BATOD
The British Association of Teachers of the Deaf
Promoting Excellence in Deaf Education

Association Magazine November 2010

Post-16

Contents

PageArticle Comment
Focus articles
4 Beyond schools and BATOD BATOD and its members do committed and imaginative work for deaf pupils in the school sector. For deaf young adults who go on into further education or higher education, the good experience is often repeated. Further education, sixth-form and specialist colleges have developed good reputations for providing learning support for disabled learners, including deaf young adults. That often also applies to work-based learning providers. Some universities have been particularly responsive to the needs of their deaf students on degree programmes. But the picture is not universally rosy. Some aspects of work in the lifelong learning sector do need more attention, as David Ewens, Programme Director for Equality and Diversity at the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education, explains.
6 A plan for moving on As a careers adviser/Connexions personal adviser (PA), Heidi Leg's job is to work with young people aged 13�19, providing information, advice and guidance. During the Year 10 annual review the S139a Moving on Plan is introduced, and Heidi works with the learners and their parents/carers to fill in the document. Here she shares the highs and lows of the whole process.
8 Sixth-form profile Staff at Mary Hare Sixth Form aim to prepare the students for life beyond the secure, safe and easy environment that is experienced at the school. Most of the students choose to move on to higher education and so staff strive to create independent and confident learners who have enough self-assurance to mix freely and willingly in a hearing world. Teacher Anne-Marie Martin explains what life in the sixth form is like for these vibrant, happy and noisy but hard working, self-motivated teenagers.
10 Pack for the future In July 2010 all deaf teenagers in Somerset were issued with their own Post-16 pack. It was devised and created by staff in the Somerset Hearing Support Team to give young deaf people across the county a resource which they can use to find information, contacts and links to services and personnel they may need to access in the future. ToD Wendy Booth-Boyd reflects on the process of putting together the pack and why it was so crucial to provide a resource of this nature.
12 Spotlight on NATED Jill Bussien outlines the role of the National Association for Tertiary Education for Deaf People (NATED) which exists to promote and develop opportunities for deaf learners in further, higher and continuing education and training.�It also provides advice, guidance and training opportunities to professionals working with these learners, and works closely wherever possible with other professional organisations.
13 Assessment for DSA The Disabled Students� Allowance (DSA) assessment takes the form of an informal meeting with an experienced assessor who will discuss with the students their particular needs in relation to their proposed course, and to ensure that they get the help that they require. DSA assessor Karan Parnell sheds some light on the kind of questions that will be asked and the recommendations that may be included in the report.
14 University challenge Surrey�s Post-16 team is part of the Physical and Sensory Support Service. The team supports students in colleges and universities in and around Surrey. The Post-16 team consists of British Sign Language interpreters, Teachers of the Deaf, a teacher for students with a visual impairment and qualified student support workers. A ToD with the Post-16 team, Jane Barden provides an overview of the ToD�s role in higher education.
16 Equal access to HE Education consultant Hester Glass describes some examples of successful, inclusive policy and practice in HE institutions and aims to raise awareness of innovative practice, as well as ongoing issues. The intention is that these ideas and issues will encourage a dialogue between universities and colleges that are developing their policy and practice.
17 Make time for CHESS The Consortium of Higher Education Support Services with Deaf Students (CHESS) exists to improve the experience of deaf students in higher education (HE). CHESS is run by volunteers and welcomes everybody, particularly deaf people who can offer their point of view on HE. Read details of how to participate.
18 Language support There are very few teachers of deaf children working in the tertiary sector, yet there are many other different types of worker available for the deaf student at college and university. Knowing about these different roles in advance can help the deaf student become a more discerning consumer of linguistic access services. Rachel O�Neill raises some of the issues that deaf students may encounter as they move from school-based support to more independent life at college or university.
20 Interpreters for life! Clarion Interpreting has been providing communication and interpreting services to people who are deaf and hard of hearing and the Deaf community in a variety of settings since 2002. Its aim is to remove barriers and ensure equal access to information and services through clear and effective communication. This means providing reliable and responsive communication services to deaf people throughout their lives, from education into employment and in every conceivable situation thereafter. Catrina Bassett from Clarion has more details.
22 CSW focus For the communication support worker (CSW), the environments of further education (FE) and higher education (HE) hold very different challenges and rewards. Andy Owen, a CSW and Chair of the Association of Communication Support Workers, takes a look at the different roles and explores the skills required for working in each sector.
24 Skill building In March 2009, Signature, as part of the I-Sign project, began to research and develop a new, professionally recognised qualification for communication support workers (CSWs). The aim was to improve the skills of the CSW workforce, in line with the I-Sign project�s objectives. The charity Signature provides an update on the progress of the training.
25 Understanding goes a long way Now a musculoskeletal physiotherapist working at King�s College Hospital in London, Gavin Dean takes us through his years in further and higher education, charting the highs and lows of his long journey to achieve his career ambition. Gavin has Usher syndrome, a dual sensory disability consisting of a profound hearing loss with a visual impairment. In this article he stresses the importance of obtaining the right support and not giving up on your ambitions.
26 Take note D/deaf students attending university are gradually increasing in numbers, and providing qualified notetakers is one way for them to access the curriculum. There are both advantages and disadvantages of having notetaking support yet very few D/deaf students are aware that notetakers exist in universities and colleges. Many young people have concerns about going to university and this can be even more so for D/deaf students, who may worry about how they are going to access information in lectures and seminars. Professional notetaker Melanie Daphne Thorley outlines the notetaking services that are available to them.
General features
28 Ofsted and SEN Ofsted recently published its Special Educational Needs and Disability Review. It considered the early years, compulsory education, education from 16 to 19, and the contribution of social care and health services. BATOD�s Executive Officer Paul Simpson provides a brief round-up of the salient points, based on the Executive Summary.
30 Building a profile A group of Teachers of the Deaf from the London cochlear implant teams and peripatetic/advisory ToDs from services in the South East have put their heads together and come up with jointly agreed criteria regarding when it is appropriate to fit an implanted child with a personal FM system. The FM ChIP provides an individual profile which can be used as a tool to help practitioners to think about a child�s range of skills that are desirable before an FM is fitted. Kathy Owston, Principal Teacher of the Deaf with St Thomas� Hospital CI Team, has the details.
31 Unravelling circulation � the bloody story With a gruesome title like this you might be forgiven for skipping this article. Don�t! This is one of Deafax�s newest resources. Focused on GCSE Biology it looks at the heart, blood and circulatory system of the human body. Kirsty Crombie Smith explains how the idea came about and how this resource has been made particularly deaf-friendly.
32 Supporting BME families In an article published in the November 2007 issue of BATOD Magazine, the National Deaf Children�s Society (NDCS) outlined various services and projects that it aimed to deliver to support black and minority ethnic (BME) families with deaf children. Over the last three years, NDCS has developed its services for BME families, increasing BME membership from 8.5% of the total membership to 13% during this time (August 2007 to August 2010). NDCS BME Development Officer Zobia Kalim provides an update on what is now available for these families.
34 LINKZ for mainstream pupils All ToDs are aware of the need to reach and support mainstream pupils with any degree of hearing loss in new ways. We all know how isolated and �different� they can feel and how their own and others� perceptions of their hearing and how it impacts on them can affect them educationally, socially and emotionally. ToD Helena Ballard helped to organise a fun day out for deaf youngsters in mainstream schools in Greenwich with the aim of making them feel less isolated and providing opportunities for them to make new friends who are dealing with similar issues.
35 FM comparison Following the advent of Dynamic FM by Phonak an investigation was proposed to compare its perceived benefits with Advanced Bionics cochlear implant users to traditional FM. With traditional FM systems the gain of the receiver is set to match hearing instrumental microphones no matter what the environmental sound level. However, with Dynamic FM the transmitter continually measures the average background noise level. James Mander, Paul Harris and Tony Murphy report on the tests.
36 A quick prod Teachers of the Deaf and educational audiologists are an essential part of provision for deaf children. Their roles are many and varied and they work together to help parents, schools/education providers, local authorities, health and any other profession or charity to provide appropriately for each individual child�s needs. It is also necessary to prod the Government occasionally to prevent inadvertent damage to the small but perfectly formed teams all over the country supporting the needs of deaf children from diagnosis to leaving education (or until they reach an age fixed by the authority). In his letter to Ed Balls earlier this year, Peter Keen, Consultant Educational Audiologist with Keenhearing, was intent on �prodding� about numbers of educational audiologists.
Regulars
48 ICT news Storing our photographs on computer has become the norm for many of us, but do we ever print them out? On returning from a special holiday last summer, Sharon Pointeer was determined not simply to dump her holiday snaps on to the computer and forget about them, so she experimented with the iPhoto software and made the very best ones into a photo book. In this article she takes a look at the various software options for making photo books.
50 This and That Items from the postbag and email inbox that could be pinned on the noticeboard for you to read!
  • Amplification technology from Phonak
  • The dangers of vuvuzelas
  • BSL �apps� for the iPhone
  • Multimedia guides to St Paul�s Cathedral
  • RNID�s Impact Report 2010
  • BETT 2011
  • The Deaf Education Support Forum
53 Abbreviations in this issue A lifesaver � the page that every ToD turns to when confronted with a set of meaningful uppercase letters!
Reviews
46 Cochlear Implants for Young Children Early years ToD Anne Willett scrutinizes two books from The Ear Foundation�s Moving On series for parents and families with young cochlear-implanted children.
  • Moving On � Book One: Early Years Education
  • Moving On � Book Two: Listening & Language
These books cover a wide range of information related to the early years in nursery and school settings.
46 Cochlear Implants for Deaf Children: Progressing through the Primary Stage Anne Willett recommends this extremely informative book providing guidance to families and teaching and support staff on enhancing the experiences of primary-aged children with cochlear implants
46 Deafness and Hearing Loss � The Essential Guide Pam Grant, Team Leader with North Lincolnshire Hearing Support Team, casts her eye over this book which aims to help people of all ages come to terms with a diagnosis of hearing loss or deafness and meet the new challenges it may bring to their daily lives.
Association Business
3 Stronger together As the new academic year gets under way, two significant and linked documents have emerged from the Government. The first is the Call for Views, the invitation to respond to the consultation which will inform the Green Paper on Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The second is the Ofsted review of SEN and disability, A statement is not enough, which raises a number of issues around outcomes, assessment and identification, access to and quality of provision, and evaluation and accountability. With these in mind, Gary Anderson stresses the need for BATOD�s agenda to reflect the changing educational landscape and respond effectively to government policies.
11 Have you moved? Change of address form 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 emailfrom here.
39 Understanding access arrangements Qualifications are essential for deaf young people as statistics show that more deaf young people are unemployed than their hearing peers. Qualifications depend on assessment and we need to make sure that deaf students have full access to examinations. In this article, Maureen Jefferson, Co-ordinator of the Modification of the Language of Examinations Group, provides clarification and advice for Teachers of the Deaf about access arrangements for examinations.
42 Testing for reading difficulties Ros Herman, Penny Roy, Fiona Kyle and Zo� Shergold are a team of researchers based at City University and the University of Cambridge who are embarking on a new project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, looking at reading and dyslexia in oral deaf children. Currently recruiting children from all over the UK to participate, they would like interested families to get in touch.
42 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 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.
43 News from ICED The International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) is a huge conference on deaf education. The first congress was held in Paris in 1878 and the 21st congress took place in Vancouver this July. It was a great place to spend a few days in the summer thinking about deaf education, according to Linda Watson, Editor of Deafness and Education International, who reports on events.
44 The BATOD AGM The unconfirmed minutes of BATOD�s Annual General Meeting on 13 March 2010 at St Cecilia�s, Wandsworth Church of England School, Wandsworth, London.
45 What went on at NEC on 25 September 2010 BATOD President Elect Karen Taylor reports on a very stimulating and productive day of BATOD business.
55Subscription Rates Annual Membership subscription rates apply from 1st August.
inside back cover Officers of Regions and Nations Contact addresses of officers of BATOD Regions and Nations
Calendar
56Meetings to know aboutAdvertised courses and meetings which are of interest to BATOD members.
Contact the Website Manager to add a one line entry to this valuable page and/or pay for a small advert in the Magazine.