Specialist Teaching Service

Mission Statement
The Hearing Impairment Team is committed to providing a comprehensive teaching, educational, advisory and audiological support service for hearing impaired children and students of all ages, abilities and hearing loss. This is to enable them to have the same rights and opportunities as their hearing peers to ensure they achieve their full potential.

Our Aims

• To provide teaching, audiological and advisory support to all children and young people in Leicestershire who have a permanent hearing loss, from the time of diagnosis to entry into work and adult life.
   
• To foster quality of inclusion within mainstream schools and to have high expectations of the educational standards hearing impaired children and young people can attain.
   
• To facilitate the development of spoken language in the majority of hearing impaired children and young people according to the principles of National Auralism (see Appendix) and to maximise the use of residual hearing and listening skills in critical support of this aim.
   
• To provide a co-ordinated response to the investigation of new referrals so that an identification of hearing loss may be swiftly followed by appropriate intervention.
   
• To provide a comprehensive range of audiological support services including assessment of hearing, the evaluation of hearing aid systems so as to maintain the highest standards of listening experience of hearing impaired children and young people.
   
• To monitor and record the progress of all pupils and students so that accurate assessments of their language development and literacy skills can be made.
   
• To ensure that individuals, including those with additional difficulties receive the special provisions they require as detailed in their Statement of Special Educational Needs and to assist schools in meeting these requirements.
   
• To work in partnership with parents and to act as an advisory and support service for families, teachers and other professionals working with hearing impaired children and young people, at all stages of their development and in variety of educational settings.
   
• To provide support to schools in the development of their S.E.N. policies with regard to hearing impairment, and to contribute to school assessment and recording systems.
   
• To deliver regular INSET training, information and support to enhance the skills of SENCOs, learning support staff, classroom teachers and other professionals working with hearing impaired children and young people.
   
• To provide specialist advice to LEA officers including contributions to the statutory assessment process (Education Act 1996) and to Annual Reviews.
   
• To work in collaboration with other agencies, statutory and voluntary with the collective aim of extending opportunities for all hearing impaired children and young people.
   
• To promote a positive image of the achievements of hearing impaired children and young people and to ensure them of opportunities to enable them to become confident adults who will flourish and contribute fully to their communities.