Lorna Williams, NDCS Education Development Manager, explains: “Over 80 percent of deaf children attend mainstream schools but deaf children are being let down by the education system. Only one in three deaf children get five or more good GCSEs compared with more than half of all hearing children . This is a scandal.

“NDCS is committed to supporting teachers and hearing children so that they can in turn work more effectively with deaf children. The deaf friendly resources include a teacher’s training pack and a curriculum activity pack for teachers to use in the classroom. The two resources will help teachers and pupils better understand the needs of deaf children in both the classroom and play ground”.

The resources, which have been funded by the True Colours Trust will be distributed to sensory impairment services throughout the UK. Schools will also be able to download them for the NDCS website www.ndcs.org.uk from October 2007.

The NDCS Activity pack for pupils will help hearing children in mainstream environment increase their deaf awareness and facilitate the social inclusion of deaf children. The pack contains five sections that are linked to relevant curriculum key learning objectives to support teachers with delivering the various learning activities.

The NDCS Teacher’s training pack provides tools and techniques to ensure teachers are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to fully include deaf pupils in school life and gain confidence in including deaf children. The training pack can be delivered by a Teacher of the Deaf or specialist teacher who has experience of deafness. The information also helps teachers work towards the various professional standards for teachers.

Both packs aim to create a deaf aware learning environment for all pupils in the school.

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