Preparing for school

When the time came to look for schools for my son, Isaac, I searched our local area and viewed about 10 possibilities. I fell in love with some of them because they had amazing facilities, then ruled them out because they were too big or the acoustics weren't quite right. I finally decided I wanted him to go to a school which was close to home, and preferably one where the staff seemed really keen to support a deaf child.

After narrowing the search down to four schools, we finally chose one which felt perfect for our son. As he already had an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) in place, we knew it was pretty certain he would get a place. Isaac is a summer baby and was only implanted when he was two and a half years old so I was quite anxious about him starting school. He's a very energetic, strong-willed little boy who always found it hard to engage during a full day at nursery, I struggled to imagine how on earth he would cope with five full days at school each week.

A month or so before the summer holidays, we arranged a meeting with Isaac's fantastic key worker from nursery, his Teacher of the Deaf, his speech and language therapist and staff from his new school. We looked through his EHCP and developed an individual transition plan for him. It was decided that Isaac would have extra transition sessions which his current key worker would also attend. We discussed ways to help Isaac communicate, things he really enjoys, and also our main concerns. It was decided that due to Isaac being so young, and being deaf, that when he started school he would attend mornings only and gradually increase the amount of time he spent at school. Isaac's transition sessions went much better than I expected, he loved the school setting and all of the children he met were really keen to engage with him.

Isaac uses Sign Supported English and his new friends were all desperate to learn some signs to use with him. September arrived and our little boy was so excited to be starting school, his new Teacher of the Deaf visited and checked the acoustics in his classroom, she also arranged some sessions with his teacher 1-1 to teach her some key deaf awareness tips and also recommended some courses she should attend which would help her to support a child with hearing impairment.

We have found that the best way for the staff to learn is for them to spend time with Isaac and understand his individual needs. Every deaf child is unique and Isaac definitely is no exception. Isaac doesn't want to be seen as being different so he tries his hardest to fit in with the other children. He astounded us with his progress in his first year of school. He's communicating well with all of his friends and teachers, he’s started to read and is happily learning so much every day!