Mrs K Dalgoutte

    Teacher of the Deaf

Westgate’s Resource Base for Deaf Children caters for children who have an Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP) with deafness as their primary need.  All of our children are valued members of the school family and are fully included in all aspects of school life.

Our Vision
We aim to provide our pupils with the opportunity to realise their full potential by creating an inclusive whole-school environment and a broad and balanced multi-sensory curriculum appropriate to each child’s needs.

We believe strongly that deaf students can achieve as well as their hearing peers. Westgate has a strong inclusive ethos, high expectations and a commitment to improve outcomes for deaf children.

Our Aims:
- To develop the resilience and self esteem of deaf children and help them to develop their own individual identities.
- To provide specialist teaching from a Teacher of the Deaf and our excellent support staff.
- To create an environment that encourages the development of physical, intellectual, language, emotional, social and communication skills.
- To support class teachers and to work with children in order to deliver and provide full access to the National Curriculum.
- To provide communication support as needed.

- To identify the individual needs of pupils and to provide suitable interventions and programs to support their learning.
- To provide adjustments to the school day that allow Deaf children to have an equal chance at success.
- To develop independence and management of all audiological equipment including hearing aids and implant devices.
- To promote a love for learning and encourage children to achieve their full potential.
- To prepare children for future learning and transition to Secondary school.

All of the children within the Deaf Resource Base are placed in their age-appropriate mainstream class and are supported in class as necessary by a specialist LSA. The amount of time spent in the Resource base depends on the individual needs of each child. We believe in integrating our deaf pupils into their classes as fully as possible whilst withdrawing them into the Resource Base, when appropriate, for more structured intervention.

SIGN LANGUAGE TUITION

A deaf BSL teacher visits regularly to work with deaf students who wish to improve their BSL skills.

SPEECH THERAPY

A speech and language therapist who has specialised training to work with deaf children works regularly with students to develop communication skills including speech production. Speech and language sessions are arranged for individual students or small groups according to need.

AUDIOLOGY

Resource Base staff conduct regular checks on hearing aids, BAHAs, cochlear implants and radio aids. They can troubleshoot many minor issues and ensure technology is working optimally. There is close liaison with the local audiology departments and hearing implant centres so repairs or
replacements can be arranged quickly for when equipment issues are more complicated to resolve. We also work closely with the County’s Sensory and Physical Service technical officer to ensure access to radio aids and associated equipment.

Contact:  teacherofthedeaf@westgatecp.co.uk