About | 01.11.2017 | By paul_simpson

About BATOD South

BATOD South covers an area comprising the 33 London Boroughs and Home Counties. Members are all practitioners in the field of deaf education, and share good practice, advice and strategies with one another to promote attainment and inclusion of deaf learners in a variety of settings. In the South region we also have other professional bodies working with and supporting the teaching of deaf children and young people such as the Ewing Foundation, GLADE, Cochlear Implant teams and Mental Health Support Services, and we have good relationships with clinicians and manufacturers/suppliers of audiological equipment.

Committee Membership
The South Region Committee is made up of Chair, Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer and other members. We aim to meet at least once every half-term, usually at Sellincourt Primary School, Tooting. .

South Region Membership
We currently have 400 members within the region. Our membership is made up of Teachers of the Deaf and associated professionals working in all sectors of deaf education – peripatetic/advisory services, units/resource bases in mainstream schools, special schools for deaf children or those with complex needs, health services, other supporting organisations.

We send information to members regularly about the work of BATOD both nationally and regionally, so it is important that the BATOD Membership Secretary is informed of any change in your circumstance, address or workplace.

Representation on National Executive Council (NEC)
The NEC meets four times a year and BATOD South is always represented. The NEC calls upon members to contribute to various Government papers and is involved in high level representation in many different areas on behalf of Teachers of the Deaf, so we regard our participation as a vital contribution to the future of deaf education.

Conferences and meetings for South Region Members 
The South Region has organised regular meetings and training for its members and has worked to hold these in different venues across the region and at different times to allow for optimal participation. We are aware that many boroughs and counties hold their own training for teachers of deaf children and we are aiming to signpost members to any open training opportunities. Details about meetings and training can be found on the BATOD website in the website calendar and also in the BATOD South folder in the Association section.

The most recent training event was held in November 2015 at the new Frank Barnes School building in Kings Cross and was entitled “Access arrangements from Phonics Screening to ‘A’ levels – are you up to date?”. The session leaders included Debbie Staneva (EYFS), Meryl Hunt (Primary), Susan Arkley (CAMHS/Alternative provisions) and Paul Simpson (Secondary/HE/FE) who shared current philosophy and practice with those attending, delivering the information in small groups. The afternoon included our AGM.