Parents of deaf children in fight to save teaching posts from axe

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) has criticised Kirklees Council plans to reduce the number of teachers of the deaf by a third.

Concerned parents have created a petition calling on the council to stop the cuts.

Alison Lawson, NDCS regional director, said: “Deaf children across the UK are already underachieving at school, but we know that given the right support they can achieve the same as any other children.

“At the moment teachers of the deaf support 235 deaf children in Kirklees. These children and their families need more support not less.

“But these cuts are ignoring the individual needs of deaf children, threatening their speech and language development, educational attainment, aspirations and well being – ultimately setting them up to fail. We are calling on the council to urgently review these cuts and give deaf children in Kirklees the same chance as any other child.”

NDCS is concerned the council is cutting services for deaf children without considering the long term impact on their futures.

Jayne Fenton, of Holmfirth, has two deaf children; Keir, eight, and Niamh, four.

Like the majority of deaf children in Kirklees they go to mainstream school and nursery – which Mrs Fenton says would have been impossible without their teacher of the deaf.

She said: “I think without the face-to-face contact they currently get, and access to someone with specialist knowledge my children will suffer. Keir is very bright and has been supported by his teacher of the deaf to achieve his potential and now has a reading age of 11. But if they are not being monitored and supported at school like they are at the moment I think they will both struggle.

“I think both my children will just be seen as ‘doing ok for a deaf child’. But this is not good enough. If a child has potential they should be nurtured and supported to realise this potential. If there’s not a teacher of the deaf to keep pushing for this, I think bright deaf children will be forgotten.”

Mrs Fenton, who is chairman of Kirklees Deaf Children’s Society, has launched a petition calling for the council to stop the cuts and do an assessment into the impact the cuts will have on deaf children.

They need 3,000 signatures by August 28 to force this to be debated at the full Kirklees Council meeting.

A Kirklees Council spokesman said: “The number of teachers of the deaf is being reduced by 3.8 purely because demand for these services has fallen.

We currently have 44 specialist places available for children with hearing impairments, but only 20 of these are taken.

The number of places is being reduced to reflect the fall in demand and it is logical – and also the best use of resources – that a smaller number of places brings a smaller number of staff.

“Some roles will change so that staff are deployed in other specialist areas, such as speech and language, where demand is now higher – this is part of an overall review and no job losses are expected from Special Educational Needs.

“Our staffing levels for children with a hearing impairment will still comfortably meet the need in Kirklees.

“There will continue to be high quality support for children in both specialist provision and in a mainstream setting.

“There are no cuts to Special Educational Needs – this is a reorganisation and our services are being tailored to individual children.

“We work closely with schools and parents, and a consultation was held so that everyone could influence the decisions being made.”

*To sign the petition go to: To sign the petition visit: http://epetition.kirklees.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/deafcuts