Resources to use in your setting

Supporting deaf children and young people in education is a team effort, and it's important to work in partnership with deaf students, their parents and all setting staff. Having the right tools makes all the difference. 

Whether you're looking to build deaf awareness among staff and students, adapt your teaching practice, or create a more inclusive environment, we’ve got a wide range of free, practical resources to help.

We also have resources to share with families you may be working with. 

Training

Our training courses and workshops introduce you to the skills and knowledge needed to support deaf children and young people. 

We offer a range of flexible options, including free online courses you can complete at your own pace. These courses are ideal for individual learning or group sessions, such as inset days or whole-staff training.

• Explore our training courses for education professionals.
• Find out how to learn British Sign Language (BSL).

Deaf awareness resources

Use these resources to build deaf awareness among staff and students. All are free to order or download:

• Early years deaf awareness videos
• Talking to your deaf friends poster (Shopify)
• Talking to your deaf friends postcard (Shopify)
• Fingerspelling poster (Shopify)
• Fingerspelling postcard (Shopify)
• Communicating with deaf children flyer (Shopify)

We have even more games, activities and resources about deaf awareness. Explore more deaf awareness resources.

Information booklets

Practical guidance for staff working across all phases and types of education. These booklets are free to download or order:

• Deaf-friendly early education and childcare (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly teaching: For primary school staff (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly teaching: For secondary school staff (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly teaching: For further education staff (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly higher education (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly teaching: For children who use English as an additional language (EAL) (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly teaching: For staff in special schools (Shopify)
• Deaf-friendly education: Northern Ireland (Shopify)
• Mild hearing loss (Shopify)
• Next steps: Supporting successful transitions into post-16 education and employment for deaf young people in England (Shopify)
• Success from the start: A developmental resource for families of deaf children aged 0 to 3 (Shopify)
• Supporting the pragmatic and social communication skills of deaf children (Shopify)
• Teaching phonics to deaf children (Shopify)
• What are you feeling? A guide to help deaf children understand and identify their emotions (Shopify)

Tools

These tools help deaf students to communicate their needs and support staff to improve classroom listening conditions:

• Communication cards for deaf young people (Shopify)
• Document

  Early years personal passport - Under the sea theme.pdf (878.05 KB)
• Document

  Early years personal passport - Jungle theme.pdf (745.89 KB)
• Document

  Personal passport ages 3-6 Template.docx (250.47 KB)
• Document

  Personal passport for ages 7 to 11.docx (183.52 KB)
• Document

  Personal profile for ages 11 to 16.docx (153.9 KB)
• Document

  Personal profile for ages 16 and up.docx (156.76 KB)
• Document

  Managing listening conditions checklist.docx (24.71 KB)
• Document

  Preliminary noise survey.docx (580.6 KB)
• Document

  Pupil feedback survey.docx (593.11 KB)
• Document

  Creating good listening conditions Presentation for Teachers of the Deaf.pptx (7.27 MB)

Books featuring deaf characters

We offer a range of comics and storybooks created especially for deaf children and young people. We've also put together a list of recommended titles featuring deaf characters, with reviews from families and young readers.

Explore books and comics for deaf children and young people.

Support for education settings

Specialist professionals, such as Teachers of the Deaf and educational audiologists, can support your setting in many ways, including:

• assessing and improving your communication and listening environment
• advising on deaf-friendly teaching practices
• supporting effective use of hearing and assistive technology
• delivering deaf awareness training to staff and students

Some deaf children will have a Teacher of the Deaf assigned to them, but not all do – particularly those with temporary or mild hearing loss. 

If you need support:

• Contact your local authority's hearing support service to request advice or an outreach visit.
• Contact our free Helpline for advice.

Research

Stay informed with the latest data on deaf children’s educational outcomes across the UK, as well as current research projects into childhood deafness.

Research and data on childhood deafness