Hearing Impaired Resoure Base

Yew

Yew is the Hearing Impaired Resource Base at Medstead C of E Primary School, a village school situated in Medstead in North Hampshire, UK. At Medstead we aim to provide the widest opportunity for children to develop educationally, socially and spiritually. The Resource Base currently has seven places, of which five are occupied.

Within class our children’s support is tailored to their needs. Each child has a Communication Profile, which lays out the child’s needs, the resources available to meet those needs and how they are to be implemented. This typically states the communication method of the child, are they oral/aural, signing, or a combination of both. If they are signing are they using British Sign Language (BSL), Signed Supported English (SSE), SE (Signed English) or a combination. Additional needs, strengths and areas to reinforce are also clarified in the plan.

Pupils attend lessons in the Resource Base according to individual need. These may be on a 1:1 basis, a small group or with peers from their class. The sessions may be for language development; spoken, signed or written or to work on specific subject. Pupils also attend sessions to work on individual programmes, such as occupational therapy or emotional literacy.

Pupils are supported to make full use of their aids (hearing and radio) and implants to maximise their oral/aural development.

Pupils are encouraged to be responsible for the management of their own equipment, replacing batteries and parts where possible and reporting any faults or difficulties they may be experiencing.  A hearing aid test box is used to test the aids and faults can be reported to parents.

The school also has excellent working relationship with the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre so any issues arising can be dealt with immediately, including the despatch of new parts if necessary. Centre staff also summit reports for Annual Reviews, liaise over targets and attend meetings where possible.  

• RNID (The Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People)
• NDCS (The National Deaf Children's Society)
• Connevans (Equipment for Deaf people)
• SOECIC (South of England Cochlear Implant Centre)
• DMCC (Dorothy Miles Cultural Centre)
• Signature (Signature promotes excellence in communication with deaf and deafblind people)

• HDA (Hampshire Deaf Association)