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residential trip -school - deaf child - 8 years old

Discussion
Posted by deafkidsrock
19/06/21 12:30 PM

Hi 

Next year my son (8 years year 4) has his first residential trip with school next year to the IOW (tuesday-friday). I know it's not for a while yet but as his parents we want him to be prepared and the school fully grasp how to support him. He has a bilateral profound hearing loss with a signifiant speech and langauge disorder. He uses a mixture of communcation methods from speech, to sign (bsl and sse) and lip-reading.  In school he has an EHCP and a his own teaching assistant to support him in the classroom. He has a cochlear implanted on his right ear - recently implanted in may 2021 - and a hearing aid on his left ear. 

We have a meeting at school over the coming weeks to discuss everything and go over risk assessments etc. Our main concern is making sure the school are willing to make it accessible for him and fully understand that being in school is totally different to being at home especially with dealing his equipment at night which he requires support. I'm wanting to find out if a member of staff will be dedicated to him or If the school would be prepared for one of us to go with him to support him as night time is a scary time for him. Have anyone done this before? 

Does anyone have any advice/tips/questions to ask his school about the trip and how they will support him? 

we want him to have an enjoyable trip :) 

Discussion
Posted by codieeels
23/06/21 07:47 PM

Hi, my daughter who is profoundly deaf with cochlear implants has just been on a trip involving water. I had the exact same concerns. If it was me I would feel more comfortable to be there to make sure your son is getting the full experience with the correct support. I have allways gone along to my children's trips and the schools have never had a problem I don't see why your school would. I recommend having this chat with your class teacher and express your concerns and the way your feeling. However if you are happy for your son to go on his own then I am more then sure the school staff will do all they can to insure your son and his needs are well looked after. 

i would suggest having a proper meeting with the staff involved in the trip and you all coming to the best solution for you both. 

i Hope I have slightly helped and if you have anymore questions do ask!! 

good luck with everything you will both be fine! 

Codie xx

Discussion
Posted by juniper
24/08/21 03:38 PM

My 11-y-o daughter went on her first residential trip (Mon to Fri) to PGL Little Canada on the Isle of Wight in June (end of Year 6). She also has an EHCP and her own 1-to-1 teaching assistant.

Although PGL are used to supporting SEND children, it was the 1-to-1 support from a member of school staff who knew our daughter and was used to working with her which really made the trip work. We insisted on the school drafting a support plan; we then suggested changes and added specific notes about each activity. We got the school to clarify that, during all activities and at the beginning and end of each day, this TA's only role would be to support our daughter and facilitate her participation. Once that was agreed, we felt hugely reassured about the whole thing. We felt we could trust the TA to help our daughter to manage the equipment and to make sure that she heard all the instructions (none of the activities would have been possible for her without her radio aids and someone repeating things for her).

The school would have been happy for me to stay with my daughter, but this would have meant her not being able to share a cabin with her classmates. I wanted to be with her, but recognised that her feeling independent from her parents was the whole point of the trip, especially as it was an end-of-primary-school celebration. In the end, I spent the week in a lovely B&B a few minutes' walk away from Little Canada, enjoying the peace and quiet. My daughter knew that I was just down the road; she was happy to have me nearby in case of emergency, but especially happy that I wasn't there cramping her style. She had a great experience and gained a lot of confidence.

If my daughter had been 8-y-o rather than 11-y-o, I wouldn't have found it so easy to stay at arm's length. But if you have an EHCP which stipulates 1-to-1 support, it might be good in the first instance to focus on the school's provision of 1-to-1 support on the trip, and to have parental support as a back-up.