When the deaf roadshow came to Priory

On Tuesday, the National Deaf Children’s Society’s big purple roadshow bus visited us to teach groups of Year 7, 8 & 9 pupils about deafness and how they can support communication with people with hearing loss. 

There are over 10 million people in the UK alone that suffer from hearing loss or are deaf.  This one in six figure compelled the parents of Year 8 pupil Scarlett, who wears a cochlear implant, to approach SENCo Mrs Holland to invite the Society into school.

Led by Mark from NDCS, who is deaf himself, with spoken translation, the interactive workshops aimed to improve pupils’ deaf awareness and reduce communication barriers. The 30 minute sessions delivered on the bus itself involved myth busters and lip-reading games and expressed the importance of being patient, making eye contact and speaking clearly.  

A game of Chinese whispers provided an understanding of the communication difficulties deaf people can face.  Adding hand gestures, facial expressions or writing things down can enable hearing people to communicate easier and more effectively with the deaf community.

Mark went on to explain the two different types of technologies which help deaf people to hear; the cochlear implant and the hearing aid. Through a demonstration, pupils acted out how these work.

Priory’s SENCo, Mrs Holland said, “A visit from the roadshow bus will start conversations about deafness and inclusion that pupils can continue after the visit.  The workshops demonstrated that, by taking small actions, we can all improve communication with deaf people”.

The National Deaf Children's Society is the leading charity creating a world without barriers for those with hearing loss and dedicates itself to providing support, information and advice for deaf children and young people, their families and professionals working with them.

Ending the session, pupils were given postcards so they could learn the finger spelling alphabet and they learnt to say ‘Thank You’ in sign language.