Tameside Service for Children and Young People with a Hearing Impairment

The aim of the service is to ensure that the individual needs of children with a hearing impairment are met at the point of diagnosis. The individual child’s needs are identified in collaboration with pupil, parents, caregivers, teachers, audiologists and other professionals.

Depending on the need of the child with a hearing impairment, the service is able to provide the following intervention:

• Communication support, including British Sign Language and Sign Support English
• Language acquisition support
• Access to the National Curriculum
• Discreet support 1:1 teaching
• In class support
• Deaf Awareness to mainstream settings and special schools
• Audiological support for equipment, such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, FM radio aids and Soundfield Systems.
• Emotional wellbeing support
• Direct support to mainstream teaching staff and teaching assistants
• Functional hearing assessments
• Language assessments
• Advice on classroom management and classroom acoustics
• Specific advice to schools
• Support with transitions
• Intervention support
• Access arrangements for examinations
• Work in collaboration with other professionals to achieve the best outcomes for children with a hearing impairment

In addition, the team contribute to Educational Health Care Plan assessments and Annual Reviews in line with the NATSIP Matrix guidelines for pupils with a hearing impairment.

The Hearing Impaired Service has close links with Audiologists at local hospitals and there is a direct referral route from Tameside hospital to the service. The team also work in close collaboration with other agencies and professionals that you will find on Tameside’s Local Offer.

The team provide information, advice, support, direct teaching, and training to children with a hearing impairment and their caregivers across their homes, early years settings, mainstream and special schools on an outreach basis. Similarly, the team work directly with babies, in homes, nurseries and childcare settings. The team also teach and support in a secondary Hearing Impaired Resourced Base situated in a mainstream school within the authority.

The service is for children with a diagnosis of a permanent or long-term hearing loss from 0-19 years of age, and for children with an Educational Health Care Plan from

0-25 years of age.

The team comprises of qualified Teachers of the Deaf, including a Teacher of the Deaf with an Educational Audiologist background, Early Years’ Specialist Teachers of the Deaf, Specialist Support Assistants and an Admin Manager.