Hearing Impaired Unit

There has been a resource base at Stoke Park for over twenty years, supporting deaf pupils from across Coventry.  We use a Total Communication approach, which means that we combine British Sign Language and spoken English to enable our pupils to fully access the curriculum across the school.  We are part of Coventry’s Sensory Team who are centrally based and work across the city in many different educational settings.

All the deaf pupils at Stoke Park are enabled to participate in mainstream lessons with their peer group, but may also need some extra one to one support.  We tailor all our one to one lessons entirely to the needs and progress of individual pupils using practical approaches whenever possible; we give time for pupils to organise their own work; we arrange small ‘visits’ outside of school which might only be a walk down to the local shops or park, but which can enable learning opportunities which our pupils may not have at home.

We are able to work closely with other agencies involved with our pupils, for example audiology departments at various hospitals across the Midlands; Speech and Language Therapists; Mental Health Services and the National Deaf Children’s Society.

We work closely with parents and with Howes Primary School (where Coventry’s Primary Resource Base for deaf pupils is situated) in order to ensure a smooth transition from Year 6. Transition support is also a key feature during year 10 and 11 and we make the most of our close links with local colleges, meaning that we are aware of which college has the best support systems in place in order to help our students.  We are particularly well informed about Warwickshire College and have taken part in open days for KS4 students; supported students through the application process; continue to be informed about previous students’ progress, which then enables us to advise current students.  Our pupils have gone on to study tourism, sports and vehicle repair and engineering amongst other subjects including their A Levels at Stoke Park’s Post 16 Centre.

Staff in the resource base are trained to at least Level 2 (and mostly Level 3) in BSL and are experienced in working with a variety of deaf pupils in secondary and primary settings.  We regularly update each other on pupil progress and continuously strive for improvement in how we support pupils.  Depending on the number of deaf pupils within the school there will be at least one Qualified Teacher of the Deaf managing the work of the resource base, and a team of suitably qualified teaching assistants.  The Sensory Team also employs a BSL Tutor and support worker who usually visits weekly to work with each pupil in order to enable them to achieve BSL Level1 and 2 during their time at Stoke Park.

As a result of our high standards of support for our deaf pupils, our students all succeed at above expected levels.  They demonstrate excellent attendance, are valued members of the school community and are enabled to flourish in the world beyond school.