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| Article | Page | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Articles | ||
| Learning from success - high achieving deaf pupils | 2 | This research report from Dr Steve Powers, University of Birmingham, on high achieving deaf pupils was reported briefly in the BATOD Magazine May 2006 issue. The study was based on interviews with twenty-seven deaf young persons, their parents, Teachers of the Deaf, and other professionals and the belief that we need to publicise stories about successful deaf pupils and young people more than we do in order to raise expectations and to provide r�le models for younger deaf children. |
| Literacy narratives from high achieving former pupils | 4 | Marian Grimes reminds readers of the BATOD magazine of a general picture of under-achievement. In Scotland, the Achievement of Deaf Pupils in Scotland (ADPS) project has provided recent statistical evidence which demonstrates, over a four year period, an attainment gap between deaf and hearing pupils. Hidden within the general statistics of under-achievement are some deaf young people who achieve highly. Finding out more detail about their situations provides uniquely valuable insights into characteristics of their educational experience, from which we, as professionals, have much to learn. Three Scottish former pupils, all young, highly literate graduates, volunteered to relate their memories of how they acquired their high-level skills in reading and writing, in order to stimulate a discussion between themselves and delegates at a recent conference in Dunblane. |
| Enhancing academic achievement | 8 | Marc Marschark (National Technical Institute for the Deaf - Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Aberdeen) argues that if we want to improve the academic achievement of deaf children, we need a better understanding of the cognitive foundations of learning in terms of both (1) the knowledge and skills that deaf children bring into the classroom and (2) the knowledge and skills they need in order to take advantage of educational opportunities and interventions. |
| CAP: helping individuals achieve potential | 9 | Mick Thomas, CAP: Project Manager, 1st April 2002 - 31st March 2006 explains how CAP made a difference. By the end of the Communication Aids Project (CAP), in April 2006, around 5,000 pupils with significant communication difficulties had benefited from assistive technology purchased through CAP, based on specialised assessments of need.
Pupils receiving communication aids reported positive changes in their functional abilities and quality of life, although, of course, no communication aid is a magic wand that can remove all a pupil's difficulties and feelings of frustration. Teachers reported huge academic gains for those pupils who were under-achieving in school because of their communication difficulty. Mick describes how Charlie, who has Saethe-Chotzen Syndrome, exceeded expectations at GCSE and reached the highest grade possible for the tiers he entered in Maths and Art. |
| Achieving through drama | 11 | Angie Wootten (ToD)outlines some of the reasons that Teachers of the Deaf all over the country are instinctively using drama with the children they teach - with positive results. |
| A positive musical experience | 13 | Chris Rocca, Mary Hare School for the Deaf, explains that Music is a fundamental part of society, for both deaf and hearing people, and pervades all aspects of life, from the celebratory and ceremonial to the highly personal and introspective. It is really important to be given the opportunity to explore music, and to be able to form a personal view, either negative or positive, on the subject. Achieving potential requires individual motivation, effective teaching, appropriate resources, flexibility, adaptability, humour and desire. |
| Healthy minds: think positive! | 16 | Pauline Walker, Director NDCS NI and Caroline Doherty, NDCS Healthy Minds Officer explain about 'Developing Mental Health Services for Deaf Children and Young People in Northern Ireland'. The report was prepared by NDCS for the Northern Ireland Mental Health and Deafness Forum, highlighting the needs of deaf children and young people in Northern Ireland and outlining a range of services that should be developed to meet those needs.
Deaf children can sometimes find it difficult to find the right words to express their emotions, to negotiate, reason or to resolve conflict. This can result in frustration and puts extra stress on situations which could be avoided if the child was able to use positive thinking strategies in their everyday life. |
| Discrimination in the job market | 17 | RNID's Employment Training and Skills Service (ETSS) supports deaf and hard of hearing job-seekers with all aspects of employment. The results of an RNID survey issued to mark the start of Deaf Awareness Week in May 2006, showed that only 63% of deaf and hard of hearing people of working age are in employment, compared to 75% of the national work force.
Deaf and hard of hearing people represent a talented and skilled, but largely untapped, labour resource. Every deaf and hard of hearing person is capable of working with the right support. At a time of real skills shortages in key sectors of the economy, the country cannot afford to neglect the vast pool of talent represented by deaf and hard of hearing people. |
| Deaf@x developments | 18 | Kirsty Crombie-Smith explains that Deaf@x is now 21 years old and has lots to celebrate! A new logo kicked off a series of exciting events to celebrate 21 years of projects pioneering innovative and emerging technology to empower the lives of deaf people. Over the last 21 years Deaf@x been committed to using existing and emerging ICT to break down isolation barriers experienced by deaf people. |
| Has anyone thought to include me? | 19 | Leigh Holdway (NDCS)speaks on behalf of fathers of deaf children. It would not be an exaggeration to say fathers find it hard to �stay in the loop� when it comes to their child's deafness. Work commitments frequently constrain the efforts of dads to attend appointments, adapt to new communication techniques and make it difficult for them to be at home for visits from their child's Teacher of the Deaf. As a result, the beginning of the year saw the arrival of a new initiative by the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) specifically aimed at fathers. NDCS has recently launched a mini-website and will host events throughout the year as well as a new booklet and factsheets targeted solely at dads. |
| Linette - Special Needs Teacher of the Year 2006 | 20 | David Muir, Head of Doncaster School for the Deaf proudly presents one of his staff members, Linette France, his Language and Literacy Co-ordinator in this bi-lingual school for the deaf. Linette has recently been awarded the prestigious Teaching Award as Special Needs Teacher of the Year (North). |
| An interview with Beverly George | 21 | When she was asked 'How did you make it as a deaf Teacher of the Deaf?' Beverly George found it easier to use the question and answer technique. |
| Facing the problems of a rural setting | 23 | Karen Woollard, Somerset Sensory, Physical and Medical Support Service (Hearing Support Team)describes 'everyday' activities that go a long way to helping isolated deaf youngsters to achieve potential... and ToDs to enjoy the r�le they play as part of their workload. |
| Stressed out? | 25 | For teachers to achieve their potential and be successful they do need to have regard for their own well being. Staff from the Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire Sensory Inclusion Service, including Teachers of the Deaf, attended a one day workshop on �Managing Stress� presented by two Educational Psychologists, Sheri Wright and Catherine Onions. Changes have been made to some working practices. |
| Walsall Deaf People�s Centre 60th Anniversary Conference | 27 | As commissioning editor Barbara Wolter, ToD Telford and Wrekin to the opoportuntity to attend the Conference, especially as it had the theme of a forthcoming Magazine! Barbara reports on the aspects that the conference organisers felt were contributory to 'Achieving Potential - Skills for Work and Life'. |
| Train to be a ToD at Birmingham University | 28 | Linda Watson outlines the advantages of training as a ToD at Birmingham University. |
| Post-graduate diploma at Hertfordshire | 29 | Joy Jarvis reminds BATOD members of her article almost three years ago about ToD training in the Old Mansion House at Hertfordshire University and points out how things have changed with a modern, vibrant building with state of the art learning and teaching facilities. |
| Manchester: voted the most popular University in the UK | 30 | Wendy McCracken, Senior Lecturer In Deaf Education, Manchester University describes how potential ToDs benefit from the innovations at Manchester University. |
| Supporting high achievement: Mary Hare Training Services | 31 | Sue Lewis, Director of Training describes how Mary Hare Training Services (MHTS), both in its partnership working with University training departments and through its training and specialist school status, is in a unique position to support the work of a range of practitioners pivotal to deaf children and young people's lives. |
| Regulars and General Items: | ||
| Letter in the TES | 40 | On 21 July the TES published a letter from the QCA. Its contents signalled a remarkable change in QCA policy considering we were told that certificate indications were already illegal and Summer 2006 would see the last of them. The text of the letter is reproduced for those who did not see it at the time. |
| ICT Newspage | 42 | Sharon Pointeer provides an update and overview of equipment, meetings and initiatives of specific interest to ToDs. |
| Advertising Rates | 51 | Advertising rates also appear on the website via a direct link. Advertising in the BATOD Magazine is guaranteed to reach over two-thirds of the 2500 (approx) practising Teachers of the Deaf who are members of BATOD - and we estimate that we reach the other third who 'share' the publication, as well as many associated professionals who read the Magazine as well! |
| This and That | Items from the postbag and e-mail inbox that could be pinned on the noticeboard for you to read!
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| International page EENET | 53 | Susie Miles explains that EENET is an information network that was established in 1997. It provides a free service to a variety of teachers, parents, children and policy makers, primarily in countries of the South. It also encourages the flow of information and documentation originating in the South. Through sharing this information EENET promotes access to education for marginalised groups and supports the development of better education for all children. |
| Abbreviations in this issue | A life saver - the page that every ToD turns to when confronted with a set of meaningful uppercase letters! | |
| Classroom resource reviews | ||
| Glue Ear | 32 | Debbie Conyers, Advisory Teacher of Hearing, Solihull Learning Support Service reviews Dr Lindsay Peer's Glue Ear publication. Debbie recommends this as an excellent source of concise information - a good resource for any school SENCo, GPs, speech therapists; early years; health and other professionals working with children and young people in schools and with parents. |
| Koala Company | 32 | Cindy Paulding, the teachers and children at the Kingsley Primary Hearing Centre spent some time discussing the colourful personality cards before sending in their review. |
| Learning from success - high achieving deaf pupiils | 33 | Debra York, Head of Specialist Support Service, Staffordshire, looked in detail at Steve Power's research (see page 2)resisting the temptation to flick straight to the summary and recommendations. However the essence of this in-depth study lies in the detail of the accounts. Debra endorses this research paper as a useful resource to have within a Service/School library to be used by staff or loaned to parents. |
| Association Business: | ||
| ....in the driving seat | 1 | In education Alison Weaver has been accustomed to considering the summer holidays as a quieter time in which she has taken the opportunity to reflect on the year gone by and to plan and prepare for the new academic year. As President of she has quickly learned that much of the work of BATOD continues at a similar pace, even in August. We have indeed taken the time to reflect and to plan but at the same time we have made considerable progress in a number of areas which Alison outlines for BATOD members. |
| What went on at NEC on 30 September 2006 | 36 | Andrea Baker provides a comprehensive report of meeting business to keep members informed. After each NEC meeting we produce a reader-friendly r�sum� of the meeting under the heading of �What Went On at NEC�. We have noted that there is a great deal of repetition in the Minutes when they have appeared in a later edition of the Magazine. We have therefore decided to discontinue the practice of reproducing the minutes although they will still be available from the Secretary on request at [email protected] |
| BATOD UK | A round up of the the reports submitted by the regions to NEC. These reports also appear in the 'regions' folder in the Association Section of the website. | |
| Guidelines for co-operation between ToDs and SLTs | 38 | In 1993 the RCSLT (Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists) and BATOD drew up Guidelines for Co-operation between Teachers of the Deaf and Speech and Language Therapists. They can be read on the BATOD website by following Articles; Guidance and Advice, Speech and Language Therapy Guidelines. Work on updating these Guidelines has moved on and new Guidelines will be put out to consultation through the two organisations and we hope that they will appear on our websites in due course. BATOD members should keep an eye on the Latest Document section of our website where they will first appear once ratified by both organisations' executive councils. |
| BATOD meeting with Nick Gibb MP | 38 | Following our recent meetings with Jacqui Smith, Minister for Schools and Sarah Teather of the Liberal Democrats, Ted Moore and Paul Simpson met with Nick Gibb, Conservative Spokesperson on Schools, in the House of Commons on 22 June 2006. |
| Meetings to discuss DDA and examinations | 39 | Reports from two meetings were called to consider the latest developments and further steps to take in relation to the removal of certificate indications and oral communicators for deaf students taking GCSE and other examinations. |
| Westminster Education Forum | 40 | On 14 September Paul Simpson represented BATOD at a seminar run by the Westminster Education Forum entitled �The future of school funding from 2006 - 2008 and beyond�. A principal concern of BATOD and many of its members relates to the implications of funding going directly to schools, bypassing Local Authorities. It was pointed out that services for children with low incidence special needs such as deafness may be outside of the functions of some heads of schools. The senior DfES official approached Paul later and said that the DfES does indeed recognise that there are certain LA functions which need to be carried out by the LA and are not suitable cases for delegation of funds - low incidence special support being one.
Paul Simpson submitted a short piece putting forward points for consideration for funding 2006-2008 and beyond,for the post-seminar publication. This is included at the end of the report. |
| 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 as some reports have not yet been received or meetings reported on, some are meetings booked for the near future. This list also appears on the website in the Calendar folder, | |
| PAIG steering committee meeting | 45 | Jen Nicholson, BATOD representative at PAIG, provides a summary,mainly for information only. Issues may be taken to the PAIG Steering Committee and potentially from there to BSA Council meetings by contacting Paul Simpson, BATOD Secretary. |
| Annual meeting between BATOD and NASEN | 46 | Report of the meeting where Executive members of both organisations share issues and ideas. |
| DfES adviser discussion | 48 | Margaret Davies is the DfES SEN Adviser and she joined Ted Moore, Paul Simpson, Alison Weaver on a telephone conference call on Tuesday 26th July at 2pm. The meeting initially focussed on the notes from the previous meeting and then covered other items of mutual interest. These are outlined in the report. |
| NDCS Children�s FM Working Group | 49 | A short report from the NDCS Children's FM working group. |
| Conference call between BATOD and NAHT | 50 | Following BATOD's STRB submission we were contacted by the NAHT asking for a meeting to discuss issues of mutual interest to our respective members. The points noted uin this report were raised and actions decided. |
| Charitable status | 51 | A brief update on the progress of the consideration of BATOD taking on charitable status. |
| Subscription Rates 2006-2007 | 55 | Annual Membership subscription rates apply from 1st August. |
| Have you moved? Change of address form | 55 | Reading a colleague's Magazine? Wondering what has happened to your copy? If you are not receiving your BATOD Magazine and Journal perhaps it is because we have no record of your current address. Put this right by completing the form and returning it to the BATOD Membership Secretary, or simply email from here. Membership Registrar |
| Officers of Regions and Nations | inside back cover | |
| Calendar | ||
| Meetings to know about | 56 | Advertised courses and meetings which are of interest to BATOD members. Contact the website manager to add a one line entry to this valuable page or pay for a small advert on the Magazine Noticeboard. |