 our first pupil with BSL as his first difficulties. We placed great emphasis on the language arrived. development of listening skills and the provision and maintenance of the best amplification and acoustic During the years of consultation we had anticipated conditions that were available. We valued inclusion the eventual outcome. Our exclusively Natural Aural and ensured that our pupils always saw their class Approach had been relaxed to include the admission teacher as their teacher and not us. of a little girl into the infant school who had very little language – either verbal or manual. We had employed The pupils who had unit places spent most of their a communication support assistant to help with the week within mainstream classrooms, but came out inclusion of this child (CSAs and LSAs at our school of class for speech and language therapy (once a have exactly the same role profile, the only difference week), individual or group work with a Teacher of being that CSAs must have BSL to at least Level 2). the Deaf (about three hours a week) and a ‘reverse This CSA helped us with the launch of the concept of integration’ circle time (one hour a week). They were sign language, which included lots of signed graphics supported in class by learning support assistants around the school, in-service training for the staff and (LSAs) for language-rich subjects. basic signing for all the children (deaf and hearing). We had worried about how difficult it would be to During these years of aural/oral provision we embed the use of signing in school, but in fact it was encountered a few pupils for whom spoken English easy. The children loved it and absorbed it quickly (we was not sufficient and who needed access to a weren’t always sure where from). Adult confidence manual form of communication. For them we used the was lower but buoyed up by the enthusiasm of the annual review process to secure a transfer to a unit children. that offered sign language. This was a long process and, in all cases, it was more than a year from the We were successful in allaying the concerns of one time the issue was identified to the time they started parent who had chosen an aural route for her child. in their new provision – a long time in the life of a When she realised that signing was not suppressing young child. the spoken language skills of her child and was actually quite useful – suddenly she could take her To the best of my knowledge, the outcomes for those hearing aids out and go swimming in Spain without pupils who stayed with us throughout Key Stages 1 losing her ability to communicate – the issue was and 2 and have now left school are as follows: resolved.

% continuing to % who reached % who did not % not known We were able, also, to introduce sign further education degree level continue to language to a Year 2 child for whom further education speech simply had not ‘happened’. 50% 33% 17% 33% Although it took as long as before to 6/12 children 4/12 children 2/12 children 4/12 children obtain an amendment to this child’s statement, the greater flexibility in our

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my role. This has been another positive step. Our building and our extensive collection of resources are now utilised by children across the school. The barriers to learning for a whole range of special educational needs, including deafness, are often very similar, so broadening the boundaries of everyone’s remit enables us to meet the needs of more children. Seeing everything in a more global sense has also made it easier to look at needs rather than labels.

The deaf children are still withdrawn for speech and language work, emotional literacy, circle times and deaf studies, but their individual support is more approach and signing expertise already within our closely linked to their progress and attainments. For staff meant that we could start signing provision as one child, a weekly tutorial with a Teacher of the Deaf soon as it had been agreed with the parents. This is enough to iron out any problems from the week was a great improvement on the previous system. before. For another, daily precision teaching is a As her access to the curriculum increased, so did her necessity. We withdraw children from class as little confidence. Her communication, including speech, as possible. began to develop. Predictions for the possible outcomes of the children We used Signed Supported English with this child, so we have worked with since moving to a mixed-mode continued to use spoken language and put emphasis style of provision look like this: on developing listening skills as we had always done. She received an upgrade to her original hearing aids % who could % who could % who probably from the hospital and her first words (spoken in clear continue to reach degree will not continue to English) when she switched them on were: ‘I can further education level further education hear!’ When we carried out language assessments 90% 50% 10% in Year 4, this pupil was virtually age-appropriate in 9/10 children 5/10 children 1/10 children her language skills. At her request (and that of her parents) she transferred to a mainstream junior Out of these ten children, one has BSL as a first school nearer to her home – with signing as a language, four use a mixture of spoken language and recommendation, but not a necessity. She is currently sign and five use predominantly spoken language. happy and coping well. I don’t believe this would have Seven wear hearing aids and three have cochlear been possible if the delay in her language had implants (including the BSL user). Three have remained as it was before the introduction of sign additional needs. These are, of course, only language. predictions but if realised will, it is hoped, prove testament to the huge improvement to our provision Our headteacher at this time of transition from aural that we all feel the introduction of signing has brought. to a mixed-mode type of provision was a huge advocate of inclusion. One of his biggest fears was We still prioritise the development of listening skills, of that we would end up with a ‘signing camp’ and an English as a first or second language, and of optimum ‘aural camp’. This has not happened; partly, I think, acoustic conditions and amplification regardless of because in joining together, the staff from two very communication choice. But our provision in 2011 is different types of provision were able to see value and more balanced. It allows the children to make real learn from the experiences of each other (the closure choices about their communication. It enables them of the local signing provision meant redundancies for all to see the wide spectrum of experiences that some staff, three of whom took up posts with us). We deafness can bring. It sits well within an ethos that have been careful not to create ‘preciousists’ (to coin embraces different learning styles – signing is a new word). All the staff attached to our resource brilliantly kinaesthetic, and not just for deaf children, provision are now CSAs. They all work with both aural and, maybe not least, the children love signing. The and signing children and with both deaf and hearing overwhelmingly positive comments made by Ofsted children. The core responsibility of all is to support the (during the last full week of the summer term), have learning of the children. Signing and/or English are confirmed my own feelings that the place we are at the tools used in achieving this goal – not an end in now is a good one! I would not turn back. themselves. Penny Earl is the SENCO and Teacher of the Deaf September 2010 brought more changes: a new in Charge of Resource Provision at Wallisdean headteacher and the addition of the title of SENCO to Resource Provision for Deaf Children.

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Units and resource bases Inclusion at Auriol Meryl Hunt features a day in the life of hearing-impaired pupils at Auriol Junior School

uriol Junior School in Surrey is a mainstream school with three-form entry and a hearing- A impaired resource base. There are about 380 children on roll. The resource base is funded for 12 planned places; however, we currently have 14 hearing- impaired (HI) pupils, with hearing losses ranging from severe to profound. These pupils come from all areas – Sutton (one), Croydon (three), Merton (one), Richmond (one) and Surrey (eight). There are four hearing aid users and ten cochlear implant wearers, of whom five have had sequential implants. Two pupils have multi- sensory impairments and have assigned interveners, modifying and adapting materials and resources, and supporting in class. There are two full-time Teachers and constructive ideas for improvements. By the third of the Deaf – I am the Teacher in Charge and Ellie week they are ready to put pen to paper and use super Hawksley is a recently qualified ToD. We are supported vocabulary! by a team of SEN learning support assistants (LSAs) who have attended HI support courses; most of them We are very lucky to have a team of speech and have also completed the HI online training. language therapists based at our school, and all HI pupils receive support in one-to-one and/or small group School opens from 7.30am for our HI pupils, with most sessions. These sessions usually focus on the individual arriving between 7.45 and 8.15. We have a team of needs of the child linked to the topics for the term. three adults checking the radio aid equipment and this is also a time for socialising before school. Books, In order for our HI pupils to participate fully in class games and activities on the interactive whiteboard discussions they are timetabled for pre- and post- (IWB) are set up in order to generate social tutoring of specific vocabulary and new concepts. communication, sharing and turn-taking during this These sessions are carried out by the ToDs or LSAs ‘quiet’ period of the day. This is also the time for some and the focus is to introduce the new vocabulary in pupils to sit and eat breakfast. At 8.30 they go to their context rather than just as a list of words. The feedback classes, along with the rest of the school, and are from the class teachers has been positive, stating that registered. We are an inclusive school. the HI pupils actively take part and use the topic vocabulary appropriately. Every classroom, the ICT suite and the hall have Soundfield systems installed – staff chose to wear the Our HI pupils are fully included in all aspects of school pendant or ‘madonna’ mic. There are also handheld life. They have speaking parts in assemblies and school mics for class discussions and sharing of work. plays (we have even been televised by the BBC doing an assembly on how our brains work!). Literacy and numeracy are set and our HI pupils are placed according to their ability. The Teachers of the Our team focuses on the whole child and we believe Deaf and the SENCO teach the lowest sets, with it is just as important to be able to initiate and hold a reversed integration. In numeracy there are five HI conversation as it is to be able to do long multiplication. pupils and in literacy there are two HI pupils working in This is evident at annual reviews. The children the higher sets with support. We have been trialling the are invited at the start of the meeting to present a ‘Pie Corbett’ method in literacy (after I attended an PowerPoint they have created and answer questions inspiring conference). This encourages children to from the professionals – ‘the voice of the child’ is a very verbalise their ideas over a period of time, practising important factor in our annual reviews. It is with great with a partner, then as a table group before speaking to pride that we are able to watch as our HI pupils mature the whole class. Their prompt is a map with picture cues and develop both socially and academically. and repetition of appropriate phrases for the genre. We also use our video cameras, playing the footage back Meryl Hunt is a ToD and Teacher in Charge at Auriol instantly on the IWB so that the children can offer praise Junior School in Surrey.

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Units and resource bases In at the deep end It was sink or swim for Brenda Livingston when she first started working with deaf children in Northern Ireland. Nearly six years later she is still keeping her head above water

n 2006 I went into a secondary school hearing- Ireland (one in the Belfast Education and Library impairment unit (HIU) to do a week’s substitute Board and one in the North Eastern area) most of the Icover knowing nothing about teaching deaf children. children are from outside the catchment area and Before I knew it I had a permanent job and was come to the school knowing no other pupils. They signed up to do a BPhil in Birmingham – splash! always begin by making friends with other children in Completing that I was put in charge of the HIU – the unit and then, as their confidence grows, with their splash again – and halfway through that year, just hearing peers in mainstream. Meanwhile the unit when I felt I was on dry land, we had an ETI provides a secure base when they need help or inspection – gasp! Having come through that with my assistance. At the same time we always encourage head above water, I was looking forward to my first them to become as independent as possible. On summer break in years without thinking about school one recent occasion I was secretly delighted when a or studying when Paul Simpson, Editor of BATOD pupil was found to be playing truant (‘mitching’) as it Magazine, emailed and asked me to write this article – showed she had made friends in mainstream school splash again! and was doing normal things!

Readers may think that as Northern Ireland still has Past pupils frequently call into the a selective system (ie 11+), that this may have an impact on the intake of our HIUs, but this is not the unit to let us know how they are case. As in the rest of the UK, the vast majority of getting on deaf children choose to attend mainstream schools and are not necessarily statemented. The pupils who The whole school is encouraged to become fully need more one-to-one teaching and assistance than inclusive and adopt a positive attitude to deafness. others who choose to go to mainstream schools can Most of the mainstream pupils may never have come opt to attend a unit where they can access learning across anyone with a hearing aid, let alone a cochlear alongside their hearing peers with the support of the implant. Deaf awareness sessions are provided ToD and other specialist staff. in the unit for all new Year 8 pupils so that their understanding is enhanced and the hearing-impaired The children who come to the unit, either from feeder pupils are helped to feel less isolated. Regular primary units or mainstream primary schools, are all in-service training is also provided to staff on noise statemented and are therefore exempt from the ‘11+’. management in the classrooms, on achieving the In spite of this, many of our pupils over the years have best possible acoustic learning environment and on gone on from the secondary unit to further and even the specific needs of individual pupils. higher education. However, the children who do not continue with education after the age of 16 need an In spite of the proposed cuts in careers services we education to fit them for adulthood and prepare them continue to access excellent support from outside for the complexities of modern life. We see this very agencies such as the Cedar Foundation, which often as our principal role. provides help for individual children, exploring possible career paths, providing job placements and Coming to secondary school, even with the security employment opportunities and mentoring the young of a unit, is a daunting jump for both the children and people after they leave school. Past pupils frequently their ‘new’ ToD. We take a deep breath and begin call into the unit to let us know how they are getting the long haul of equipping these children with the on. resilience they will need to survive the next five years of compulsory education. The National Curriculum in It is early days but I do not regret training as a ToD. all its manifestations has to be coped with by both Having the academic knowledge enables me to be a staff and pupils, but in the end the vital role of the better teacher of these children and the water wings of HIU is to enable the children to acquire the social advice from my qualified colleague five years ago to skills and resilience needed to develop their ‘just focus on the language’ at last make sense as I self-esteem and confidence within the hearing continue to practise for my Olympic dive. community. Brenda Livingston is a ToD with the Belfast Education As there are now only two secondary units in Northern and Library Board Secondary Unit.

Units and resource bases A change is as good as a holiday...

Heather Latter ponders the processes involved in changing from a resource base in a local authority mainstream secondary school to an academy

hey say a change is as good as a holiday but There have been many changes over the past two ‘they’ have obviously not been working at the years. One positive change was the wave of funding T same school as I have and been expected to which descended on the school when it became an continue to offer a stable, stimulating, enjoyable academy. Although only a small percentage of this learning environment while undergoing major funding benefited the deaf students, it created an upheaval. To get an idea of the changes that have atmosphere of excitement and anticipation among taken place at school, moving from a resource base the staff and students. Another important change in a local authority maintained school to an academy, was the culture of respect that became evident. I will provide three snapshots along the way. Students and staff shared the canteen, with staff being offered a free two-course lunch when sitting In October 2004 Ashford Christ Church High School down and eating with the students. This simple (ACC) had a Department for Deaf Students, which strategy provided opportunities for staff and consisted of four ‘acoustically treated’ rooms on the students to meet on common ground in an informal top floor of the building. There were the equivalent environment. Radio contact with senior leadership of two Teachers of the Deaf and five teaching and a reduced police presence in school helped to assistants (TA). The deaf students had all their build an atmosphere of trust. English, maths and science lessons in the Department for Deaf Students. Trips were organised She was instrumental in vocalising specifically for the deaf students, and visitors were invited to school to see the department and the deaf student concerns students. The new Principal appointed a profoundly deaf During 2008, in an attempt to raise standards, ACC student as deputy head girl. This raised the profile underwent some changes, including a new logo and of the deaf students and opened avenues for uniform. The deaf students were moved downstairs, training and deaf awareness among staff and lost their dedicated space and the majority of their students. She was instrumental in vocalising student staff, ending up with one ToD and two TAs, although concerns, leading to much-needed improvements. there was a similar number of students as there Her tenure enhanced the status of the deaf was in 2004. The deaf students had all their lessons community within the school, facilitating some in the mainstream classroom and withdrawal was much-needed improvements such as better kept to a minimum. Surprisingly, this did not work accommodation and more respect for the needs out very well and the deaf students’ education of the deaf students. suffered. During the ACC phase I had regular contact with As results continued to fall, in September 2010 the Chair of Governors and parent governors in an ACC became The John Wallis Church of England attempt to improve the access to education for the Academy. There was a complete change of senior deaf students. The governors were able to view leadership, leading to changes in priority and vision. the policies in a detached, impartial fashion and By September 2011 when the dust had settled, the although they agreed that changes needed Department for Deaf Students had been re-instated, to be made, this was a slow process as the termed Hearing-Impaired Provision, with one ToD correct procedures had to be followed in line and three TAs. The number of deaf students had with government legislation. Before any real gradually dropped as students left at the end of improvements occurred for the deaf students, Year 11 and very few students were being admitted the school became an academy. in Year 7. This meant that in September 2011 the support for the deaf students was commensurate Since becoming an academy, I have had no need with the recommendations for support of deaf to contact the governing body (mainly due to the students by BATOD. influence of the deputy head girl). I am concerned

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that if changes were needed for the deaf students, domain of the Principal and private investors, it I would not have the governing body to assist me. cannot be ringfenced by the local authority for The school and policies are more personally owned certain projects or areas. The Principal and by the Principal and governing body. Although sponsors appear to have a monopoly on the funding there are benefits to this personalisation of school available and where it is spent. At the same time, philosophy, policies and ideas are not viewed as the Principal is keen to raise the profile of the objectively as when the school was under local academy and is willing to consider any project authority direction. If teachers want change, they which will increase its status. I am in the process must get the Principal on board. Changes appear of obtaining funding for a Deaf Youth Club and to come through the Principal, rather than the British Sign Language courses run from the school, governing body. If the Principal does not like an working in partnership with other organisations. idea, there is very little recourse to any other action. The Principal is favourably disposed as it boosts the standing of the school in the community and During the two years prior to academy status, further afield. the pressure on staff was enormous but the fundamental outlook of the school did not change. The major similarity between a local authority The demands on the school and management school and an academy remains parental influence. meant that resources and funding that were In my view, parents are still the single most allocated and ringfenced for certain groups of important means of encouraging and promoting students were not reserved for them. The argument change and best practice for all students. was that all the pupils in the school needed to benefit. Ringfenced funding for the deaf students Heather Latter is a Teacher of the Deaf at The was seen as positive discrimination and therefore John Wallis Church of England Academy in not applied appropriately. As funding is now the Ashford, Kent.

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Feature Criteria for success Drawing on his experiences of a long career in deaf education, in the first of a two-part series of articles, Steve Powers shares his views on how we can improve the life chances of deaf children

’ve recently found myself being asked to speak these matters. I was told recently of a teenage girl on the topic of what makes deaf children with moderate deafness and learning difficulties Isuccessful. This has been quite a challenge, attending her local mainstream school. The school but it has been a useful opportunity to gather my is concerned that she has not made any academic thoughts on some of the main lessons I have learnt progress over the last Key Stage and is questioning over 35 years in deaf education – first as a teacher, the placement. Mum is very upset about this then as a teacher trainer and a researcher. Here and points to the social progress her daughter is I offer a brief version of these thoughts. I am not making, which to her is at least as important. I don’t attempting to provide a blueprint for success, but want to exaggerate the differences, but there are rather to present some of the conclusions I have different views on what’s important. What I think we drawn from my professional experience, the can all agree on is that success is not just about literature and discussions with colleagues. academic performance (it is unfortunate that this is the easiest outcome to measure). So, this article is not just about research findings – which is not to deny the importance of research but But here’s another complication. Emerton, a deaf simply to recognise its limitations. In work in the American of hearing parents, has argued that: ‘Most USA and the UK several factors have been reported parents of deaf children have no knowledge of as being significantly associated with academic what it takes to be a successful deaf adult.’ I think attainment, but in total only about 25% of the we could replace parents with teachers – most variance in the academic outcomes of deaf children teachers (who are hearing) don’t know what it takes has so far been explained. We cannot rely to be a successful deaf adult. So success is not a completely on research findings for an insight into straightforward notion. what works so I will look more broadly than the research in this article. This article (and my next one in the January 2012 issue) is based around what I’m calling nine Success is not just about conclusions (acknowledgments to David Luterman academic performance for this idea), highlighting some of the important things I’ve learnt in my time in deaf education. The A topic like this makes us stand back to take in first four conclusions are presented here in no order the bigger picture. It’s about identifying in a broad of importance. sense the key determiners of success and is aimed at helping us to identify where we can have most 1 No school improvement since Conrad is influence as well as an understanding of the limits probably a myth of our influence. But how can we try to address this I start with this topic as it is so central – and people topic? First we need to agree what the topic means. still seem to refer to Reuben Conrad’s work. His By ‘life chances’ do we mean the chance to have book, The Deaf School Child, in 1979 came at a a good job, or the chance to participate fully in time of great uncertainty about the right way to teach society, or the chance to live a happy life, to have deaf children. Conrad aimed to test the performance a strong sense of self-worth, to be happy in who of most of the school leavers in England and Wales we are? Or do we mean all of these? And what (however, he only included those pupils in special successes improve these chances? Is it passing schools for the deaf and ‘partially hearing units’ and A-levels and going to university, or communicating left out those individually integrated). Famously, well in spoken language and integrating well into Conrad reported that the average reading age of all hearing society, or communicating well in BSL and school leavers with an average hearing loss greater being integrated well into the Deaf community, or than 85dBHL was below nine years. Unfortunately, being independent, self-confident and having high there is no recent national data on the reading levels self-esteem? of deaf children in the UK. Also, the old BATOD survey never collected data on attainment (although These are fundamental questions and it is important the NatSIP outcomes work, in conjunction with to recognise that people have different views on CRIDE, has already started some data collection).

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However, since 2005 government data has been people talked about being ‘pigeon-holed into available through the National Pupil Database stereotypical work’. In fact we know very little about (NPD), and it’s the best we’ve got although flawed the type of jobs deaf people get but anecdotally it (for example, it includes only pupils in maintained seems many are in disability-related work (including schools, those with ‘hearing impairment’ as their in deaf organisations), and many are self-employed. primary SEN and only those with a statement or Tyron Woolfe (a deaf researcher and writer in the at School Action Plus). UK) refers to a ‘deaf industry… a rapid growth of businesses set up by deaf people themselves… I do believe that academic with the majority of its enterprise related to deaf issues… in media, design, theatre, deaf-awareness outcomes for deaf children have training, consultancy work, sign language teaching’. improved in the last 30 years These anecdotal reports might be right – but whether pigeon-holing is taking place or whether NPD data on the percentage of pupils in England deaf people are simply finding employment where achieving five A* to C grades in all subjects shows they can I don’t think we know. for deaf pupils an increase from 34% to 50% from 2005–09 (a relative 47% improvement) compared On life outcomes more generally for all children to an increase from 55% to 70% over the same period (a relative 27% improvement) I don’t think we have any big (unpublished NPD data obtained through NDCS). picture at all So, on this measure, albeit with data that is somewhat flawed, deaf children’s attainments Of course, employment is only one aspect of improved considerably in this period and at a faster success. On life outcomes more generally I don’t rate than attainments for all children (although an think we have any big picture at all, and we attainment gap still remained). On this and other certainly don’t know about the links between evidence, including my work on high achievers, different types of school outcome and adult anecdotal reports from local authorities and talking success. Perhaps academic success is less a to teachers, I do believe that academic outcomes determinant of later adult success for deaf young for deaf children have improved in the last 30 years people than it is for hearing people; and factors – although in the heading to this section you can such as communication, confidence, identity and see I am hedging my bets. The tragedy is that we self-esteem have more influence? don’t yet have reliable evidence. I’m reminded of a student at Birmingham some 2 We know very little of deaf adult life outcomes years ago who had just been awarded a 2:1 degree and experiences in geology and came to see me because no one Of course, the outcomes that really matter are adult would give him a job. Throughout his life he’d done outcomes, but unfortunately we know little about everything he’d been asked to do, but for the first these, although we do have some evidence on time he was facing rejection – and no one had employment. In 2002 an RNID survey of 1,100 prepared him for this. At school he would have deaf people reported relatively high rates of been described as a high achiever and his teachers unemployment for deaf adults, with a particular would have been rightly proud of him. What I don’t problem for young deaf adults, 34% of whom were know is what he went on to do and become as an unemployed compared to 12% for the same age adult. Did he have the personal qualities and other group in the general population. These figures are resources to be able to overcome the setback he now out of date but are still indicative of likely faced at the end of university? And looking back, current realities. This data implied that deaf what did he think of his education as a preparation young people take a long time to find jobs, which for adult life? And what about other deaf young I interpret as a story of unmet aspiration; that many adults? We are more ignorant in this area than in deaf young adults have to lower their sights before any other. they are employed. Research in the USA found that earnings relative to qualifications for deaf college 3 We obviously have to get the communication leavers were ‘significantly less than hearing college right graduates’. This is the most obvious area of our work that makes a difference. Teachers of the Deaf should On type of employment, a 1995 study in the UK above all else be experts in communication. In reported many deaf adults saying that they had not planning effective communication environments been able to determine their own career path, were there are certain things to get right, like the in the wrong job and had received poor advice and communications technology, room acoustics, preparation. In another study in 2003, deaf young speechreading, the signing skills of staff and

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reducing visual distractions in the classroom. But claims in the advertising, cochlear implants do not we should also teach and encourage deaf children turn a deaf child into a hearing child. from an early age to ask for repetition and clarification when they don’t understand – like the Some people will want to direct pupil in my book, Learning from Success: High Achieving Deaf Pupils (2006), who according to his all children down the auditory teaching assistant had learnt not to be afraid of not route knowing, and had always had the confidence to ask for repetition, or for a teacher to turn round. So the main messages here are that technology is One indicator of communication not working in fantastic and that we have no excuse not to get it mainstream classrooms is where there is a heavy right, but it doesn’t work on its own, and even with reliance on re-teaching in tutorial settings. the best management it doesn’t work for everyone. One danger with the new technology is that some Even with the best management people will want to direct all children down the auditory route, but the evidence we have is that it the technology does not work for doesn’t suit all – so some children and their parents everyone might be branded as failures. We still have the unanswered question of how we can identify early 4 Technology is great but it is not a silver bullet enough those children whose best access to We live in an age of fantastic technology and its language is through sign language. use obviously goes way beyond education. If we asked older deaf adults what changes have had Steve Powers was formerly a senior lecturer in most impact on their lives most I’m sure would education at the University of Birmingham. This include such things as email, texting, Facebook and article is based on a talk he gave to a meeting of affordable video communications technology. So the the BATOD West Midland group in May 2011. The new technology is great, including the technology of second part of this article will follow in the January cochlear implants and newborn hearing screening 2012 BATOD Magazine. (NHS). But technology is not sufficient on its own – it’s no good without the expertise to manage it. And even with the best management the technology does not work for everyone.

David Luterman has suggested that the new technology is a bit of a sacred cow at the moment – and perhaps there are some unrealistic expectations. For example, an NDCS briefing in 2008 argued that it should be possible to close the attainment gap between deaf and hearing children by 2013, the year the first students to benefit from NHS take their GCSEs. It’s good to have these goals but we should recognise that it is not that easy. Deaf children, even those with age-appropriate language, are not in the same position as hearing children – they will still miss out on some information in the classroom. They will still be disadvantaged.

Recent research reports that cochlear implants have improved the reading achievements of primary-aged children but that gains appear to be attenuated among students in secondary grades and that the long-term impact of implants on reading and other academic skills remains unclear. In 2008 a study found that implants work well for many deaf children in quiet listening conditions, but problems are consistently reported under difficult listening conditions and that some users turn off their devices in high levels of noise or against a background of multi-talker babble. Despite some

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Improving working memory Following her feature in the September issue, Terezinha Nunes explores the possibilities of increasing deaf children’s working memory span

n the last issue of this Magazine, we explained they rehearse the information in order to memorise it. that working memory (WM) is the ability to Because attention control and planning require that Ikeep information in mind while working on the children think about how they will carry out the task, information at the same time. For example, when we these abilities are called meta-cognitive skills. Some add mentally, we need to think of the numbers we are training programmes have successfully used meta- adding, carry out the addition and keep the result in cognitive skills. WM also depends on automatic mind all at the same time. WM is measured in spans, processes, and other training programmes have which indicate the amount of information that we can focused on improving automatic attention in order operate on and recall at the same time in the WM to improve WM. Our intervention combined games tests. WM is important for learning in school and designed to improve both types of ability. All the some, but not all, deaf children have lower WM games were played using a computer. spans than hearing children. We also reported that profoundly deaf children have an average span that is Our research team can help you and 0.31 points smaller than the span of hearing children of comparable age and cognitive ability. Remember your school if you need training this value when you read about the results of a The meta-cognitive component involved teacher-led training programme designed to improve deaf games, in which the teacher or teaching assistant children’s performance in WM assessments. supported the child by demonstrating rehearsal activities and rehearsing with the child in the first trials It was previously thought that WM is a fixed ability in each game. There were screens that reminded and cannot be improved through practice, but in the the child that rehearsal is important. The automatic last ten years different programmes have succeeded attention component involved computer games that in improving children’s WM. At Oxford University we were played on our website; there were no prompts to have developed, with the support of the National Deaf help the child rehearse. For this reason, we suggested Children’s Society, a teaching programme designed to the teachers that the children should start on the to increase deaf children’s WM span. BATOD web games after they had learnt some strategies that contributed to this research by inviting teachers they could use when playing games on their own. to participate through the Magazine. Figure 1 illustrates a teacher-led game in which the In order to assess the effectiveness of the children are asked to count the number of ducks on programme, we compared the participating children a screen, then count the number of monkeys on the with a baseline group. In the first year of our research, next screen, then type the number of ducks and teachers obtained permission for 80 children to be monkeys into the keyboard. There are distractors on assessed in three WM tasks, in order to provide a baseline of how well deaf children do in these Figure 1 tasks. The children were assessed twice with an approximate interval of six months between the assessments. In the second year, the teachers implemented a programme with 73 children designed to increase their WM span. The children were assessed before they started the programme (the pre-test) and again approximately six months after they had been included in the programme (the post- test); so the interval between the pre- and post-tests was comparable for the baseline and the intervention groups.

What did the children do during the intervention? WM performance is closely related to children’s ability to control their own attention and to the way in which

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the screen and the children must focus their attention on the target animals. The teacher should guide the children’s rehearsal until they start rehearsing spontaneously.

The full programme includes three teacher-led games and three computer games with seven levels of difficulty. The children should move on to the next level of difficulty as soon as possible, so that they are always challenged, but not too soon as to get discouraged. You can find out more about the programme by visiting our website at Figure 2 www.education.ox.ac.uk/research/child-learning/ resources-2/ Our research team can help you and The graph refers to the intervention group only your school if you need training to start using the because the baseline group did not play any games. programme. The graph shows quite clearly that the children’s performance was directly related to the number of Did it work? games that they played – the more games they played, The first result we should mention is that the children the better their performance when they were re-tested. loved the games. That is important, if they are going to participate willingly. The second result refers to the This is good news for those deaf children whose WM comparison between the baseline and the intervention span is lower than expected for their age. Teachers group. Because children already differ at pre-test, can help them to develop this important cognitive skill we control for the differences statistically when we and they can enjoy computer games that promote examine their WM scores at post-test. When these their WM. controls were included, the mean span for the children in the baseline group in the post-test was Terezinha Nunes is the Chair of Educational Studies 4.87 and the mean for the intervention group was at the Department of Educational Studies, University 5.14. The intervention group had an advantage of of Oxford. 0.27 points in comparison to the baseline group. As the difference between profoundly deaf children and hearing children is 0.31 in this same scale, this improvement is quite important. During the six months of the intervention, the group that had practice in working memory gained substantially and were no longer very different from a group of hearing children.

The amount of practice matters Some teachers started working immediately after their children were pre-tested but others could not do so. When the children were post-tested, they had different amounts of experience in the games. We could monitor how much experience the children had with the web games because, in order to play the game, the children had to use an identification number and password when accessing the website. Our computer automatically recorded that a child was playing a game. At the end of the programme, we could see how many web games that child had played.

There was a huge variation in the number of games that the children played. Some of them did not play any web games and only participated in teacher-led activities. The mean number of games played by the children was between 16 and 17, but some children played more than 80 games. We analysed how this difference in practice influenced the results at post- test. Figure 2 shows the children’s WM post-test scores by the number of games that they played.

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Feature

From a different perspective Given a warm welcome at all the special needs institutions she visited, Alison Wagner had a memorable trip to Bangladesh

n February 2011 I spent a week in Bangladesh on a trip sponsored by the British Council looking at Ispecial needs education. I was part of a delegation of 14 teachers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. We visited schools and organisations supporting the education and rehabilitation of children with special educational needs in the capital Dhaka and in Sylhet. In Tower Hamlets nearly a third of the population is of Bangladeshi origin and I wanted to gain insight into the cultural background of the families I work with and the challenges of enhancing inclusive education in a developing country. many achieve outstanding results. The headteacher proudly told us that 11 out of 12 pupils have recently In 1990, legislation introduced compulsory education passed the Secondary School Certificate exam. for all at primary level in Bangladesh. However, due to economic circumstances many families are unable to In Dhaka we visited an audiology clinic attached to a fulfil this obligation. Drop-out rates also remain high large hospital in the Mohakhali district. The clinic is run due to the system of having to pass exams at the end by the Society for Assistance for Hearing-Impaired of the year to go up to the next class; this is a major Children, a voluntary non-government organisation barrier for children with learning difficulties. The established in February 1987. It is here that number of disabled children in schools is extremely audiological testing takes place. The clinic also has a low, with the majority placed in separate special school attached – The Rosi Flower Integrated Pre- schools which cannot accommodate all children with School for Hearing-Impaired Children – and we were disabilities. There is growing interest among educators privileged to visit many classes of three to six year and policy makers in providing more inclusive olds with moderate and severe hearing loss. We heard education but there is no central or local government the children singing and saw them enjoying circle co-ordination or funding for this. games in a supportive environment accompanied by their parents. We saw excellent practice, with children In Sylhet we visited the Government School for the learning to listen and use their bodyworn hearing aids Deaf. The pupils were all keen to communicate with us which families can rent from the clinic. The school can through a mix of Bengali Sign Language and their own take 160 children in two shifts, with 16 teachers for signs. They welcomed our delegation warmly, lined every 80 children. Many of the children go on to attend up smartly outside their classrooms and signed the mainstream primary schools as the early intervention English alphabet for us. Classrooms were dimly lit and helps them to develop their language. Some children bare, with only rows of desks and a blackboard. The who can afford it pay an annual fee to attend the headteacher expressed concern that he had few school (1,200–6,000 Taka or £10–50) and around 50% trained staff and a lack of materials so children had to benefit from free places. learn mostly through writing. None of these pupils had hearing aids as these are prohibitively expensive for Despite all the economic challenges the high value most families. The school teaches science, Bangla placed on education by all those we met in Bangladesh (the national language) and religious studies using was inspiring, as was the personal commitment of national textbooks. Parents have to apply for a place many working in the field. The warm welcome we and 60 pupils are admitted annually. Last year 30 received as a group was memorable and the children were turned away. openness and willingness to learn from outsiders was refreshing; we have much to learn from this attitude. The enthusiasm for education against all odds came There was a pragmatic approach to problems, which over strongly on our visit. In Sylhet we visited the were faced with a positive spirit and the enthusiasm to Bholananda Night School where boys from poor take on challenges. families who work during the day can come from 6–10pm. Despite exhaustion, they attend classes and Alison Wagner is a ToD in Tower Hamlets.

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Feature Carrots and Condoms Deafax is working hard to provide deaf-friendly materials for sex and relationships education, as Jessica Parsons explains

hrough interviewing young deaf people, Deafax of these workshops that our trainers are able to impart found that there was a common and severe lack their wealth of knowledge. Carrots and Condoms is T of understanding around sexual health, with fiction currently being rolled out across the country, covering and fact being intermingled and socks, crisp packets essential topics such as: and cling film being cited as alternatives to condoms! • cultural and religious issues around sex and Most of this misinformation was due to barriers in contraception communication. The research showed that: • awkward questions – ethical responses to questions • 83% of young deaf people left school without being around masturbation and promiscuity fully educated about sex and the surrounding issues • PHSE curriculum’s objectives. • 33% of these young deaf people left school with no understanding of sexual health and contraception Following on from our successful and ongoing work • sexually transmitted diseases and infections have with pupils and teaching staff, we wondered what to increased by 60%. do about those who haven’t been reached yet.

The statistics speak for themselves; with sex education There are still many for deaf people at a low and sexually transmitted young deaf people infections at a high, there was an urgent need to out there who are address what is an increasingly alarming situation. ill-equipped to deal with their questions and It is essential that young people have the skills and confusion around SRE. understanding to deal with choices around sex, We are aiming to deliver contraception and relationships; they need to be made our training to as many aware of the issues surrounding sexual health to schools as possible enable them to make informed decisions about their throughout the country; however, we have yet to reach own lifestyle and how best to protect themselves. every school in Britain! During our work with young deaf people, we heard various stories of sexual health At Deafax we problems that had been deemed by the deaf person continually strive as impossible to rectify; they either didn’t know where to keep up to date to turn or had given up on accessing sexual health with current issues; services because of barriers to communication. With providing deaf- this in mind, we decided to take a new approach. friendly resources and workshops that Our new strategy sees Deafax undertaking can help educate consultative work with NHS sexual health clinics and young people in a with Brook Centres – we are currently collaborating fun and safe environment. We provide accessible, with them to make their services more accessible and inclusive and proactive training modules which enable their resources more ‘deaf friendly’. young deaf people to make responsible, informed and safe choices about their sexual health and related This means that Deafax’s highly qualified deaf trainers issues. We have delivered sexual health training are equipped to pass on information about the deaf- workshops to over 600 young deaf people and 312 friendly sexual health centres to young people who adults across Britain. have, or may in future have, a problem that needs medical advice or a trained counsellor. Deafax trainers As a result of our long experience in sex and are positive role models who always endeavour to relationships education (SRE) delivery, teachers and provide follow-up information and support wherever teaching assistants began to ask us for advice on how necessary. They deliver unique, specialist deaf-friendly they could improve delivery of SRE themselves, and information directly to young deaf people – in their how they could best answer questions and offer language. support to pupils once our trainers had left. Jessica Parsons is Deafax’s West Midlands To assist with this, Deafax now runs workshops for Development Manager. She can be contacted on teachers, teaching assistants and support workers 0121 244 9051 or [email protected] for more entitled ‘Carrots and Condoms’. It is through delivery information.

Feature Innovation in assistive technology Sign bilingual education has always been open to new technology and in this case study from Longwill School for the Deaf Alison Carter demonstrates this

ign bilingual education has always adopted a Twelve years ago, I predicted that IWBs would be in broad approach to language and technology, every classroom within a decade. In fact, within 18 S seeking to maximise the learning potential and months of our initial case study there was one in every language resources of deaf students in English and class in school! sign language (or both) as appropriate. This inclusive approach to language and exploratory attitude to new PlayStation Portables (PSPs) technologies have resulted in a number of innovative Since introducing PlayStation Portables (PSPs) as a initiatives with assistive technologies in sign bilingual language development tool four years ago, our dream settings. has been to create easily accessible sign bilingual books. At last we have achieved this. The PSP is used So what do we mean by ‘assistive technology’? One as a multimedia player alongside the Second Sight definition could be ‘any technology that will provide application that enables the viewer to trigger the one with the visual and/or auditory information that appropriate video automatically. There is no need for could normally be obtained through the use of one’s the user to search for the correct file. It allows the vision or hearing senses’. This of course includes use filmed sign footage to be made available in such a way of cochlear implants, hearing aids, FM and Soundfield that it can be conveniently and effectively used at home systems, and music and its associated technology. In when stories are being shared between parent and child. considering the role of assistive technologies the goal is to provide deaf children with information so that they To avoid any breach of copyright, suitable reading can achieve on a level playing field with their peers. books were purchased. Each page was signed and a short clip was filmed. Each finished clip was converted Sign graphics to MPEG 4 format. Using the Experience Creation With this goal in mind teachers at Longwill Primary Suite a semacode (marker) was assigned to each clip. School in the 1990s began to exploit the potential of The clips were uploaded onto the PSP memory stick. computer-generated sign graphics to offer pupils some Semacodes were printed onto 24mm round labels kind of written representation of their first language. using a Brother QL-560 printer and stuck onto the We hoped that this would act as a ‘bridge to literacy’. appropriate page. Using sign graphics, based on the My World program, we were able to create visual dictionaries, bilingual Pupils are now able to borrow these books from the storybooks, vocabulary sheets and handshape books. school library along with a school PSP and enjoy an Many of these resources are still used to this day. effective reading experience with their parents at home. With the triggering of the signing video and audio of Interactive whiteboards text, parents can develop their own signing skills. Then, with the new millennium came the interactive Some of our parents do not have English as their first whiteboards (IWBs). At Longwill at this time all pupils language so being able to hear the text spoken is a were BSL first language users and so we tried to great help. Hearing siblings can also enjoy sharing the account for their visual-spatial orientation to language story as they hear it read out loud through the PSP. and learning in the way that we organised the classroom and the learning experience. We searched It is still early days. We now have six sign bilingual for ways of presenting and exchanging information in a books available in this format. The sixth one involved way that supported their learning styles. We believed parents, who produced a signed version of The Great that the IWB was one of many tools that could do this. Pet Sale as part of their ‘Keeping Up with the Children’ Hearing children are able to work at the computer ICT course. The next batch of six storybooks will be while listening to instructions from their teacher. This is produced later this year. less achievable for deaf children, as visual attention can only be focused on one thing at any one time. The You can read more about the work going on at child must look at the screen, then break away to watch Longwill on our website: www.longwill.bham.sch.uk the teacher for further information, before reverting and about other schools and services on the sign back to the screen to carry out the task. With the IWB, bilingual consortium site: www.signbilingual.co.uk/ we found that their learning experiences were enhanced because the children could gather around one large Alison Carter is Deputy Head at Longwill School for screen and be completely involved in a shared process. the Deaf.

Feature

A fresh start A brand new building has provided not only fantastic modern facilities but the chance for staff at Jordanstown School to invigorate their teaching, as Babs McQuiggan reveals

have been working as a Teacher of the Deaf for over 20 years in Jordanstown School for the Deaf and IVisually Impaired in Northern Ireland. My job has always provided me with new challenges, hard work and great personal satisfaction. This past year has been no exception – in fact it tops them all!

It had been talked about and planned for many years but in September 2010 we started packing up for the suite and recording studio, multi purpose hall, soft-play big move to our brand new purpose-built school. This area, fitness suite and outdoor facilities. There is also new facility was built on the same site as the old school residential accommodation on site. building so it was possible to monitor the progress of the new build. In these days of recession it was great As well as providing this specialist learning environment to see such a beautifully equipped school being built the school is equipped with the latest testing and (where functionality took precedence over cost) and this therapy facilities. Our new school can now offer a was only made possible because of the support of the unique service, with professionals from the health Trustees of the Ulster Society for Promoting the service giving the pupils access to medical and therapy Education of the Deaf and the Blind. input, including audiology, low vision therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational Emotions were high and pride was growing among the therapy. This not only reduces unnecessary time spent pupils and staff as the final preparations were made for away from school but aids liaison between us and other the move. The staff moved in at the end of December professionals supporting our child-centred approach. 2010 but unfortunately because of heavy snow the These facilities include a large hydrotherapy pool, pupils had to wait until after Christmas. As teachers we an audiology suite and other therapy rooms for were relieved as it gave us extra time to unpack and physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and prepare for the pupils’ arrival. counselling. I know our Principal hopes other children will benefit from our new facilities in the therapy wing This new building is exceptional, and one of a kind, as and as the Audiology Co-ordinator I am particularly it is the only school for the deaf and visually impaired interested in the audiology suite being accessible to in Northern Ireland. Many hours of thought and other children with a hearing loss. consideration went into this building to meet the needs of our pupils and to give them the very best. This This whole process has been a great learning curve for wonderful new environment provides the pupils with the me, especially using the interactive whiteboard, which very latest assistive technologies and gives each one has great potential in aiding learning. It has not all been access to a rich and inclusive curriculum. Careful plain sailing this year as there have been times when consideration has been given to lighting and acoustics, I yearn for my old store where I could put my hand on not only meeting the BB93 requirements and those of any item in a few seconds. I also miss the familiarity of the Disability Discrimination Act but exceeding them the old school like an old friend, but I am aware that this with a range of Ecophon’s acoustic products installed new teaching environment helps to keep my teaching throughout the building. The deaf pupils have definitely fresh and also gives the pupils the very best chance to noticed a difference in their listening environment (many achieve educationally, socially and emotionally. With more hearing the bell and responding to their name the decline of special schools in the UK over the past being called), which encourages them as well as the number of years it is a privilege to be part of a new staff. We have mood lighting in the book corners in the school which demonstrates that there is still a need for primary classrooms, which adds to the ambiance when specialist facilities. stories are read. As well as having bright, well-sized general classrooms for the primary and secondary For more information about the school visit the website departments, there are specialist teaching rooms for at www.jordanstownschools.co.uk/ ICT, technology and design, art, science and home economics. In addition there is a state-of-the-art music Babs McQuiggan is a ToD at Jordanstown School.

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Feature Connevans @ 50! As Connevans celebrates its 50th anniversary, Laura Evans gives us the history of this family company

onnevans Limited was founded on 7 November The company still enjoys a 1961 and derives its name from Connie and strong family atmosphere, CMeurig Evans – my grandparents. Back then, where David Evans and Connevans was the first UK company to manufacture Mary Cann (pictured above), language teaching laboratories, with installations all son and younger daughter over the world, from Africa to the Caribbean, South of founders Meurig and Wales to Venezuela. The late 1960s saw the business Connie Evans, lead the diversify into equipment for deaf people and, in 1969, management team. They Connevans designed the Auditory Trainer Unit were joined in 2006 by specifically for use by deaf students. When funds to David’s daughter (me!), purchase language laboratories disappeared in the fresh from university. As recession of the 1980s, Connevans accelerated into Special Projects Manager, production the first Connevans radio aid system. I mastermind our website (among other things) and Our successful radio aid systems have seen many have even persuaded my Dad onto Facebook! We improvements since 1980, including the launch in 2000 recently oversaw the company’s move to a new factory of the fmGenie which continues to be a firm favourite in in Merstham, after 24 years at the Albert Road North many schools. site in Reigate. Bridge House, our new building (pictured below), is bright and modern – much more The company was founded on technical expertise and suited to the Connevans of today. David, Mary and today Connevans maintains its manufacturing base, I all have neighbouring desks in our customer services with products being designed and manufactured in our department and despite working so closely, we’ve not UK factory – a rare thing nowadays. had a family feud yet! Indeed, the family feel spreads from the Evanses We have also recently expanded production capabilities throughout the to allow for increasing demand of infra-red classroom company. Going Soundfield systems. Our technical background allows through the list of us to provide specialist support and professional on-site staff we produced service and repair facilities. We pride ourselves on at our 40th birthday, manufacturing products built to last, so for any there are many Connevans-manufactured items we guarantee to current faces. It is clear, looking at the joining dates, support the product for a minimum of eight years – that the company longevity has been supported by helping to prolong the lifespan of the product and and reflected in our staff loyalty. Ken Robinson, our improving sustainability. Production Supervisor who joined the company when he was only 17 years old, has now notched up a grand Looking back at the progression of the company over total of 44 years’ service. What’s more, he’s not alone – the years, it is interesting to see how we have come full we are proud to have nearly half our staff with a service circle while remaining faithful to the same central ethos. record that goes back at least 15 years! Meurig developed the language laboratories knowing that a good listening environment was key to effective With all this experience, it’s not surprising that learning. Now, in 2011, this is the central concept Connevans has a reputation for excellent customer behind our classroom Soundfield systems. service and support. We maintain the company policy of direct involvement of the directors and managers in From the beginning, we have always tried to embrace answering customer questions which, combined with the very latest technology and this is even more the the dedication of the staff team, ensures the highest case in our 50th year. At our 25th birthday, we were possible quality of response. In this world of large proud to have ‘at least one computer for every two faceless corporate conglomerates, we’re still a fiercely members of staff’ – a major feat in 1986. Since independent company with a human face. To paraphrase then we have invested heavily in our computer the old adage, with us ‘It’s not just business, it’s infrastructure and in expanding our website – personal’. www.DeafEquipment.co.uk which is now the UK’s most comprehensive online shop for deaf and Laura Evans is Special Projects Manager at Connevans hard-of-hearing people. Limited.

Feature

Preparing to teach Hannah Douglas recounts her experiences as a profoundly deaf trainee teacher

was born in London and went to a total The transition from Mary Hare to Derby in 2008 was communication nursery so my early years quite difficult because at Mary Hare, all my friends Ieducation was through a combination of sign were deaf and we lived in a ‘bubble’, protected from language and oral communication. I moved up to the ‘real’ world. I was sad when I left Mary Hare Stockport when I was four years old and attended a with three A-levels in French, English literature and hearing-impaired unit in a mainstream school that psychology because I had spent seven wonderful years also used the total communication approach. As a there and I had seen all my friends literally for 24 hours result I am able to speak with my family and hearing a day, seven days a week. I was just 18 years old and people and I sign with my deaf friends. For me, it is did not have much experience of the ‘real’ world. It was the right choice, as I can interchange easily between a huge shock to arrive in Derby because it was then the two and I consider myself to be bilingual. that I realised I was on my own and I was totally responsible for myself. It was tough, at the beginning, I went to Mary Hare School for the Deaf and during my having just left Mary Hare, as well as being the only time there, I decided I would like to be a Teacher of the deaf person on the course surrounded by hearing Deaf for primary-aged school children for so many people, the majority of whom were not deaf aware. reasons but mainly because I am deaf and understand I was nervous and yet determined to make an effort, the barriers that deaf people face in life. I want to make so I was always proactive, getting to know my fellow a difference in deaf children’s lives, to enable and trainee teachers and the team. Gradually, I became encourage them to achieve their full potential. confident and began to settle down at university. The staff are aware of my deafness and a lot of effort goes I then applied to five universities to do the four-year into my training to make sure my progress is smooth, Bachelor of Education (BEd) course. I was aware so I am always in regular contact with them. beforehand I would have to teach hearing children in order to gain qualified teacher status and then do It was initially felt that I did not need a BSL interpreter a Teacher of the Deaf course afterwards. I went to but as I proceeded further with my course, it was interviews at all five universities and it is safe to say realised that I did need one to ensure that I had full that they were rigorous and really tested me. They all access both at university and on placements. asked me the same question, ‘How would you cope in the classroom as a deaf person?’ My answer was On my first teaching placement at a school in Derby I always the same, ‘I will always do the best I can in was paired up with a fellow trainee teacher in the same any situation in the classroom. I will promote good classroom with a mentor. The school was aware of my classroom discipline and management by asking the needs as a deaf trainee teacher as the staff had been children to raise their hands if they need my attention informed beforehand by the university. It took me by so that I am aware of who needs me. I am also sure surprise when my mentor did not have the skills to that as I go along I will learn some strategies for undertake this role and constantly criticised me about coping in the classroom.’ my deafness. Halfway through the placement, my fellow trainee teacher and I were having an important I also had to undertake English, maths and science meeting with my mentor where she would either fail or tests to demonstrate my subject knowledge. It was pass us. She passed my colleague and then turned to only then that I really understood how difficult it was me and informed me that I had failed on the basis of to get on to a teacher training course. I admit, my deafness. She basically told me I was a hazard to because I was deaf, I felt pessimistic about my hearing children because I could not hear if they fell chances, as the universities only took 100 students over, that I had better leave the course to find a out of around 1,000 applicants. suitable job elsewhere, preferably at a deaf university because deaf people should not teach. This left me However, I managed to get a place at four universities, very deflated and upset and I think it was probably the and in the end, after long deliberation, I chose the biggest challenge I had faced in my life. I returned to University of Derby because I felt that the team would the university to see the head of my course and support me well in completing the course and I knew discuss my placement. It was decided that she and that Derby had a large deaf community, which I felt another staff member would speak to the school to was important. resolve the situation. In the end, I returned to the

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Feature

classroom with the same mentor but under my When I have seminars, lectures or tutorials, it university tutor’s supervision where I finished my is important that the right support is given, but placement and eventually passed. The mentor was unfortunately the university support services were not then sent on a deaf-awareness training course. able fully to meet my needs. I now arrange my own support which includes a Teacher of the Deaf once The experience knocked my confidence and made a week to go through assignments with me, a BSL me doubt myself. Nevertheless, I learnt from it and interpreter and a notetaker, which is much easier as I was able to analyse my strengths and weaknesses. I get exactly what I need without much difficulty. I also I became tougher and more resilient and it made me ensure that my lecturers and tutors are aware of my think more objectively about whether I would be able needs, such as putting subtitles on videos, facing me gradually to build up my teaching skills so that I could when they speak and clarifying information relating to teach completely independently. I am still reflecting on assignments or presentations. this question but I have a very strong personality and know that I can inspire and motivate children, and it It is not easy being deaf and completing this has made me more determined to become a ToD. demanding and challenging course, but I remind myself constantly that I have been so lucky to have My second and third years went smoothly with the had the opportunity to have a great education and assistance of a BSL interpreter where, in a typical I want to give that back, to ensure that the future classroom context, I would speak directly to the generation of deaf children have that too because children; the interpreter would sign the children’s they deserve the best education possible. response to me or provide a voice-over for words I found difficult to pronounce or said incorrectly. It I am now in my fourth and final year of university, and ensured that the lessons went smoothly even if it was I hope I will do well and eventually become a Teacher not easy. I also had deaf-aware mentors and worked in of the Deaf. I may be young, but I am full of ideas inclusive schools where they were aware of my needs. and I have so much to give to deaf children because Placements are the hardest part of this course, as I do I can relate to them and understand their views on find it difficult to teach hearing children. Thankfully, the the world. I would advise other deaf people wishing to schools and the university have worked hard with me become teachers to be prepared, proactive, resilient, to ensure that this has been successful so far. motivated and focused.

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A lifeline for deaf children With the award-winning NDCS Helpline now online, Robert Johnson highlights the benefits this service brings to professionals working with deaf children

arenting is a wonderful experience, but it can also As time has gone by and the advances in information be overwhelming. The National Deaf Children’s technology have changed the way people access P Society (NDCS) believes that the family is the information, our callers and their needs have changed most important influence on a deaf child’s ability to too. With the launch of the Buzz website last year, the achieve, so it is important that parents have access to UK’s only website for deaf children and young people, expert advice and are supported by professionals more and more deaf young people are now contacting throughout the milestones of their child’s life. the Helpline.

The NDCS Helpline was founded in 1997, through A deaf young person can email the Helpline by a grant from the National Lotteries Charities Board, clicking on the ‘Got a question’ section of the Buzz to offer families of deaf children and professionals website (www.buzz.org.uk) to get information and supporting them clear, practical and balanced advice on matters important to them such as NDCS information on all aspects of childhood deafness. youth services, audiology and education issues.

Over the years the Helpline has expanded the scope Nowadays parents of deaf children often contact the of its services and now provides expert information Helpline asking for advice on issues that are more on a wide range of topics, including audiology, specific to their personal circumstances, as opposed technology, education, NDCS events and projects, to asking for general information on childhood local support and welfare. It is the first point of call for deafness which they would do a few years ago (they many families and professionals who want to find out can now find this type of information on the NDCS more about our free support. More and more families website). are contacting the Helpline each year and over the last 12 months the Helpline handled 12,636 enquiries – a The NDCS Helpline is also popular with professionals, three per cent increase on the previous year. including Teachers of the Deaf, audiologists and social care workers. The vast majority of them (90%) Live Chat contact the Helpline to order publications, which they In April 2011, parents of deaf children and later pass on to the parents they support and very professionals could for the first time chat live online to often to mainstream teachers. Professionals also ring a Helpline worker, as NDCS launched the UK’s first on behalf of parents who want to enquire about Live Chat service about childhood deafness. Live Chat NDCS projects or events for them or their child, or on (www.ndcs.org.uk/livechat) is a secure and confidential behalf of those who don’t speak English. The Helpline service, designed to give parents and professionals takes phone calls in over 150 languages. another choice in how they communicate with the Helpline. NDCS offers free membership for professionals working with deaf children to support their vital Live Chat works like most online chat systems and work. Professional membership gives access to provides an easy and efficient method of contacting the Professional Support area of our website the Helpline. After clicking on a live chat button, an (www.ndcs.org.uk/professional_support), which lists individual is taken to a new window where they can NDCS publications and includes updates on events send a question to a dedicated NDCS Helpline worker and projects for deaf children and their families as and start a private online chat. This service has well as our campaigning work. already proved to be a great help for many deaf people, busy professionals and working parents. NDCS is asking Teachers of the Deaf to recommend the new Live Chat service to their colleagues and Finger on the pulse the families they support. Professionals as well as Over the years, the NDCS Helpline has always had its parents of deaf children can also contact the NDCS finger on the pulse of issues that affect families of deaf Helpline on 0808 800 8880 (voice and text) or children and the professionals supporting them, email [email protected], Monday to Friday, providing the latest information on newborn hearing 9.30am–5pm. screening, bilateral cochlear implantation and funding cuts to specialist services for deaf children, to name Robert Johnson is the Helpline Manager at the but a few. National Deaf Children’s Society.

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Feature Sign language for all the family Many parents would like to sign with their deaf child but lack the training to do so. Helen Foulkes is keen to explain how professionals can help

here is currently a shortage of British Sign deliver the FSL curriculum to families with deaf Language (BSL) courses for parents who want children who want to learn BSL. T to sign with their deaf children. As part of the successful I-Sign project, the National Deaf Children’s Delivered by the Deafness, Cognition and Language Society (NDCS), with the support of regional partners, Research Centre (DCAL) at University College has so far trained 124 families to communicate using London, day one of the training consists of sessions sign language with their deaf children. on language acquisition of BSL, BSL linguistics, storytelling skills and sign bilingualism. Day two is Language and communication skills are at the heart more practice based, providing participants with of a deaf child’s social, emotional and intellectual information on how to deliver the FSL curriculum, development. Research has clearly shown the plan lessons and create resources and activities. importance of learning language, whether signed or spoken, early in life. For virtually all children this The course is open to all professionals who meet the means learning at home through interaction with their minimum teacher skills and competences: parents. Many of the parents we work with tell us • Level 3 NVQ BSL or equivalent or native BSL user they would like to sign with their children either as • Experience of working with families of deaf children their main form of communication or to support the • Basic linguistic knowledge development of spoken language, but they don’t have • Good English skills. access to a course that would meet their needs and the needs of their children. NDCS also has a new grants scheme open to local organisations such as education providers or local Supporting families who use BSL deaf children’s societies who want to deliver the FSL The NDCS developed its Family Sign Language course. For an application or more information, please (FSL) curriculum in 2005. Unlike the traditional BSL email [email protected]. curriculum, which is based around signs for adults, this curriculum is specifically aimed at families of deaf Supporting resources children who want to use BSL. It teaches the signs As part of the I-Sign project, a dedicated website – and phrases needed for nursery rhymes, stories and www.familysignlanguage.org.uk – was developed to playing make-believe games as well as the tools for promote positive communication at home, introduce practical communication about food, sleeping and BSL and give families an opportunity to learn everyday nappy changing, for example. signs and phrases. This website is the first of its kind in the UK and is a fantastic resource for families who The FSL curriculum was a key element of the have deaf children aged up to five and who wish to two-year pilot project, I-Sign, created to improve use this method of communication, as well as the provision and status of BSL for families of deaf children and young people in the UK and funded by A case study the Department for Education. As part of the project, Rachel and James Glennie, parents of Saoirse, NDCS, with regional partners, delivered FSL pilot aged one, who is moderately deaf, attended the courses to families in the south west and north west of NDCS FSL course in Exeter last year to learn BSL England and created a Family Sign Language website and to teach their daughter to sign. After attending and DVD. In July 2011 the Prime Minister David the course, Rachel and James became more Cameron praised the success of the project, and active in signing with their daughter and started NDCS is now lobbying the Government to roll it out using some of the simple communication tips they across England. had learnt. Rachel says, ‘The course made a huge difference for the whole family. Saoirse is signing Family Sign Language trainer courses much more frequently now because we are. She To extend the reach of the FSL curriculum, plays games with us and is becoming more NDCS offers free Training the Trainer courses for confident at communicating her needs to us and to professionals who work with families of deaf children other family members. We also use the Family aged 0–5 years old. Delivered through a mixture of Sign Language website and the DVD, which are presentations, case studies and small group activities, very useful.’ the two-day training course will teach professionals to

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professionals working with families. The website is for the course but doesn’t meet the minimum teacher free to access and features a range of real-life video skills and competences, he or she can still apply for footage of families using BSL with their children as day one of our training course or email me (Helen well as a dictionary function with over 300 signs. Foulkes) about possible future training opportunities.

We also encourage professionals working with To apply, go to www.ndcs.org.uk/fslprofessionals and families of deaf children in this age group to use the email the booking form and delivery agreement to specially created NDCS Family Sign Language DVD, [email protected] as soon as you can, or visit which offers a new and interactive way of learning www.ndcs.org.uk/fslprofessionals for further BSL, linked to topic areas that are part of family life. information about the courses. The DVD is also available to families of deaf children and can be ordered through the NDCS Freephone Helen Foulkes is NDCS Project Manager: Family Helpline (0808 800 8880). Sign Language. The I-Sign project was led by a consortium of partner organisations: Action on NDCS is inviting Teachers of the Deaf to apply for the Hearing Loss, British Deaf Association, Exeter Royal FSL Training the Trainers course and to spread the Academy for Deaf Education, Merseyside Society word about the course among their colleagues. If an for Deaf People, National Deaf Children’s Society, interested educational professional is keen to sign up Signature and the University of Central Lancashire.

BATOD was there representing you... Between the NEC meetings, members of BATOD attend various meetings that are of particular interest to Teachers of the Deaf. This list is not exhaustive. Your representatives at the meetings listed included: Gary Anderson, David Couch, Babs Day, Catherine Finestone, Paul Simpson, Debbie Staneva, Alison Weaver

Date External participants Purpose of meeting Venue

September

8 ATL President’s reception Church House, London 9 NatSIP Response to DfE funding consultations NDCS, London 9 Paediatric Audiology Regular meeting NDCS, Glasgow Services Advisory Sub-Group and Transition Quality Standards Group 14 DfE Year 1 Phonic Check DfE, London 16 NatSIP Adapting Think Right/Feel Good for NDCS, London deaf students 19 NatSIP Project Group meeting and Sense, London Reference Group 22 CRIDE Review of 2011 Survey UCL, London 28 BSLBT Information meeting London

October

3 Ofqual Access Consultation Forum Coventry 4 NatSIP Meeting re consultation on school NDCS, London and LA funding 11 NatSIP Working day Hamilton House, London 14 DESF Regular meeting Action on Hearing Loss, London 17 AAQAG Regular meeting Cardiff 19 Communication Trust Reception London 21–23 FEAPDA Biennial congress St Michielsgestel, Netherlands

November

2 Ofqual External Advisory Group on Coventry Equality and Diversity 18 NatSIP Project Group meeting and Sense, London Reference Group 24 NatSIP Adapting Think Right/Feel Good NDCS, London for deaf students – final drafting

42 • © BATOD Magazine • November 2011 sep_batod_43_44.qxp 9/10/11 17:58 Page 41

Feature An international gathering Elizabeth Reed-Beadle reports on a conference on cochlear implantation that attracted speakers from all over the world

eaf Education: Changed by Cochlear There was a variety of speakers from many different Implantation? was the title of a conference that countries and professions at the conference. We heard Dtook place in Nottingham on 12–13 June 2011 from the parent of a deaf child who has had her and was based on the book generated by Sue cochlear implant for 16 years and from a deaf young Archbold’s PhD thesis of the same name. The adult who has had hers for 21 years. Emily Tobey from conference had attracted an international range of Dallas, Texas, spoke about ongoing research from speakers and this was a great tribute to Sue’s work 113 students with a cochlear implant who are now over the years and the high esteem in which she is held teenagers. She highlighted the diverse outcomes on in the world of cochlear implantation. It was a proud speech perception, speech production, language moment for BATOD members, as Sue is a former development and reading. President of the Association.

Sue set the scene and spoke briefly about the history of cochlear implants and how this relates to her time as a Teacher of the Deaf with over 30 years experience. She highlighted what we know about children who use a cochlear implant: • Greater use of spoken language. • Intelligibility comparable with hearing peers in those Linda Watson from Birmingham University and Margaret implanted early. Brown from the University of Melbourne in Australia • Language and speech intelligibility being compared (Editors of Deafness and Education International) with hearing peers. reported on a four-year study of the literacy of deaf • Improved reading attainments. children. They divided literacy into two sections: • Greater numbers of cochlear implant recipients in ‘Traditional’ literacy, such as reading books and signing mainstream education. rhymes, and ‘Techno lit’ which includes personal • A new flexibility of identity and communication choice information on PCs (social networking – Facebook), for deaf children and their parents. factual information on PCs (Google), literacy games on the PC, SMS, Skype and mobile phone texting. One She went on to discuss what her research suggested of their conclusions was that teachers and educators that educators of deaf children need to provide: need to encourage children to engage with both types • Flexible support for the varied population of cochlear of literacy, and in order to do this educators must implant recipients. themselves become more PC literate. • Teachers with the skills to monitor the subtle changes in progress over time and to identify other difficulties Donna Sorkin, herself a cochlear implant user, as they become apparent. discussed her work on early interventions advisement • Effective, trained support in mainstream schools, and cochlear implants in the USA. She concluded that especially in secondary schools. early intervention was a key factor in ensuring that • The management of complex, changing technology in families have an ‘informed choice’ about the decision a busy educational environment. to implant their child but that the early intervention • Peer-group support for the psychosocial needs of practitioners must also have the information. increasing numbers of cochlear implant recipients in mainstream schools. Margaret Harris from Oxford Brookes University spoke about the impact of cochlear implants on reading skills She highlighted three important points: with UK children. She concluded that phonological • Speech intelligibility is not the same as linguistic ability. coding skills were very important for deaf children’s • The long-term management of children and young reading success. people with cochlear implants needs to be at home and at school and is as diverse and complex as the Pat Chute from the USA explained about initiatives to individual students. prepare students for entry into college. • There needs to be liaison between the cochlear implant programmes and the local education Tina Bayley is the parent of eight-year-old twins, one of provision. whom has sequential bilateral cochlear implants. Tina

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made an interesting comment in her address – children programme and the peripatetic service in Wandsworth. with a cochlear implant are trained to listen, listen, The ToDs work in both situations due to the compact listen, so in a class setting they may be listening geographical area covered by both professions. instead of working! On both days delegates were able to participate Anneke Vermeulen from the Netherlands reported that in workshop activities covering a range of topics. in Flanders 80% of profoundly deaf children have These included deaf children with complex needs, cochlear implants but still have to battle large groups programming for non-specialists, linguistic diversity, a and poor acoustics with few visual cues in mainstream language course for parents, cochlear implants and classrooms. However, she also indicated that cochlear FM, literacy education and teenagers with cochlear implantation has led to better auditory perception in implants. quiet situations, less attention and effort needed and improved learning in formal situations. At the end of the second day a final panel of professionals attempted to answer questions posed by Connie Mayer from Toronto, Canada, discussed three the delegates: classroom snapshots, all of which suggested better • Has deaf education been changed by cochlear reading and writing outcomes for cochlear implanted implantation and if so how? children than for those with hearing aids but she • What changes have been made to the way ToDs observed that there remains a degree of variability, as work? the children are diverse in ability. Connie also discussed • What else needs to be done? the training of Teachers of the Deaf in Canada. • Do children need special rehabilitation post-cochlear implantation? Bencie Woll discussed speechreading and she also • What about performance management of Teachers of facilitated a workshop on this subject. She concluded the Deaf in line with other professions, for example that seeing speech helps to activate the auditory cortex speech and language therapy? and that auditory verbal research indicates a positive effect when children can see and hear speech. As the conference ended perhaps there had been more questions raised than answers provided but one thing Wendy McCracken from Manchester University was certain: cochlear implants have indeed changed discussed what parents of children with complex needs deaf education and we as Teachers of the Deaf must wanted from a Teacher of the Deaf, and this was to: change ourselves for the benefit of the children and • understand the development of listening skills young people with whom we work. It is appropriate to • be able to explain the effects of poor acoustics end with a quote from one young unilateral cochlear • have knowledge of cochlear implants, and cochlear implant user, now at university, who is oral but has implants and FM. signing skills, ‘I can do anything I want providing I work hard and have the vision to fulfil my dreams.’ Debbie Rix, Head of the Hearing-Impaired Service for Wandsworth in London, explained the link between the Elizabeth Reed-Beadle is an educational audiologist in newly formed St George’s Hospital CochIear Implant Norfolk.

44 • © BATOD Magazine • November 2011 sep_batod_45_46_47.qxp 10/10/11 20:39 Page 41

Feature Outcomes benchmarking Bob Denman provides a summary of a national benchmarking project which aims to improve the outcomes for children and young people with sensory impairment

he drive to improve outcomes and well-being for To encourage participation, services were permitted children and young people continues to be a key to submit data on a selection of the performance T theme for children’s services. It has a particular indicators and for a selection of categories (moderate, focus on the most vulnerable children and young severe, profound), provided that the data for all the people in the population, including those with special pupils in the relevant cohorts was supplied. educational needs. Sensory support services have therefore been increasingly tasked with demonstrating In the event, 41 out of the total of 152 LAs submitted the value added they contribute to the outcomes for data for the initial benchmarking exercise, 31 making the children and young people with whom they work. both hearing-impaired (HI) and visually impaired (VI) This has happened in a context where there has been data submissions, eight making HI data only no reliably benchmarked data for children and young submissions and two making VI data only people with sensory impairment. submissions.

The Outcomes Benchmarking Project was established Reporting in September 2008 under the South East Sensory A detailed report, from which this summary has been Impairment Partnership and has been carried forward drawn, was prepared and circulated to each of the nationally since September 2009 through the National participant support services along with the confidential Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP). individual results for their local authority.

NatSIP’s work on improving outcomes for children, Analysis and key findings young people and families has attracted voluntary and An analysis, incorporating benchmarking data tables community sector grant funding from the Department and commentary, was provided for each performance for Education (DfE). indicator for: • moderate, severe, profound and all HI Through establishing reliable national benchmarking • moderate, severe, profound and all VI data, the aims of the project are to help local authority • all sensory impairment (SI). (LA) sensory support services to evidence their impact and to identify factors which will help to improve Average performance indicator scores were calculated outcomes for children and young people with sensory for pupils across local authorities. Where appropriate, impairment and narrow gaps in achievement. comparisons were drawn with DfE national indicator data for all pupils for 2009–10, for example: 2011 Outcomes Benchmarking The initial NatSIP Outcomes Benchmarking exercise National indicator 2009/10 DfE data NatSIP Outcomes was carried out during February and March 2011, (all pupils) Benchmarking data involving the online collection of data for the academic NI 73 (level 4 or more All HI All VI All SI in both English and year 2009–10 via the NatSIP website www.natsip.org.uk/ maths at KS2) 73.5% 47% 50% 47% NI 75 (five or more The exercise focused on a core set of 12 performance A*–C GCSEs indicators (see page 46) covering educational progress including English and 53.4% 46% 41% 43% from the Foundation Stage to Key Stage 4 and also maths) on data on exclusions and planned education or employment paths. The average performance indicator scores for LAs were also provided for the data sets for all HI, all VI Data was collected for children and young people and all SI, along with the standard deviation of the with either hearing or visual impairment but not scores (a measure of the spread of the scores). multi-sensory impairment. The data was gathered for The decision was taken to limit the analysis of LA each of the defined populations of moderate, severe performance indicator scores to these three categories and profound impairment. Those with additional special given the typically low numbers for separate educational needs were included (except for severe moderate, severe and profound HI/VI cohorts in learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning individual LAs. difficulties). The LA results were also presented in chart format, Participation with individual LAs coded to retain confidentiality. An It was recognised that not all LAs would be in a example showing the chart for performance indicator position to provide the complete set of data sought. C2 for the all HI data set appears on page 46.

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A key role of benchmarking is to raise questions DISTRIBUTION OF LA SCORES - C2: ALL HI about the implications of specific data for practice. This was illustrated by the finding that pupils with profound hearing impairment appeared to out score on average those with severe impairment on the Foundation Stage performance indicators. Initial discussions with HI specialist teachers queried the impact of cochlear implants in children with profound C2 SCORE impairment and also differences in levels of support provided to the severe and profound populations.

Next steps LA Planning is already under way through the NatSIP Outcomes Steering Group for the next benchmarking In interpreting the data it was stressed to participants exercise. This will take place during the spring term in that as the numbers in a range of the cohorts 2012 and will involve data collection for the 2010–11 supplied by individual support services were often academic year. very small, particular caution was required when comparing individual service data against the Full account is being taken of the feedback from the benchmarking data derived from several services. initial exercise, which has provided some very promising comments: Furthermore, participants were reminded that the • ‘I suspect that the usefulness of the evidence outcomes achieved by children and young people submitted will increase exponentially… when the will have been influenced by a range of factors apart opportunity to analyse longitudinal data becomes from the contribution made by support services (for available.’ example, socio-economic, school, family and within- • ‘Potentially very useful… it is a start in gaining child variables). sound national data.’ • ‘It has been really good to be part of this as we now Taking account of these issues, the importance of have a starting point to compare our data on a support services considering trend data in outcomes national level.’ over time was emphasised. • ‘It is excellent and very worthwhile (essential!).’

PI code Performance indicators – core set

C1 Average subtotal score achieved by children with sensory impairment for communication, language and literacy at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. C2 Average total score for all sections of the Foundation Stage Profile achieved by children with sensory impairment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. C3 % of children and young people with sensory impairment progressing by two levels (or more) in English at KS2. C4 % of children and young people with sensory impairment progressing by two levels (or more) in mathematics at KS2. C5 % of children and young people with sensory impairment achieving Level 4 or above in both English and mathematics at the end of KS2. C6 % of children and young people with sensory impairment progressing by three levels (or more) in English from the end of KS2 to the end of KS4. C7 % of children and young people with sensory impairment progressing by three levels (or more) in mathematics from the end of KS2 to the end of KS4. C8 % of young people with sensory impairment achieving five or more A*–G GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and mathematics by the end of KS4. C9 % of young people with sensory impairment achieving five or more A*–C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and mathematics by the end of KS4. C10 % of children and young people with sensory impairment who had at least one fixed-term exclusion from school during the last academic year. C11 % of children and young people with sensory impairment who were permanently excluded from school during the last academic year. C12 % of young people with sensory impairment with planned education or employment paths in place by the end of KS4.

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• ‘I’ve learnt a lot about where data is available from impairment will be included, that children with in our authority!’ cochlear implants and those using Braille will be • ‘The exercise would now be relatively easy to repeat identified in the Foundation Stage and that some in future years.’ additional data will be collected to enable further national indicator comparisons to be specified. A further evaluation of the initial exercise will be made towards the end of the autumn term 2011 to explore The long-term intention is gradually to broaden the actual uses of the benchmarking data within local benchmarking outcomes set, beyond the currently authorities. An example has already been received heavily represented attainment data, to include, for from one service in which a resource base ToD was instance, measures of independence and social able to refer to the report when asked during an Ofsted inclusion. This is in line with outcomes valued by inspection what benchmarking was undertaken. the families of children with sensory impairment as explored in a family survey carried out to inform this Following the encouraging start to the benchmarking, piece of work, also available on the NatSIP website efforts will be made to engage at least 50% of LAs (>> Document Library >> Outcomes Resources >> in 2012, (a key performance indicator for the DfE). Participation). Similarly the perspective from parents Clearly, the more LAs that participate the more useful of children and young people with SEN and disability the data will be. As in the initial exercise, sensory cited in the Lamb Report (DCSF 2009) is that parents support services will be able to contribute selected are interested in ‘wider information on outcomes sets of data if they are not in a position to complete achieved by their children’ as well as attainment in the full exercise. All of the performance indicators relation to the National Curriculum core subjects. employed in the initial benchmarking will be included in the second exercise to provide the required If you would like to participate in the 2011 benchmarking continuity of data over time. exercise you can register your interest by emailing Bob Denman at [email protected]. There will be some developments although careful consideration is being given to ensure the overall Bob Denman is a consultant for NatSIP. He is writing manageability of the data gathering. It is likely that on behalf of the Outcomes Group which is co-chaired children and young people with multi-sensory by Nicky Ereaut and Anne Morrell.

Association business Writing up your research If you are about to embark on a dissertation, Linda Watson has a few suggestions to make your task a little easier

ackling a dissertation for a Master’s degree, Implants International or journals that focus on either as part of the qualification as a Teacher of general education or child development. T the Deaf or later in your career, may be the first (and possibly only) time that you undertake this type Book chapters are also useful as they often provide of project. a broader overview of a topic. You may wish to do a literature search using key words, but then you will The first challenge is to choose an appropriate topic. need to be selective, as it will probably return a very If there is a question that you’d really like to explore long list of papers. It can be tempting to start reading then that can be an excellent starting point. You do and go from one paper to another. Frequently you can need to choose a subject that interests you, as it will start out thinking there is very little literature on a topic be on your mind for several months while you plan and then find you are overwhelmed! You can also find and carry out the research. A project that involves relevant papers online. Some authors put a list of pupils or parents with whom you are working can their publications on their web page, so if you find one make data collection much easier, although there can paper by an author then you can find others. Other be ethical issues that I will discuss shortly. Having online material should be approached with caution. selected a broad area, you will need to refine it. While Wikipedia is easy to access, but its accuracy can a dissertation is a big piece of work, you cannot be questionable. Blogs or individual websites often expect to solve, or even scratch the surface of, major contain material that is interesting but actually questions in our field, such as communication choice represents the author’s own opinion rather than or deaf children’s literacy problems. However, you can research that has been judged by others. You may produce a study that will be of value to others. Here still want to include reference to this material, but you are a few recent examples from students at the need to make it clear where you obtained it from. University of Birmingham: • The introduction of baby sign into a nursery (a topic It is important that you are open like this allows you to explore the introduction of any new policy and the management of change). with participants as to the nature • An investigation into my teaching of mathematics of your study (self-reflection can be very challenging but extremely beneficial for developing your own practice). The method may seem straightforward but it still • A consideration of two teenage pupils and why one requires careful planning. If you are thinking of chose a cochlear implant and the other did not (an conducting interviews, for example, then you will need excellent way to explore attitudes of two deaf to justify your choice of interviewees (do you want adolescents and their self-identity). to interview parents and pupils, or just mothers, for example?). Whether you plan to conduct the interviews Having chosen your topic, you will need to work on by phone or face to face requires consideration too. the method. At this stage you need to be reviewing Are you going to use a semi-structured format so that the literature and so finding out what other you guide the interview, or just invite your interviewee researchers have investigated in your chosen area, to tell his or her story? Would you like to record the and their results. The best starting point for your interview or make notes? Have you considered the literature review is peer-reviewed journals, as papers needs of any parents who are deaf? Having made your in these have been reviewed and critiqued by experts decision and planned your interview schedule (or other in the area. You will be able to access these remotely research plan) you will need to gain consent. from your university library. Some papers will obviously be in journals related to deaf education – At this stage the question of ethics can arise. You will Deafness and Education International; Journal of Deaf probably need to complete a form for your university, Studies and Deaf Education; American Annals of the or present a summary of your research to gain ethical Deaf and Volta Review are four journals dedicated to approval. It is important that you are open with our field. You may want to search more widely, participants as to the nature of your study. It is not according to your topic; perhaps looking at Cochlear ethical to pretend you are researching one topic while

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you are actually exploring a different topic of which from your supervisor. Once it is all over, it is tempting the participants are unaware. You will need to gain simply to leave your work on the shelf and heave a informed consent from the participants. You may have sigh of relief. But that is a pity. Having successfully easy access to parents or pupils with whom you are completed a research study, why not write it up as working, but it is important that they do not feel under an academic paper and submit it to Deafness and any obligation to agree to participate and that they feel Education International (DEI) to be considered for free to withdraw at any point without any adverse publication? You may have completed yours a couple effects. Conversely, they should not be able to think of years ago, but it is not too late to reframe it as that they will get any benefits from taking part. an academic paper. It is an additional step, but it Occasionally, participants may decide at the last provides an opportunity to get your work reviewed by minute, even after they have taken part in the interview other academics with a view to getting it published in or completed a questionnaire, that they do not wish the an academic journal. Think back to the topics I listed information to be used and you will need to respect earlier that current students are researching. Maybe their request and discount the information. In writing you are working with a teenager who could be eligible up the study you will, of course, make every effort for a cochlear implant and who is struggling with the to anonymise the data by using pseudonyms and decision and you would be really interested to read maybe changing some personal details that could be about a small study into the topic. Surely others identifying. However, it is not always possible to ensure would be interested to read about your work? that the participants cannot be identified, particularly given the nature of the field of deaf education. Your supervisor is the first person to advise you (and it is customary to include his or her name on the It can be a good idea to pilot your paper), but if your supervisor is unavailable or you need more help or advice then there are academics research tool who are willing to support you through the process. Analsying your data and then presenting your results Email the DEI editors ([email protected]) for will probably be the next challenge. If you have advice or to be referred to someone to support you. designed and implemented the study well, this will You can also find guidelines for authors on the make analysis much easier. It is quite common when publisher’s website (www.maney.co.uk/insructions you start to analyse the data to wish that you had _for_authors/dei). Good luck with your dissertation – asked another question, or designed the study slightly and we look forward to reading about it in the future differently. For this reason, it can be a good idea in DEI. to pilot your research tool (interview schedule, questionnaire and so on) on somebody who will Linda Watson is a senior lecturer at the University not be part of your study. This can help to time the of Birmingham and the Editor of Deafness and interview, check that the wording of a question leads Education International. to the sort of information you are seeking and ensure that your recording equipment works. Once the data collection has been completed, you cannot go back and change it.

Results should be presented clearly and concisely. If you have a small number of participants, which is often the case for a dissertation, it is preferable to provide actual numbers rather than percentages. To say, for example, that 75% of participants answered a question in a certain way could be misleading if there were only four participants so 75% represents just three people. Finally, you will want to draw some conclusions. Beware of over-generalising from a small study. As I said at the start, it is not possible to provide answers to ‘big’ questions in a small study. However, it is often possible to draw some valid conclusions that other Teachers of the Deaf will be able to apply.

These are just a few general pointers about approaching a Master’s dissertation. You will of course receive more detailed, personalised support

Association business The Yellow Brick Road In the first of two reminiscences from Northern Ireland, Margaret Nelson takes a look back at her time spent teaching deaf children

he Northern Ireland BATOD summer meeting floor. The resultant noise created an uproar in the usually takes place on a beautifully warm, classroom. Only one little boy had remained silent T tranquil evening. This year was no exception. and focused on his task. He had had his back to the The evening sky was cloudless and I had the joy of teacher and had not heard a thing – it was my son! driving along a stretch of the Belfast Lough from the city to the venue of our meeting. This ribbon of road Later that day when I arrived at school to pick him up lies along the northern shore of the Lough and I was greeted with the news ‘Do you know your child beneath the Cavehill Mountain. The road winds its has no hearing in one ear and only 50% in the other?’ way past the shipping dockyards where the Titanic I was naturally shocked, but how could his teacher was built and, if you travelled along it far enough, possibly know? As it turned out, the school was would eventually bring you to the Giant’s Causeway. fortunate enough to have attached to it a hearing- impaired unit and she had sent him off to the ToD to The Giant’s Causeway, however, would have to wait have his ears tested (no parental permission for for another day! Our summer meeting was taking hearing tests required in those halcyon days!). place in Jordanstown, just a few miles along this road. Recently an exciting new building had been This was my first introduction to Teachers of the Deaf. erected, so new in fact that it had not yet been If a teacher had not dropped a wastepaper bin on the officially opened. Not only was I looking forward to floor, and there hadn’t been a hearing-impaired unit at engaging with former colleagues but I was extremely the school and, of course, if my son had not had a interested to visit the new complex which now hearing impairment I probably would never have houses Jordanstown Special Schools. become a ToD.

Janice McKillop, our current Chair in Northern Recently I was re-reading Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Ireland, had invited me to ‘reflect and reminisce’ Road Not Taken’ and for me it rang quite a few bells. on my years as a ToD. But where to begin? When If I had not travelled the road of becoming a ToD, how students were unsure about tackling a question I different my life would have been. But I did take what often said to them, ‘Go and consult the dictionary’, so proved to be that yellow brick road. I took my own advice and this is what I found. I worked in a secondary unit during my time as a ToD. Reflect: to express a thought or opinion resulting Teaching teenagers always has its moments. Added from looking back or from past experience. to all the hormonal challenges presented by teenagers, a hearing impairment makes things more than Reminisce: to recall particulars, events or ideas interesting. I reflect on the hearing aids we had to believed to have been known in a previous grapple with 20 years ago – large and heavy. Some existence. pupils were only allowed one. The battle to get two aids was monumental. Receivers and mics were large So, this was my reflection on one of my previous and cumbersome and often not efficient. existences – as a Teacher of the Deaf. How things have altered – digital aids, cochlear Many teachers specialise in a particular area of implants, the latest technology allowing more and more education for a variety of reasons or purely by students to integrate, benefiting them educationally, accident. In my case it was really the fault of my emotionally and socially. Of course, from the ToD’s elder son. point of view, computer technology has had a massive impact on the teaching and learning of students and We all wondered why he was not communicating has enabled them to access the curriculum in a way with family members. He appeared to be bright many of us would never have imagined. enough but never communicated verbally. Could he have a hearing problem? ‘There’s nothing wrong with Reflecting on the achievements of the students can his hearing,’ the health visitor commented when I make one both laugh and cry, but, hopefully, mostly ventured to raise the subject. laugh. I can recall happily the day I received an invitation from a former student to attend his first art While at nursery school, however, his teacher had exhibition at the local art college, or the day a parent inadvertently dropped a metal waste bin on a wooden informed me that her son was just about to graduate

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from Queen’s University Belfast. Then there was the on her recent visit to the Republic of Ireland she said, efficient customer service attendant in a large store ‘I’m sure looking back we would all have done things saying, ‘Mrs Nelson, do you remember me?’ And my differently, or not at all.’ So it is for me. I am quite sure all too spontaneous response, ‘How could I forget?’ I would have undertaken many things differently or not all. We all have to make the best judgements we can in Finally, it would be remiss of me if I did not reflect on the situations in which we find ourselves, especially BATOD and all that it has meant to me over the years. when dealing with hearing-impaired pupils and their Locally I have benefited from being a committee families, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time member, Northern Ireland Secretary (three times), teaching hearing-impaired pupils and being part of President and Northern Ireland Representative to the BATOD. NEC. BATOD was, for me, always a great source of knowledge, expertise and comradeship. It kept me Greetings from Northern Ireland and all good wishes sane in many difficult situations. It was the best for the next academic year to all my friends in BATOD professional development I could have had. both past and present!

Wouldn’t hindsight be a wonderful gift to have? In the Margaret Nelson was formerly a ToD in Northern Queen’s speech which she delivered at Dublin Castle Ireland.

I’ll just try it for a week In the second account from Northern Ireland, Olive McManus reflects on a long career as a Teacher of the Deaf

was delighted when Janice McKillop, Chair of speech trainers and hearing aids. The children had BATOD Northern Ireland, contacted me to ask if bodyworn aids, generally BW81s. Some way into II could do a reprise of my retirement speech for the term, a new child arrived from England wearing our June meeting, to be held in the new school for post-aural aids. Several of the staff gazed in wonder visually and hearing-impaired children at Jordanstown. and agreed that it would never happen in our I was delighted for several reasons. It would be a school. What did we know? chance to meet up with old friends. I would be able to see the new school and I could, as it were, close Having joined the staff a couple of weeks into the the circle, because it was at Jordanstown Schools for term, I found that I had been given the P6/7 Boys’ Deaf and Blind Children that I started my career as a Handwork Class, last two periods on a Friday. Teacher of the Deaf in 1972. I quickly learnt three simple rules: definitely no papier mâché; there must be an end product; don’t have too I had no intention of teaching deaf children. I was much tidying up. We had triumphs and disasters, going to teach French and English at secondary level. disputes and resolutions and the teacher realised However, I needed a temporary post for a year, so in how valuable activity-based learning is in the response to an advertisement I contacted Jordanstown development of communication and relationships. School. I listened carefully to a description of the post I will not weary you with all the details of the class trip and decided that I might have difficulty with that job. to the zoo. Suffice it to say that the elephant tried to After some persuasion I uttered the immortal words, ‘I’ll steal the bag with the lunches from me and, in a tug just try it for a week’. Thus began a career spanning 38 of war, I won. I enjoyed major celebrity status for the years teaching deaf children. remainder of that year.

I had the good fortune to shadow June Bonner in My teaching career was conducted against the the P4 class for two weeks before being fully backdrop of the Northern Ireland’s Troubles, which responsible for the class. What a steep learning were gathering strength by 1972. Several ToDs curve followed! I had a class of ten profoundly crossed the city every day by car, bus or train. Our deaf eight year olds who challenged all of my journeys were frequently disrupted by bomb scares, preconceptions about deafness almost from the actual bombs, army roadblocks, marches, searches first day. It was exciting and demanding work, and burned out or burning vehicles. We learnt to which took over my life. The special school was a live through it, circumvent it, overcome it and carry very supportive environment, with help and advice on living as normally as possible. I feel strongly that always available, particularly regarding group aids, no one has ever given due credit to the schools and

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teachers of Northern Ireland who provided children The audiometer caused a little concern but my with safe environments which were calm, rational explanation was soon checked and accepted. All in and routine – caring oases in a very troubled land. a day’s work! Working with pre-school children and their families was a joy and a privilege and was an My career took a traditional route for the times. area of work I loved. I moved from a special school to two secondary units and then to services for the hearing-impaired, first in From my first teaching days, I have been involved Belfast and then the South Eastern Education and with my professional association. In fact, I think I Library Board. In secondary units I learnt to fight was working at committee level or within a focus the children’s corner, insisting on their inclusion in group from 1988! I have much to thank BATOD mainstream classes, access to careers advice, for, not only training and support, but also providing outings and so on. In 1978, encouraged by articles information and moral support when times were on the subject in the BATOD Magazine, I wrote to challenging. the exam board to ask for special considerations in examinations, written and aural. The general furore I have had wonderful friends and colleagues this caused led several Teachers of the Deaf to form throughout my career but I am especially fond of the Secondary Unit Teachers Group to argue for and grateful to my friends in the South Eastern modified papers and the reading of modern language Education and Library Board. We were together a aural examinations. ‘Stronger together’ was an long time and, as Head of Service, I received great important principle even then. The BATOD Magazine, loyalty and support. We shared the same vision and Journal and meetings were and always will be a vital worked always as a team. I miss them all and think source of ideas and support. Understanding the ‘big of them often, but particularly on dark, wintry picture’ is so important when the teacher is working mornings. I wish you all happy holidays and all the in an isolated setting. I trained at University College best for the future. Dublin under the searching gaze of Sister Mary Nicholas Griffey. A full year of training, generously Olive McManus is a retired Teacher of the Deaf. financed, would be a luxury now. I had never worked so hard in my life but I loved every minute of it. The highlight of the year was the trip to Father Van Uden’s school in Holland.

Again, in the unit, equipment and hearing aids presented a challenge. The Belfast Telegraph, no less, announced the arrival of the Bionic Ear – the FM Type 1 system. My peripatetic teacher brought them to the unit and gave me the instruction leaflet – no training provided then! However, the FM Type 1 and subsequent models made inclusion in class a reality for young people. Cochlear implants followed. I first saw a cochlear implant on the television programme Tomorrow’s World. Colleagues marvelled at the technology but agreed it would never happen in our school. How wrong we were!

My first peripatetic post saw me travelling in west Belfast. This area is now well known for all the wrong reasons. Frequently, home visits were made through back streets and estates littered with broken glass. One developed a sixth sense for areas and atmospheres that did not feel right. The absence of anyone else on the road was a big clue! On one occasion, having swerved right to avoid an army stop-and-search operation, I looked in my mirror to see two large armed soldiers pursuing my car. Sensibly, I stopped and, as requested, opened my boot. An interested crowd gathered. In fact everyone became more interested as my boot was unpacked: toys, games, a doll and teddy (wearing a bandage), balls and skittles, books and crayons.

Association business

What went on at NEC on 24 September 2011 The latest meeting in London saw an excellent attendance, with 25 members present. Andrea Baker reports on the proceedings

The meeting began with the President’s remarks. are ongoing. This will be discussed at the next Gary was set to visit Northern Ireland and the Midland Steering Group meeting. There was discussion around region in October and to represent BATOD at the the demise of the General Teaching Council in regard FEAPDA Conference in St Michielsgestel in the to the registration of qualified Teachers of the Deaf. Netherlands. He felt that the main purpose of the Paul Simpson will write to the Minister to clarify the day was to focus on the huge range of educational situation as this may be a role that needs to be taken changes that are being thrust on the profession in on by BATOD. He will also liaise with Scotland to rapid succession, totally reshaping the educational clarify the situation there. Other issues discussed landscape. He stressed that this is our opportunity included membership groups and price structure for to influence decisions. BATOD and the need to revamp the website, which is showing signs of age. An additional meeting to Three of the day’s workstreams were focused around consider this is planned for December. this theme. The fourth workstream dealt with the ongoing issues around membership. There is significant uncertainty surrounding the restructuring of local authority services and their line The Auxiliary Aids and James Report group produced a management. BATOD has received a number of draft response on auxiliary aids which will be available enquiries regarding the line management of Teachers for comment by NEC as a whole before being submitted of the Deaf where such services have been placed as the BATOD response. It was strongly felt that under new management structures. The main issue legislation should not be prescriptive but aim to support raised by members is the concern that some Teachers local agreement. Likewise, children should not require a of the Deaf are now being line managed by a statement of special educational needs to access this. professional other than another ToD. David Couch There was discussion around what would be reasonable has written a position statement on behalf of BATOD for a) schools and b) local authorities to be considered and this will be available on the website. This item alongside decisions regarding the proportion of funding prompted discussion about free schools having no that may be retained centrally. It is proposed to provide requirement to appoint qualified staff and the resulting some case studies to illustrate good practice. need for very robust service level agreements to ensure that all appointments for deaf students meet The second workstream explored the issue of local local authority standards. There will be an opportunity authority funding. Concern was expressed that the for discussion around the theme of academies and current model appears to be cost-led rather than free schools at the NEC meeting in December. needs-led. It was stressed that it must remain flexible for low incidence needs and to accommodate Judy Sanderson from VIEW gave an update of fluctuations and uneven geographical spread, and recent developments. There has been joint work with there is a strong case for it to be retained in a separate BATOD, NatSIP, NDCS and Guide Dogs for the Blind funding block. Again, comments on this will be sought to develop materials to support the health and well- from the whole of NEC. being of deaf and blind young people. There are plans for a representative from BATOD to go to the next The International Links workstream looked at the VIEW meeting in November. practicalities of establishing links with Europe and beyond. BATOD is hoping to establish an International The afternoon session began by looking at new ways page as a regular feature in the Magazine, which of communicating and raising the profile of BATOD, could include articles, links and opportunities for with demonstrations of Google groups, Facebook and exchanges – a page is already planned for the March Twitter. These will be discussed further at Steering 2012 edition. An area on the website already exists Group meetings in terms of management and so on. but this may need promoting further. An action plan The remainder of the afternoon was spent going will be drafted at the next NEC meeting in December. through and discussing Association reports – these are available in the members’ area of the website. It was proposed that the Membership workstream becomes a regular committee as many of the issues Andrea Baker is the BATOD Midland Rep on the NEC.

Regulars ICT news Although winter is approaching, Sharon Pointeer urges you to take technology into the great outdoors and make the most of some of the fantastic products available for observing and studying wildlife Searching the internet for more information about our bird box camera, I discovered that you can buy a good range of camera-based gadgets for your garden. My next purchase may well be a bird feeder with attached camera, which will allow us to observe the birds at very close quarters. If your school is in a rural area then a barn owl box with a camera would provide an owl with a home and give you the opportunity to watch it too. Nesting sites for barn owls are reducing with our ever- changing environment so you would also be helping nature if you were able to set up one of these. On a similar theme, hedgehog and bat boxes with cameras are also available.

If shy creatures such as deer or badgers visit your area, these are much more difficult to observe. A trail camera allows you to film without being present. The remote camera runs on batteries and can be strapped to a tree or a post. It has a motion sensor so that it only records on the internal memory card when there is movement nearby. Having set it up and left it, the fun part is going back the next day to see what has been recorded. These cameras are ideal for watching all forms of wildlife, such as badgers, foxes and deer, and finding out what is eating or flattening your flowers at night! They can even be used for security monitoring. If you watched the BBC’s Springwatch 2011 you will have seen these cameras in use. ast term my school was lucky enough to have our recently landscaped sensory garden area planted If you want something that requires more input from L by a team from Lloyds Bank as part of the Give the observer, then a camera such as the Meerkam and Gain initiative. The newly formed gardening club wildlife inspection camera might be of more interest. is proving popular with pupils and the garden makes a Small animals and insects are often hidden – you pleasant area in which to sit and chat, as well as know they are there, but you cannot see them very providing outdoor learning opportunities. This has led well. This kit allows you to explore, monitor and record me to consider how ICT might be used in the garden wildlife quickly and easily. The camera is small and and for a wider range of outdoor activities. waterproof and is positioned on the end of a flexible arm so that it can be put into small and inaccessible I started with the Tesco for Schools and Clubs places. The gadget has a monitor to view what the catalogue, where I found a bird nesting box camera camera is seeing, and footage is recorded onto a kit, which will allow us secretly to watch birds nesting miniature SD card for later viewing and editing on your in our school garden. The kit arrived speedily and computer. You can use the camera for wildlife, plants, includes a pine nest box, a camera which will allow ponds, fish tanks and so on. us to see in both the day and the night time and a microphone to hear what is going on. The box A search on the internet will give you a list of comes complete with a long cable which can be suppliers of these items. I found the information on plugged into a TV or video/DVD recorder. If you prefer the Handykam site particularly comprehensive, with to plug the camera into a computer, an optional PC or advice about how to select the most appropriate Mac adaptor is available. If running cables is not your product, instructions for linking devices to your thing, a wireless transmitter can also be purchased. computer and information about the wildlife you might We are looking forward to setting this up ready for be able to record, including tips on how to attract next spring. birds to your garden – www.handykam.com/

Regulars

Websites worth a visit The Birdbox Project – if you are interested in seeing examples of birdbox cameras in use, this website shows how the South East Grid for Learning (SEGfL) Birdbox Project is providing schools with an opportunity to share video and data streams collected from nesting boxes fitted with video cameras and other data-gathering equipment. During the nesting season there is live footage from bird boxes around the region and this site will be worth checking on in the spring – http://birdbox.segfl.org.uk/

SEGfL also has a site where schools can showcase work they are doing. These microsites include a number of nature and other outdoor activities which make use of ICT – http://microsites2.segfl.org.uk/

Nature UK – this BBC website is the home of Springwatch and Autumnwatch. The Autumnwatch series is due to end at the end of November, but felt making. The main website has information, details may still be available on iPlayer. The site contains of training courses and links to other sites related to information about wildlife around Britain and there are outdoor learning. While these are not exclusively video clips from the shows, as well as live webcams ICT related, many make interesting reading. Click to view. There are surveys to contribute to, such as on the resources section to access the blog – the Natural History Museum’s bugs count, and articles www.creativestarlearning.co.uk/ on topics ranging from feeding the birds to how to film wildlife – www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/ Education Scotland – this website aims to support the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence. The RSPB Youth – this section of the Royal Society for the site is extensive, covering all aspects of the Scottish Protection of Birds contains fun and facts related to curriculum. The Curriculum for Excellence through birds. There are things to make and do, including a Outdoor Learning document was published in January recycled bird feeder, games to play and pages of last year, but sadly has little reference to the use of information aimed at different age groups. Schools technology. However, typing ‘outdoor learning’ into can join in with the annual birdwatch, which takes the search box on the website gives over 500 results, place in January and February. The early years link including case studies and videos, which may be a within the learn section has an identification guide source of ideas – www.ltscotland.org.uk/ to common garden birds and there is a more comprehensive guide on the main RSPB website – The Northern Ireland Curriculum – this website www.rspb.org.uk/youth/ relates to the statutory curriculum and has a number of pages and pdf documents related to outdoor ICT in the Early Years – if you have younger pupils learning. While some of the documents are not and want to make use of technology outdoors there very recent, they may well provide ideas for outdoor are a number of articles on the web giving ideas. The projects that would lend themselves to ICT use. East of England Broadband Network has an extensive Typing ‘outdoor’ into the search box will bring these site that includes a section for ICT in the Early Years up – www.nicurriculum.org.uk/ produced by the Homerton Children’s Centre. In the resources section you can find a presentation about TTS Group – this company has been supplying ICT and the outdoor learning environment, which innovative educational resources to primary schools highlights the use of digital cameras, microphones, for over 25 years. Its ICT section includes a specific metal detectors and many other devices to area for outdoor ICT and has items such as support outdoor play and activities – pedometers, mini-metal detectors, walkie talkies and http://ictearlyyears.e2bn.org/ microphones. While you may not necessarily want to buy from this site, it is a good source of ideas. You I’m a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! – this is the can also download a catalogue or have one posted blog for Creative STAR learning, a Scottish company out to you – www.tts-group.co.uk/ specialising in getting children outside and supporting people, groups and organisations to do this. The If you would like to contribute anything to these blog for 17 September was ‘Technology for Outdoor pages, please contact Sharon Pointeer at Learning’; other entries included outdoor maths and [email protected].

Regulars Reviews

Title Positive Parenting – A resource for behaviour management and all families with a deaf child communication give good Publisher NDCS clear examples of the sort Published 2010 of issues families in general Price Free to NDCS members may encounter and a variety Reviewer Clare Boddy, educational audiologist of strategies that have been and pre-school Teacher of the Deaf tried and tested. These with North Lincolnshire Hearing would be very reassuring for Support Team other parents to hear. The information is clear and This is a DVD with a voice-over in a variety of concise from professionals languages, with English subtitles and BSL visual and realistic and heartfelt from translation. It features short interviews with family the parents and families. members and professionals covering five topic areas: Families would find this resource useful and also • self-esteem reassuring as they would recognise their own child • behaviour management in some of these descriptions. • communication • playing and reading The DVD mainly features families with primary-age • the wider family and community. children, with a strong emphasis on signing, although many of the children speak during the interviews. The interviews are informative about the situations a Generally the DVD is well produced and clear. I did variety of families have encountered since their child wonder why the subtitles are always in English even was diagnosed with a hearing loss. The sections on when the voice-over is in a different language.

Title Sign 2 It DVDs practice clips. The Everyday Conversation DVD Publisher What’s The Sign For… includes discussion on BSL grammar, role shift and (www.whatsthesignfor.co.uk) characterisation. Price £20 each Reviewer Corinda M Carnelley, peripatetic The DVDs are subtitled and have a sound overlay. The Teacher of the Deaf with the London subtitles are in BSL word order, which is helpful, and Borough of Croydon the practice clips are not subtitled – so cheating is not possible! (Actually, it is possible because there is a Anyone who has studied for most helpful bit at the end of each disk where the or taken a Level 2 signing practice clips appear again with subtitles, but the exam will be all too aware temptation is not there at the beginning!) that one of the most difficult parts of the process is the These DVDs are an excellent way to gain that all- practice required to become important sign practice (and being able to turn the fluent. It never seems subtitles off means you don’t have to resort to the entirely fair to visit the local paper stuck across the bottom of the screen idea). deaf club merely in order to They are also a great refresher if you took the exam improve one’s competence a while ago and need to sharpen up your skills for – and it is a well-known fact whatever reason. I thoroughly recommend them. that sign language practice DVDs are mostly dire in the extreme.

However, all this is about to change with the availability of the Sign 2 It DVDs. These materials are presented verbally by Karen Denis, a Teacher of the Deaf. They are well organised, easy to use and above all clear.

Each DVD includes over two-and-a-half hours of Level 2 vocabulary, BSL signs, regional variations and nine

Regulars This and that Email news to [email protected] Tinnitus research The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) has launched BETT 2012 its Tackling Tinnitus campaign, a research programme The world’s largest education technology event takes aiming to get a significant step closer to an effective place once again at London Olympia from 11–14 tinnitus treatment. The research team will: January 2012. More details at www.bettshow.com/ • investigate how tinnitus is triggered and how it manifests itself in the brain in order to back up how a specific mechanism gives rise to the aberrant nerve New guidance for implant cell activity that underlies the tinnitus sensation • test the effects of new chemical compounds on centre ToDs tinnitus, with the ultimate aim of developing a tinnitus Implant centre Teachers of the Deaf (ICToDs) have pill recently reviewed and agreed their guidelines for good • research different levels of tinnitus and develop and practice. These can be found if you visit the BATOD test treatment approaches website www.batod.org.uk (Articles >> Guidelines >> • develop a computer simulation showing why tinnitus ICToD guidelines 2011), or alternatively you can email does not always correlate with hearing loss, and why [email protected] for a copy. tinnitus may sound different in each individual. The guidelines aim to provide guidance on how Researchers led by Dr Roland Schaette, the BTA’s ICToDs and local professionals can work together to Senior Research Fellow at the UCL Ear Institute, will ensure the best outcomes for deaf children and young continue to tease apart the details of the mechanisms people receiving cochlear implants. Local ToDs who that give rise to tinnitus, studying tinnitus in humans, have children with implants on their caseloads or in animals and computer models. their schools and units will be familiar with requests from ICToDs to visit their local settings to liaise about their progress. The guidelines cover: Mental well-being • Background information. • Working with children and young people with outcomes cochlear implants. A research study by Katherine Rogers at the • Responsibilities of ToDs on cochlear implant teams. University of Manchester is looking at mental well- • Liaison between local ToDs, ICToDs and implant being outcomes for deaf young people. This is a centres. follow-up to the study of deaf young people carried • Providing information to local professionals. out in 1988 by Peter Hindley and other researchers. • Models of working: clinic based and outreach model. • Professional development needs of the ICToD. Katherine is still trying to trace those deaf people, • Research and development role of the ICToD. to find out what their well-being is like now and • Useful sources of information. what has happened to them. Those deaf people would now be between 33 and 40 years old. They The aim is to ensure consistent and optimal use of would have attended one of these schools in the child or young person’s implant systems to enable London: Haverstock School; Sedgehill School; each individual to achieve his or her maximum auditory St Paul’s School; Oak Lodge School. potential. Collaboration between local educational support services and cochlear implant professionals If you know of anyone who fits these criteria, and is essential if this is to happen. The guidelines help to therefore might have been involved in the original clarify the roles and responsibilities of the ICToDs and study, please pass this information on to them. how they liaise with, and provide information for, local professionals. However, each individual cochlear More information about this study can be found implant centre has its own protocol in place for in the information sheet, available in written schedules of visits, clinic-based appointments, outreach English and BSL, at www.manchester.ac.uk/ visits and reporting on progress. It is hoped that all deafwellbeing/studytwothree/ You can also ToDs will recognise the importance of collaboration contact Katherine Rogers for further details at between local educational support services and [email protected]. cochlear implant professionals and will value this multi-agency working.

Regulars

Abbreviations and acronyms used in this Magazine

AAQAG Access to Assessment and Qualifications Advisory Group NatSIP National Sensory Impairment Partnership A-level Advanced Level NDCS National Deaf Children’s Society ABR Auditory Brainstem Response NEC National Executive Council ACC Ashford Christ Church (High School) NHS National Health Service/Newborn Hearing AGM Annual General Meeting Screening AHS Adult Hearing Screening NPD National Pupil Database ATL Association of Teachers and Lecturers NVQ National Vocational Qualification BATOD British Association of Teachers of the Deaf OAE Otoacoustic Emissions BB93 Building Bulletin 93 Ofqual Office of the Qualifications and Examinations BEd Bachelor of Education Regulator BPhil Bachelor of Philosophy Ofsted Office for Standards in Education – inspectorate BSF Building Schools for the Future P levels Levels of progress for children pre-level 1 BSL British Sign Language PA Public Address BSLBT British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust PC Personal Computer CAF Common Assessment Framework pdf Portable Document Format; type of electronic file CE Church of England PE Physical Education CPD Continuing Professional Development PhD Doctor of Philosophy (degree) CRIDE Consortium for Research in Deaf Education PIB Pre-Inspection Briefing CSA Communication Support Assistant PIVAT Assessment of Learning, Performance Monitoring CSW Communication Support Worker and Effective Target Setting for All Pupils dB Decibel PSHE Personal, Social and Health Education dBHL Decibel Hearing Level PSP PlayStation Portable DCAL Deafness, Cognition and Language (Research Centre) RB Resource Base DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families RCSLT Royal College of Speech and Language DDS Department for Deaf Students Therapists DEI Deafness and Education International RNID Royal National Institute for Deaf People DES Department of Education and Science RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds DESF Deaf Education Support Forum SD Secure Digital (memory card format) DfE Department for Education SEGfL South East Grid for Learning DSP Deaf Students’ Provision SEN Special Educational Needs DVD Digital Versatile Disk SENCO Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator EAL English as an Additional Language SEND Special Educational Needs and Disabilities ETI Education and Training Inspectorate (Northern Ireland) Sense National charity for people with deafblindness FE Further Education SI Sensory Impairment FEAPDA Fédération Européenne d’Associations de Professeurs de SLT Speech and Language Therapy Déficients Auditifs (European Federation of Associations SMS Short Message Service of Teachers of the Deaf) SNAP Stories/Narrative Assessment Procedure FM Frequency Modulation (radio) SRE Sex and Relationships Education FSL Family Sign Language SSE Signed Supported English GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education TA Teaching Assistant HI Hearing-Impaired TBA To Be Advised HIC Hearing-Impaired Centre ToD Teacher of the Deaf HIU Hearing Impairment Unit TTS Educational resources company HMI Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools TV Television HQ Headquarters UCL University College London ICT Information and Communications Technology UK United Kingdom ICToD Implant Centre Teacher of the Deaf USA United States of America INC Individual Needs Centre VI Visually Impaired IR Infra-Red VIEW Visual Impairment: Education and Welfare: ISBN International Standard Book Number professional association for teachers of visually IWB Interactive Whiteboard impaired children KS Key Stage VRA Visual Reinforcement Audiometry LA Local Authority WM Working Memory LEA Local Education Authority LSA Learning Support Assistant If you have found an acronym in the Magazine that isn’t explained in Mac Macintosh (computer) this list, then use www.acronymfinder.com to help you to work it out.

Association business

Regulars

Meetings and training Calendar

This page is an extract from the Calendar to be found on the BATOD website. Please note that it is not exhaustive. Items noted on this Calendar may have been advertised within the Magazine or the information reported by telephone. BATOD is not necessarily the organising body. Please contact the organising body (column 2) for details of conferences, not the Editor of this Magazine.

Date Organisation Meeting topic Venue November 21 The Ear Foundation Behaviour Management Pre-School Deaf Children The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 22 The Ear Foundation Behaviour Management: Deaf Teenagers The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 23 Cued Speech Association UK Introductory one-day Workshop (RCSLT The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB Quality Assured Course) 23 Cued Speech Association UK Speech one-day Introductory Workshop (RCSLT The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB Quality Assured Course) 24–26 Down Syndrome Education Down Syndrome Education Conference The Met, Leeds LS1 2HQ 25 BATOD Foundation Free Study Day – bring your mainstream colleagues. Monks Walk School/Knightsfield Save your voice – let them hear! Looking at the advantages School, Welwyn Garden City of Sound Field Systems in classrooms for everyone involved AL8 7LW 25 The Ear Foundation Implantable Devices 2011: The State of the Art The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 29 The Ear Foundation Teaching Phonics to Deaf Children in Mainstream Settings The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 30 The Ear Foundation Supporting Narrative Skills The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB

December 1 The Ear Foundation Routes to Literacy The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 2 The Ear Foundation Numeracy and Deaf Learners The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 3 BATOD NEC Association business Mint Hotel, Birmingham 5 The Ear Foundation Thinking Skills: KS2 and beyond The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 7 The Ear Foundation TAIT Video Analysis The Ear Foundation NG7 2FB 12 Mary Hare Training Services Critical Self-review Mary Hare Training, Arlington Manor, Snelsmore Common, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 3BQ

January 2012 27–28 BATOD Steering Group Association business Mint Hotel, Birmingham 28 BATOD Scotland BATOD Scotland Committee meeting TBA

March 10 BATOD Annual Study Day, Conference and AGM London 11 BATOD NEC Association business London 12–16 [email protected] Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Therapy Master Class Birkbeck College, University of London

April 21 BATOD Scotland BATOD Scotland Committee meeting TBA 27 BATOD East Measuring Outcomes Holiday Inn, Cambridge CB24 9PH

May 4–5 BATOD Steering Group Association business Mint Hotel, Birmingham 12 BATOD Scotland Half-day Conference TBA 26 BATOD NEC Association business Mint Hotel, Westminster

June 5–7 NHS 2012 Beyond Newborn Hearing Screening. Infant and Cernobbio (Lake Como) Childhood Hearing in Science and Clinical Practice 7–9 AHS 2012 2nd International Conference on Adult Hearing Screening Cernobbio (Lake Como)

The Calendar on the BATOD website is edited as soon as we know about meetings. Additional information about courses and registration forms may also be linked to the calendar entries.

Association business Officers of Nations and Regions BATOD contacts and Magazine Distribution

Northern Ireland Chairperson: Janice McKillop, 6 Kingsfort Lodge, Old Kilmore Road. Moira, Craigavon BT67 0QG Secretary: Joanna McAloran, 6 Liscorran Road, Lurgan, Craigavon BT67 9JR Treasurer: Antonette Burns, 39 Wynchurch Avenue, Rosetta, Belfast BT6 0JP Scotland Chairperson: Jean McAllister, 26 Willowdale Crescent, Glasgow G69 7NL Secretary: Eleanor Hutchinson, Flat 1, Royal Exchange House, Newmarket Street, Falkirk FK1 1JY Treasurer: Anne Pack, 63 High Beveridgewell, Dunfermline, Fife KY12 9ER Wales Chairperson: Revolving post (contact Sally Davies, 23 Turberville Place, Cardiff CF11 9NX) Secretary: Lisa Whitney, Queen Elizabeth High School, Llansteffan Road, Johnstown, Carmarthen SA31 3NL Treasurer: Rhian Gibbins, Rhianfa, 24c Forest Hill, Aberdulais, Neath SA10 8HD East Chairperson: Kathryn Cutmore, 29 Chapel Road, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex CM9 9TL Secretary: Sara Brierton, 16 College Road, Impington, Cambridge CB24 9TD Treasurer: Joanne Hughes, Westley Middle School, Oliver Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3JB Midland Chairperson: Cate Latchford, Buxton House,The Row, All Stretton, Shropshire SY6 6JS Secretary: Angie Wootten, 21 Lugtrout Lane, Solihull, West Midlands B91 2SB Treasurer: Robert Miller, 13 Derby Close, Broughton Astley, Leicestershire LE9 6BE North Chairperson: Elaine Rayner, 25 Frosterley Drive, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, County Durham DH3 4SJ Secretary: Trish Cope, 23 North Drive, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6LX Treasurer: Sandy Goler, 9 Hill House, Cartworth Moor, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire HD7 1RL South Chairperson: Seonaid Ryan, Overton Grange School, Stanley Road, Sutton SM2 6QT Secretary: Joyce Sewell-Rutter, The Ewing Foundation, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1LG Treasurer: Meryl Hunt, Auriol Junior School, Vale Road, Stoneleigh, Surrey KT19 0PJ South West Chairperson: Post vacant Joint Secretary: Hazel Sutherland, 8 Osney Crescent, Paignton, Devon TQ4 5EY; Denise Tudor, Cliff Court, Cliff Road,Torquay TQ2 6RE Treasurer: Beverly George, 8 Forder Heights, Plymouth PL6 5PZ

Articles, information and contributions for the Full guidelines for submissions and abstracts of Association Magazine should be sent to: papers published in the Journal ‘Deafness and Education International’ are to be found at BATOD Executive Officer www.maney.co.uk/instructions_for_authors/dei Mr Paul Simpson tel/fax 0845 6435181 Enquiries related to the Journal to: email [email protected] Dr Linda Watson email [email protected] ...as should Association information and general queries. Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.editorialmanager.com/dei Advertisements for the Association Magazine should be sent to: Mr Arnold Underwood DISCLAIMER BATOD Publishing and The Editors and the Association do not necessarily endorse Advertising items or the contents of advertisements 41 The Orchard published in the Magazine and cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies. Leven, Beverley Please note that items from this Magazine may not be East Yorkshire reproduced without the consent of BATOD and the source HU17 5QA must be acknowledged. tel/fax 01964 544243 Photocopying items may breach copyright. email [email protected]

BATOD Magazine distribution from: The Seashell Trust, Stanley Road, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 6RQ Association Magazine ISSN 1366-0799 Published by The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf, 41 The Orchard, Leven, Beverley HU17 5QA Printed by: Information Press Ltd, Southfield Road, Eynsham, Oxford OX29 4JB Magazine Project Manager: Kath Mackrill sep_batod_obc.qxp 13/10/11 09:22 Page 1