Contact: Eric Smith, Education Officer SEN; 01962 846245; [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This paper outlines the provision available to deaf and hearing impaired children in Hampshire. It identifies trends in the pattern of numbers of children attending resourced provision for deaf and HI pupils in mainstream schools, and the possible implications of those trends for the viability of these provisions. It also outlines a number of issues affecting, or likely to affect, the quality of provision for deaf and HI children and their families.

1.2 The contents of the paper have been shared with the Children's Services Department's Deaf and HI Group which supports the proposal that consultation on these issues takes place with appropriate schools and other parties interested in the provision for deaf and HI children and young people.

1.3 The following decision is sought:

1. That consultations take place with appropriate headteachers, governing bodies and staff of Hampshire schools, with relevant County Council Services and with parents, children and other interested parties on the proposed:

· communication policy to underpin provision for deaf and HI pupils

· pattern of resourced provision for deaf and HI pupils in mainstream schools

· support for pre-school children and their families.

2. That the outcomes of consultations on the proposed pattern of resourced provision be reported to the Children's Services Policy Review Committee and the Executive Member in 2006.

3. That a report on services and provision for pre-school deaf and HI children and their families be presented to the Policy Review Committee and Executive Member for Children's Services.

2 Background

2.1 Nationally, it is estimated that one to two children per 1,000 are born with a permanent, significant degree of congenital deafness. Of those identified at an early stage, an estimated 50% will have a moderate hearing loss, 25% a severe hearing loss and 25% a profound hearing loss.

2.2 Based on the higher rate of diagnosis (i.e. two per 1,000), there would be in Hampshire approximately 170 school age children with a moderate loss (including pre-school and post-16 students), 85 with a severe loss and 85 with a profound loss. The actual numbers in Hampshire as recorded by the Specialist Teacher Advisory (STA) Service are (May 2005): 220/230 with a moderate loss, 85 severe and 125 profound. Most children who are diagnosed with a hearing impairment are successfully educated in mainstream schools. Children with a severe or profound loss which is having, or is expected to have, a significant impact on the development of language and/or on other aspects of their social, emotional or educational development, may meet the County Council's criteria for placement in resourced mainstream provision.

3 Specialist provision in Hampshire

3.1 Hampshire has six primary phase (including infant and junior) and four secondary mainstream schools with resourced provision for pupils who use auditory/oral means of communication. Two primary and one secondary school provide for pupils who use sign language as their main, or as a significant means of, communication. (Schools are listed in Appendix 1.)

3.2 Hampshire children may access mainstream resourced provision in Portsmouth (Penhale Infant and Northern Parade Junior schools) and Southampton (Tanners Brook Infant and Junior and Redbridge Secondary schools).

3.3 No maintained special schools or early years centres in Hampshire are designated exclusively for HI. The Elizabeth Foundation, a voluntary organisation in Portsmouth, provides advice and support to parents and pre-school sessions, exclusively through auditory/oral communication.

3.4 Children with hearing impairment as part of a global developmental delay or alongside other complex needs may receive support from the Portage Service in the early years. When of school age, children with hearing impairment as part of a global development delay may be placed in a special school (e.g. for learning difficulties) or resourced provision other than for HI.

3.5 The Specialist Teacher Advisory (STA) Service provides support to children and advice to parents and to staff in schools and early years settings, in meeting the needs of deaf and HI children. STAs do not normally provide regular support or advice to pupils in resourced provision where specialist staff are already employed, but monitor their progress and may be involved at key stages in their education, such as preparation for secondary and post-16 transitions. The current caseload of the STA Service is approximately 900 children.

3.6 Children and their families may receive the support of a number of services provided by the County Council. As children recognised as having special educational needs, deaf and hearing impaired children (and staff working with them) have access to the Educational Psychology Service.

3.7 Voluntary organisations: In addition to the Elizabeth Foundation, the Hampshire Deaf Association (HDA) organises social and extra curricular activities for young people and provides support and advice to parents. The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) has offered a family communication service (until March 2005) and Face Us, a voluntary organisation based in Basingstoke, has been running workshops for young people and parents and offering communication support and advice to families. (See Section 5 below.)

4 Pupil numbers and changes in the pattern of placements

Maintained schools

4.1 Agreed Place Number (APN) and Numbers on Roll (NOR) in resourced mainstream schools in January 1995, 2000 and 2005 are set out on Appendix 1.

4.2 The following changes in the need for places over this ten-year period are noted:

· The total number of places funded (APN) in auditory/oral primary and secondary schools has reduced from 69 (January 2000) to 63 (January 2005), a reduction of 9 %. The actual NOR changed from 61 to 56.5 over the same five year period.

· The number of places funded (APN) in auditory/oral primary schools has reduced from 42 (January 1995) to 29 (January 2005); a reduction of 30 %.

· The total number of places funded (APN) in auditory/oral secondary schools has increased three-fold since 1995, but has remained fairly constant since 2000.

· The actual NOR in January 2005 was below the APN in three schools where the APN is now at a minimum level to sustain appropriate staffing levels. (Park View Junior, Henry Beaufort and The Westgate schools.)

· Woodcot Primary School (signing) has experienced a marked change in NOR; from 10 pupils in January 2000, the school had only two pupils in January 2005.

· The Westgate Secondary School (signing) provision opened in 1999. The roll grew to eight (January 2004) over five years, and is now five (September 2005). The current age profile (Appendix 2) and reduced numbers in Woodcot Primary School indicate that a continuing reduction in numbers at The Westgate School may be expected in the next few years.

Independent and non-maintained schools

4.3 The numbers of pupils in independent and non-maintained schools (autumn 2005) is set out in Appendix 3.

· Twenty-five pupils (two primary, fifteen secondary and eight post-16) attend independent/non-maintained schools.

· Both primary age pupils attend Mary Hare School; one placed by order of the SEN & Disability Tribunal (SENDisT).

· Twelve pupils attend schools where sign language is the main means of communication and thirteen attend schools using auditory/oral mode.

5 Links with other services/agencies

5.1 The main links with other agencies for children with HI and their families are:

Hospital audiology departments

Speech and language therapy services

Cochlear implant centres

Social care services, including deaf services

Voluntary organisations; mainly RNID and NDCS nationally; and locally the Elizabeth Foundation, Hampshire Deaf Association and Face Us.

5.2 NHS Audiology Departments: children receive their assessment and diagnosis of hearing impairment through an Audiology Department. The NHS has now introduced its Universal Neonatal hearing screening programme. The median age when children may be identified as having congenital deafness is now three months. The benefits of early diagnosis include: early advice to parents; early referral to STA and other services; early intervention, especially with appropriate measures to assist the development of communication skills and of language. Effective early intervention should increase the chances of successful inclusion of deaf children into mainstream schools and society.

5.3 NHS speech and language therapy (S&LT) services: referral to S&LT services is normally made for children who are expected to experience a significantly greater difficulty than the norm in developing communication or language skills. Most S&LT services in Hampshire employ a specialist who has a post-graduate qualification in working with deaf and HI children, or who has considerable experience with this group of children. Some children may access S&LT support through a Cochlear Implant Centre.

5.4 Cochlear Implant Centre (CIC): the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre is located in the University of Southampton. Children being considered for or supported through the process of implant are seen at this or other CICs in the country. The CIC employs its own teachers of the deaf and specialist S&LTs.

5.5 Social care: deaf and HI children, and their families, may be supported by the Children's Services Department for reasons relating to their wider care needs or the family's circumstances. The Deaf Services section of the Adult Services Department provides specialist advice to families with a deaf or hearing impaired member.

5.6 Voluntary organisations: parents may access advice from national organisations such as the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) and the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID). More locally, the Hampshire Deaf Association provides networks and links for families, and organises some activities (e.g. youth workers) which may directly involve children and young people. The Elizabeth Foundation provides pre-school provision and support to pre-school children and their families, through oral/aural methodology. Face Us provides an advice service and some communication support and organises workshops relevant to deaf and HI children, young people and their families.

6 Constraints, challenges and issues

6.1 As highlighted above, there are several issues affecting the maintenance and development of specialist HI provision in Hampshire.

Support and advice to families and pre-school children

6.2 A report issued jointly by DfES and RNID in 2003 noted that, as a result of the introduction of the national programme of newborn hearing screening, local authorities could expect an increased demand for professional support services required by families following identification of deafness. Consequently authorities should anticipate an increased demand for early intervention/support services for babies and their families. Parents in Hampshire already have access to specialist teacher advisers (STA) and to audiology departments. STAs also provide support to pre-schools to help them to make appropriate provision for a deaf or hearing impaired child. There is, however, currently no dedicated service in Hampshire to support the family in their acquisition of sign language skills. The Family Communication Service organised by the National Deaf Children's Society in Hampshire and the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton has recently closed (March 2005). Face Us is supported through community grants and does not offer families a comprehensive communication support service.

6.3 The County Deaf and HI Group has been reviewing the provision of this nature. It is recognised that there is a need for families to have access to early support, both in enabling them to make informed decisions regarding preferred modes of communication and, when they choose to introduce signing, to access Family Communication Support Workers, tuition in sign for the child and other family members, and deaf role models. These sources of expertise are available in Hampshire to school age children, mostly in the resourced provision for deaf pupils, which operate through sign.

6.4 The figures presented in this report (section 4 and Appendix 2) indicate that the take-up of places in resourced provision using sign is significantly reducing. There may be scope to explore how some of this expertise may be refocused on early support for families, provision for pre-school children and on-going support for the social and emotional development of young people who rely significantly on sign as a main means of communication.

Communication policy

6.5 Resourced provision in Hampshire maintained schools currently offers support to develop either signing or auditory/oral communication. When these provisions were established in Hampshire there was a strong view amongst organisations and groups supporting families of deaf children that the two modes of communication should be kept separate.

6.6 There is, however, evidence that suggests that this policy may not be to the benefit of most children. Whilst it is acknowledged that the following quotes do not represent the full range of research, studies have concluded that:

· "With regard to language in children who are initially trained in oral environments, several studies have indicated that subsequent sign training does not decrease the frequency of vocalisation."

· "To expose partially hearing children, whose preferred language is English, to sign language is not considered to be detrimental to the development of their spoken language skills."

· "Deaf children who learn sign language as pre-schoolers show better academic achievement and social adjustment during the school years, and they also show superior gains in learning to read and write in English."

· "Most severely and profoundly deaf children who receive early exposure to sign communication are more competent in early language development (and later, reading) than those children who receive only exposure to spoken language."

· "Sign language is no longer regarded as a threat to the normal development of deaf children, but rather the best possible guarantee for normal development."

· "Studies from the last two decades in particular have shown the positive effects of sign language learning in deaf children, not only for communicative, social and emotional development, but also for language learning in general as well as for their cognitive development."

6.7 If mixing signing and auditory/oral modes of communication in specialist educational provision is not detrimental to children (and indeed may be beneficial), there are both educational reasons and a pragmatic advantage in reviewing the County's current policy, taking account of the future viability of resourced provisions, and especially those operating through sign, in the light of the trend of pupil numbers.

Social and emotional development

6.8 The increasing inclusion of children in their local mainstream school reduces the opportunity for deaf and hearing impaired children to have frequent contact with peers who have a similar impairment. Emotional and mental health needs may arise as a consequence of language delay or difference, and the social isolation that arises. These children may rely on an adult intermediary for a significant amount of their communication, for daily function, access to education and social interactions.

6.9 Resourced provisions provide activities for their pupils, within the context of the whole school. The development of `extended schools' may help to enhance this provision. Some social and extra curricular activities are provided by the Hampshire Youth Service and by voluntary organisations such as the Hampshire Deaf Association. These opportunities could be extended.

6.10 Further consideration may therefore be given to how children and young people being educated in the local community may have opportunities, in line with their hearing peers, to engage with other young people in social and leisure activities. Such opportunities would support the achievement of key outcomes for children identified in the Children Act 2004, such as `being healthy' (mentally/ emotionally) and `enjoyment'.

Provision for signing pupils

6.11 Factors affecting the number of pupils for whom sign is the main or first language and the viability and effectiveness of resourced provision include:

· Increasing number of children receiving Cochlear Implants.

· Whether parents have sufficient and independent support and information through which they may make informed choices.

· Children starting to sign `late' and therefore having significantly delayed (relative to age appropriate expectations) communication ability, for social, functional and learning requirements.

· Whether auditory/oral and signing modes can be accommodated in the same school/provision.

· Relatively high cost of existing maintained school provision (Medstead, Woodcot and The Westgate) compared with independent/non-maintained specialist schools.

· Recruitment of suitably qualified communication support workers (CSW).

· Size of peer group using similar communication mode, and availability of and participation in extra-curricular activities.

· Lack of continuity of wider peer group (for example, Woodcot and Medstead Schools are not feeders to The Westgate School for hearing pupils).

· The dependence of voluntary organisations on grant aid which may be time-limited or unpredictable in the long term.

· Lack of identified centre(s) for pre-school children where sign is used or can be developed.

· Resourced provision offering signing may also successfully serve pupils who learn and communicate through sign for reasons other than deafness (e.g. complex language impairment).

Organisation and role of resourced provision

6.12 Linked schools: Manor and Cove schools, Park View and Aldworth College, Wallisdean and Neville Lovett, (and Tanners Brook and Redbridge in Southampton) are linked schools. Pupils who require continued specialist provision may therefore stay within the same, wider peer group.

6.13 Henry Beaufort does not have a natural "feeder" primary phase resourced school. Pupils from Northern Parade HI provision in Portsmouth normally transfer to Neville Lovett School in Fareham. Pupils attending Medstead or Woodcot may transfer to The Westgate School, Winchester.

6.14 The trend of total numbers in resourced provision suggests a continuing decline. A review of the present provision should take account of such factors as:

- minimum levels of staffing required for successful recruitment/retention.

- distances and cost of pupils' home-school travel.

- linked schools.

- needs and provision of neighbouring LEAs.

6.15 An outreach policy and procedure for HI have been agreed by headteachers and teachers in charge, and are now adopted by the LEA.

Funding and resources

6.16 Pupils placed in resourced provision are exclusively those with severe or profound hearing loss, or those with additional needs alongside a moderate loss. It has been suggested that the unit of funding needs to be reviewed to ensure that it takes account of the level and nature of provision required for the more severe and complex needs.

6.17 Further adaptations are required in both resourced and non-resourced mainstream schools, to improve accessibility for deaf and hearing impaired pupils, especially improving acoustic standards.

Other issues

6.18 Deaf/blind children: the incidence of dual-impaired pupils and the experience and qualifications of teachers in Hampshire in meeting the needs of these pupils has recently been the subject of review. A programme of professional development has been drawn up by the STA team to ensure that the needs of, and provision for, this small group of children are appropriately catered for.

7 Proposals

7.1 Review communication policy and establish it as the basis for developing provision in Hampshire.

7.2 Provide access to comprehensive support and advice services for parents of deaf and HI pupils, in line with the County Council's draft strategy for supporting parents and taking account of the wider context of children's social care and the current range of services.

7.3 Ensure that communication support is available as appropriate to pre-school children and their families.

7.4 Review and rationalise the provision of resourced provision, in order to achieve, where possible:

- provision which will be able to offer both auditory/oral and signed modes of communication;

- viability of numbers, to maintain security of staffing and, where possible, of pupil peer group;

- geographical spread and accessibility;

- continuity between primary and secondary linked schools;

- provision of outreach to children and young people in other schools and settings.

7.5 Review funding formulae, to ensure that they continue to match current needs and provision of pupils who meet the County Council's criteria for placement in resourced provision.

7.6 Review accommodation in resourced schools against acoustic requirements of current Building Bulletin (and other relevant guidance) and draw up a programme within the Schools Access Initiative to provide accommodation which meets these standards.

7.7 Continue to explore with CAMHS and other relevant agencies the provision of emotional and pastoral support for children with sensory impairments.

7.8 Work with PCTs in Hampshire to ensure that all deaf and HI children have access to health services, including appropriately qualified/experienced speech and language therapists.

8 Legal implications

8.1 The Education Act 1996 requires (Section 315 (i) ) local education authorities to keep under review the arrangements made by them for the special educational provision.

9 Financial implications

9.1 There are no financial implications in the recommendations of this report. However, there could be revenue and capital implications if one or more of the recommendations results in changes to the current pattern of educational provision.

9.2 From a revenue perspective, the implications will depend on the exact nature of any changes. In general, savings will often result when the distances which pupils with SEN have to travel to access provision are reduced, or when the County Council makes in-house provision which negates the need to place pupils in independent special schools. Extra revenue costs will often arise when buildings are extended, where empty places are created, or where new provision in one area cause a rapid reduction in the funding to other existing Hampshire special schools or resourced provision.

10 Personnel implications

10.1 There are no personnel implications in the recommendations of this report. There could be personnel implications if any recommendations result in changes to existing provision or services.

11 Impact assessment

11.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

12 Crime prevention issues

12.1 None

13 Recommendations

1. That consultations take place with appropriate headteachers, governing bodies and staff of Hampshire schools, with relevant County Council Services and with parents, children and other interested parties on the proposed:

· communication policy to underpin provision for deaf and HI pupils;

· pattern of resourced provision for deaf and HI pupils in mainstream schools;

· support for pre-school children and their families.

2. That the outcomes of consultations on the proposed pattern of resourced provision be reported to the Children's Services Policy Review Committee and the Executive Member in 2006.

3. That a report on services and provision for pre-school deaf and HI children and their families be presented to the Policy Review Committee and Executive Member for Children's Services.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None

APPENDIX 1

APN / NOR on resourced provision

APPENDIX 2

Numbers of pupils taught through total communication/sign

January 2005

APPENDIX 3

Numbers of pupils in independent and non-maintained schools

Autumn 2005