Proposal to open a specialist provision for deaf and hearing impaired children at Moor Allerton Hall Primary School from September 2014.

Public Consultation Meeting:

Proposal to open a specialist resourced provision for deaf and hearing impaired children at Moor Allerton Hall Primary School from September 2014

Date: 1st October 2013

Venue: Moor Allerton Hall Primary School

Chair: Lesley Savage (Capacity Planning and Sufficiency Lead, LCC)

Panel: Tony Bowyer (Sensory Service Lead), Beate Schmidt-Rohlfing (DAHIT 0-9 coordinator), Mavis Wilkinson (PrimaryAdvisor 0-11 Team, Learning Improvement), Adele Robinson (Principal Development Officer, Built Environment), Sarah Rutty (Headteacher Bankside Primary School), Lesley McKay (Headteacher Moor Allerton Hall), Pat Heron (Chair of Governors, Moor Allerton Hall)

Notetaker: Michelle Corns

Introduction

Lesley Savage introduced the meeting and the panel introduced themselves and explained their role in the process.

Presentation

Tony Bowyer gave a presentation and outlined the proposals explaining why the service was needed, who would deliver the service and the benefit to the school and pupils.

Headteacher’s Comments

Lesley McKay, Headteacher at Moor Allerton Hall felt the school reflected the diverse local community and that the provision would enhance this and increase empathy, patience and understanding of deaf and hearing impaired children. By starting provision in reception the whole school would grow with the children and learn how to be inclusive. She said it was a great honour for the school to have this opportunity,

Statutory Consultation Process

The proposals will be subject to a Statutory Consultation consisting of

  1. The public consultation to explain the proposals and take any comments and concerns back to the Executive Board and Elected Members.
  2. If Executive Board give permission to progress the proposal there would be a Statutory Notice Period when the proposals would be published in the media and there would be a final opportunity to comment.

The meeting was then opened for questions and answers from the attendees, which consisted of parents of deaf children, parents of children at the school, and elected members.

How far has this information be sent out?

The document has been sent to every parent of children at the school, governors of the school, local elected members and MPs, parents of severely or profoundly deaf children and other stakeholders. There will also be further meetings with school governors and parents of deaf children.

Will parents of deaf children still have a choice which school their child attends or will the choice be restricted?

The Local Authority’s role is to look at where the provision outlined in each child’s statement could be met. It has to take into account parental preference as well as costs in making decisions. But parents would still have the choice to express their preferences about where to send their child as they do now. The legal framework would apply. . The proposal is about extending that choice, not restricting it.

Why is the proposal only for 14 children when there are approximately 600 children across the city who are deaf or hearing impaired?

Most of those children are in a mainstream setting. Only a small proportion of hearing impaired children in Leeds are severely or profoundly deaf and the number is manageable by the school.

Is it worth setting up a few resource bases in other schools across the city?

Because of the low numbers this is not viable at the moment but we could revisit the idea in the future. Most parents want to send their child to their local mainstream school where for example other family members and friends attend.

What about an after school club to learn BSL? And for staff to learn as well (including the Headteacher)

There will be plenty of opportunities for staff, children and parents to learn BSL. The Headteacher has a BSL qualification from years ago but may need a refresher. Parents want to learn BSL too so this is a possibility

How do you intend to keep in close contact with parents as there was nothing in the presentation about this. Parents should be fully involved with their child’s learning.

Wholeheartedly agree. Ms McKay stated her clear commitment to involving families as much as possible in their child’s education. Regular meetings would need to be planned in.

Where did deaf children from Cottingley go?

Mainly to Bankside and Robin Hood. One went to Bradford

What if there are 2 deaf children who form a close friendship and one moves to another school? The other child may be left feeling isolated.

The reality is low numbers of children use BSL so it is difficult to get a large peer group among deaf children. Hopefully in a happy, healthy school parents wouldn’t want to move their child into a mainstream setting. The deaf children would also have friends within their hearing peer group and should not be isolated if one pupil left. Sarah Rutty explained how well included the deaf children are with their hearing peers at her school

What happened to the staff at Cottingley?

As they were employed by the Sensory Service they were moved to where the need was within the service. Some were moved to work at Bankside and Robin Hood.

If children need BSL could they still go to a local school with an interpreter on site?

We would have to look at the cost implication of this as well as whether the local school could meet the provision and needs as described on the child’s statement of SEN. The LA would consider every case individually.

Other comments/Views

Pat Heron Chair of Governors said that School Governors had been looking at this proposal for several weeks/months and there was tremendous support for the proposal.

Sarah Rutty – Bankside has three year 3 children who use BSL and they has made the staff and children at school more sympathetic and there has been overwhelming support and enthusiasm. Even children who don’t need BSL have been having conversations in sign language.

Parent – the close proximity of Allerton Grange High School will make transition to high school easier.

Consultation with Non-Teaching staff - Thursday 3 October 2013

Present: Tony Bowyer (Sensory Service Lead), Karen Turner (DAHIT Team Leader), Lesley McKay (Headteacher Moor Allerton Hall), Non-Teaching Staff from Moor Allerton Hall Primary School

Notetaker – Miranda Foxton (LCC)

Introduction

After everybody had introduced themselves to the group Tony Bowyer and Karen Turner described how the resourced provision would operate. Following this, the staff were invited to put questions to Karen and Tony.

Questions raised

  1. Children in class need 1-1 support, how do we incorporate the support for deaf children into our day?

Answer: The specialist support required by the deaf pupils would be provided by the Sensory Service. School support staff would sometimes help deaf pupils in the same way that Sensory Service staff would sometimes help hearing pupils. Where a child needed more support e.g. because of physical or medical needs funding for this would come to the school through the statement and FFI.

  1. What would happen if a member of the specialist support staff is off for a period of time?

Answer: The sensory service would try to cover from within its own staffing but obviously they do not have staff waiting to be called on for cover. If staff are available at Allerton grange they could easily come over to support. If no cover were available the school and service would have to look at how it might adjust arrangement s or timetables for the pupils to take account of the absence. If necessary the school would need to get supply from Deaf STARTY or an agency and use the FFI it receives to pay for this.

  1. Is there any proof that deaf children do well in a unit?

Answer: The preferred name is resourced provision as a unit implies the children are educated separately from the mainstream. This provision gives the most flexibility in terms of devising individual learning programmes and meeting individual needs. There is very little strong evidence about different sorts of provision for deaf children as the cohorts are very small and the type of children in mainstream, resourced provision or special school are very different. Generally resourced provisions have been shown to have good outcomes for children with SEN.

  1. How long does it take an adult to learn BSL?

Answer: It takes about 6 years to become an interpreter, but there are levels of BSL. You can learn level 1 in a year

  1. Is there funding to learn BSL?

Answer: The sensory service will provide basic BSL training. If people wish to learn to a higher level from other providers the school would have to look at whether it wanted to fund this using the money if gets through FFI

  1. Someone asked if this goes ahead will there be disruption around the building?

Answer: There will be limited disruption. The timing of building work will be important, as will the plans to minimise the impact on learning

  1. How many deaf children are there in Leeds?

Answer: There are over 600 hearing impaired children on the Sensory Service caseload in Leeds but many of these have only mild or moderate impairments. There are far fewer children who are severely or profoundly deaf.

Overall feedback:

The staff were asked for their views on the proposal. There was positive feedback from all the staff present. They would welcome the provision at the school.

Consultation with Members of School Council - Thursday 3 October 2013

Present: Tony Bowyer (Sensory Service Lead), Karen Turner (DAHIT Team Leader), Lesley McKay (Headteacher Moor Allerton Hall), School Council members.

Notetaker – Miranda Foxton (LCC)

Introduction

After everybody had introduced themselves to the group Tony Bowyer and Karen Turner described how the resourced provision would operate. Following this, the Council members were invited to put questions to Karen and Tony.

QUESTIONS RAISED

  1. Will the deaf children come into Key Stage 2?

A)They will start in Reception and Y 1 in Sep 2013 and move up though the school.

  1. Where can you learn sign language?

A) We will teach children how to sign at school. We will run clubs and lessons etc.

  1. Can deaf people lip read?

A)Not all of them but lots of them can

  1. Would it cost any money for the school to get the unit?

A)The school would get some extra money from the council to run the provision. The school would not pay for the specialist staff as they would work for the service. The school would not lose money on having the provision and so it wouldn’t affect any of the other things that the school spends money on.

  1. Where will the extra classroom be?

A)We are not sure yet, but it won’t be built on your playground

  1. Are we going to learn sign language and will there be a club?

A)You will definitely get to learn BSL. There will be a club.

  1. If there is going to be a new class who will be the teacher?

A)We don’t know that yet, but you will get to know them in Assembly and be introduced to them

  1. Will the deaf children be able to come outside and play with us?

A)Yes, they will play outside and take part in activities just like you.

  1. Why are they coming to School?

A)They are coming to learn, read and write just like you, as well as meet new friends

  1. Are the first deaf children going to start in Reception or Year 1?

A)There will probably be one or two in both reception and Y 1

  1. What if the fire alarms go off and they don’t hear it?

A)They could have a pager that would vibrate to inform them or possibly a flashing light on the wall to let them know

CLASS OPINIONS

The Council members were asked what had been the opinions of the classes that they represented:

Each class consulted had only positive comments. They all thought it was really a good idea and a chance to make new friends and also learn sign language. Some expressed the view that they were disappointed that the children weren’t coming into their classes.

Consultation meeting for parents of deaf children held on 9 October 2013 at the Civic Hall

Panel:

Tony BowyerSensory Service Lead

Beate Schmidt-RolfingDAHIT 0-9 Co-ordinator (BSR)

Lesley McKayHeadteacher, Moor Allerton Hall Primary School

Michelle Corns – Minutes

The Proposal

Tony Bowyer summarised the proposal. It is to set up specialist provisionat Moor Allerton Hall Primary School for approximately 14 severely and profoundly deaf children. The children will be introduced into reception class and year 1 from September 2014. Tony Bowyer informed the panel that there has already been a positive response from the school. The specialist staff in the provision would be part of the Sensory Service.

The meeting is part of the formal consultation process that will finish on 25th October and then go to the Executive Board for final decision. If all goes well, it is anticipated that a decision will be made in spring 2014 with the first intake to be in September 2014. Feedback is needed, whether positive or negative. The next part of the consultation would be the Statutory Notice would be going out to a wider audience including the press.

Lesley, McKay is very enthusiastic about the project and explained that Moor Allerton Hall was already a very inclusive school which reflected the wide diversity of the community. Pupils range from those who are native to Leeds to ones who are new to this country, and those who are bi-lingual. She said that parents whose children attended the school are very keen on the proposals. She wants parentsto be involved with their children’s learning and activities at the school.

She went on to explain that there were already a number of children attending the school, who have a severe or profound disability and the extra provision will be an extension of this. She would like the whole school to learn BSL as this will develop the language expertise in school. She felt that the children in the school would learn important life skills from having friends who are deaf and use BSL.

Beate Schmidt-Rolfing explained that if children grow up together with deaf children, it really works and expands their communication and social skills.

Tony added that the school has a good Ofsted report and is on the doorstep of Allerton Grange High School so it would make the transition to year easier as they would already be familiar with the students at Allerton Grange.

The panel was then open to questions from the parents:

  1. Parent:What happens if there are supply teachers, as my child previously had a negative experience because the school had a lot of supply teachers who were not trained?

TB: it will be important for all staff who come to work in the school to understand about working with deaf children. Assistance in this and direct support for the children would be available on a daily basis at the school. As staff become more skilled, the experience will be more positive. Beate has already been asked to provide training to a supply teacher.

  1. Parent: What sort of provision are Leeds City Council going to put in to maintain the standard and monitor this at Moor Allerton Hall? What reassurances will there be that the situation that occurred at Cottingley will not be repeated?

TB:It’s about working in partnership with the school taking responsibility. There will be a good Service Level Agreement and it is of key importance to maintain the positive attitude in the school. This needs to be monitored well, progress needs to be tracked rigorously, the school and service need to be open and honest and deal with issues immediately, and learn from what happened at Cottingley.

  1. Parent: I felt that it took a tremendous effort to get anyone to listen to our concerns at Cottingley. How would you ensure that this never happens again?

LMK: It might be helpful to have a parent led consultation group. The Senior Leadership Team have the same enthusiasm and would like the dialogue with parents to continue. Tony added that the whole of the Sensory service was being restructured and staff members of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Team (DAHIT) would be supported by the service. The problems at Cottingley have not happened in schools which have had resourced provisions in other LAs he has worked

  1. Parent: I heard a rumour about changes to bi-lingual education for deaf children in Leeds. I heard that Leeds was moving away from a BSL bilingual approach and that and that deaf children would be encouraged to only use English.

TB:This is not true, quite the opposite, we need to provide quality provision to give as much choice as possible. It is not about English or BSL but about real bilingualism. We also need to do all we can to raise the achievement of BSL users as well as all deaf children.