Excelling Deaf’tly
The photos below show the range of activities that deaf children take part in through their time at James Wolfe. It also highlights the importance of an individualised approach to planning and delivery to ensure that every child’s need is met. Interventions are well planned and resourced. Children are integrated as much as possible into mainstream. The centre provides a specialised curriculum with a nurturing atmosphere to allow children with language delay to make accelerated progress.
Handing Over My Name - EYFS
Our EYFS children are making wonderful progress, quickly developing their BSL skills alongside their English. They have all settled in exceptionally well to both the nursery and reception environments and are particularly enjoying attending our Deaf Studies sessions. We are delighted to report on their growing confidence; for example, Liam is incredibly proud that he is now able to write and fingerspell his name.
Stories in the Palm Of a Hand - KS1
In Centre 1, we have been focusing on retelling stories linked to the children's own experiences to support their language development. We've been successfully using shape coding to help the children structure their sentences into the Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) format. The children have worked incredibly hard this term, expanding their sentences by adding time connectives and using linking words such as 'with' and 'and'. It is lovely to see their confidence grow as they develop independence in writing.
Handily Going Mainstream - LKS1
Our Year 3 children continue to be fully integrated into mainstream classes, supported by BSL Level 3 TAs at all times. As they grow, so do their listening skills and their confidence in using their radio aids. The writing sample shows that one of the girls is achieving greater depth in both reading and writing. This is a massive achievement for her. As a native BSL user, her success clearly demonstrates the vital importance of home language and language development from a young age.
Diverse as Fingerprints - UKS2
We were delighted to welcome a very special visitor to the Centre for Black History Month: Sarah, a Deaf, Black dancer. Sarah shared her inspiring journey with our children. A wonderful highlight was seeing one of our Year 6 pupils plan and perform a BSL poem about her after she left. It was truly inspiring for the children to see that they can achieve anything and that their deafness is not a barrier.
