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FWSS Training and Outreach Newsletter for
Children, young people with hearing loss and their families
SUMMER
TERM
The end of a very busy 2018-2019 school year has
come upon us quickly at Westminster Training &
Outreach Services. There are big and exciting
changes to come for the 2019-2020 school year
but first, let’s remember the fun things that hap-
pened this year.
We have hosted three successful CHSWG
(Children and Hearing Services Working Group)
with the Chair, Alison Ramshaw-Abbas. The
CHSWG meets three times a year to support ser-
vices for children with hearing loss in three local
boroughs, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea,
and Hammersmith & Fulham. Please look out for
the date of our next CHSWG given on the last
page. We warmly welcome parents to join us at
these meetings.
We have also been focusing on working more
closely with our families and children. This includ-
ed setting up an under-5s playgroup for families, a
Christmas party in December, a sensory story-
telling event and a transition event with the NDCS
Listening Bus, all of which have been well-
attended. We hope to provide more of these
events in future and would welcome feedback and
ideas for events you would like to see run. Please
speak with your child’s Teacher of the Deaf.
Thank you for helping us have such a wonderful
year. We look forward to working with you all in the
new school year. Have a wonderful summer!
A ROUNDUP OF OUR
EVENTS
St. Augustine’s Staff (Secondary Deaf Specialist Provision It was great seeing [the students] have fun and participate in all the activities.
On the 15th May we had the National Deaf Children’s Listening Bus visit us at St. Augustine’s CE High School. We invited all children we see with a hearing loss to come see the Listening Bus. The Lis-tening Bus is a roadshow in a mobile classroom which travels all
over the UK supporting schools, local communities and youth groups to understand more about deafness, how it affects communi-
cation and the things we can all do to support deaf children and young people. We had almost 30 students and their families attend
different workshops on identity as a deaf child and modern technolo-gy for children with hearing loss. It was a fantastic day, but don’t take our word for it. See what some of the children, young people and families had to say. We would like to extend a big thank you to the Deaf Specialist Provision and headteacher at St. Augustine’s CE High School for providing a great space to host the Listening Bus Roadshow and
being fantastic hosts.
A “Deafinite” Adventure on The Listening Bus
On the 15th May 2019, we had the Listening Bus come from the National Deaf Children’s Society to visit
students with deafness in Westminster schools. They bring a big purple bus which is filled with equipment
for us to trial that can help us in our lives. Deaf Awareness technology was great as it could help us hear,
such as the streamers and the alarms. We got to try different headphones that worked with our hearing
equipment. With normal headphones, we can’t use it with our hearing aids, but with the Listening Bus
ones, we tried on headphones that did! One type of headphones was very big and thick and could fit over
our hearing aids easily. Other headphones we tried fit around the back of our heads and sent vibrations
straight to our bones. We were also able to try a streamer from Phonak where we could link it up to the
television or our phones. It means that we can hear sounds directly to our hearing aids and cochlear im-
plants.
The presenters also talked about deaf awareness. For example, we were split into groups and we looked
at the advantages and disadvantages of being deaf. Some of the advantages are we can use British Sign
Language, which means we can talk to our friends even when it’s loud! We can also turn off our hearing
aids if we don’t want to hear someone talking. We also found out that we can get discounts to the cinema
and have a friend go in for free, all because we’re deaf. We learned that the disadvantages are really easy
to overcome. For example if we miss what people say, we learned it’s really easy to just ask them nicely to
repeat it. We just have to have confidence and be polite.
We are delighted the Listening Bus came to Westminster. We feel like we know more about Deaf Aware-
ness and technology. We also understand more about our identity and we feel more confident. We are
grateful to the National Deaf Children’s Society for providing this. We recommend the Listening Bus for
other children with deafness. It will help build up your confidence and remind you to not let anyone put
you down.
By Rym, Faithful and Alex (Secondary Students, Westminster)
Some of our students from our Secondary Meat and Greet came together to write an article about the day
with the Listening Bus Roadshow.
St. Augustine’s Deaf Specialist Provision
Did you know there is a
secondary school in Westminster with a Deaf Specialist Provision? Here is
a little snippet of what they have been up to this term.
The DSP students and staff, together with sixth form students, organised a cake sale and we managed to raise £175. What a suc-cess! The short movie, ‘Silent Child’, was shown in film club and a large number of students and staff attended. Many of our students felt moved by this film. We also had a special guest speaker, Mr Dani Sive, the head teacher from Frank Barns School, delivering an inspirational and empowering speech to Year 9 and 10 students. Everyone was in awe! Finally, we had a visit from a National Deaf Children’s Society Roadshow bus where the staff aboard the bus conducted work-shops to teach students about their deafness and how to become more independent as they grow older. We had a number of stu-dents and staff from other primary and secondary schools attending the workshops. It was great seeing them have fun and partic-ipate in all activities. At the end of this term, we are planning to have a non-uniform day to give the students further opportunity to raise money for the NDCS charity. St Augustine’s have always taken part in charity events and we continue to be the school who constantly strives for generosity, kindness and understanding. It has been a real thrill and enjoyment to organise a range of activities in support of Deaf Awareness week. The week was a huge success and helped to further foster our strong sense of community within the school. Our deaf students felt happy, proud and supported and that’s what really matters! We need to continue to motivate, encourage, inspire and empower deaf children and young people so that they can achieve their goals, be active members of society and live rich and fulfilling lives! I would like to thank Dani Sive (Headteacher of Frank Barnes school) for delivering an incredible and inspirational assembly and Kathryn, Heather and Angeliki for organising the NDCS Listening Bus. It was such a fantastic event! I would also like to say a big thank you to our Headteacher Eugene Moriarty who fully supported facilitating all activities during and after Deaf Awareness week. Finally, a huge thanks to the DSP team at St Augustine’s for making it all happen!
What is the Deaf Specialist Provision at St. Augustine’s?
The Deaf Student’s Provision at St Augustine’s is a warm, friendly and inclusive environment. Most importantly, as our stu-
dents are integrated into mainstream, we encourage an aural approach but facilitate BSL throughout school by educating all
staff and students on aspects of BSL. We promote awareness in many ways such as poster displays, deaf student’s week,
‘sign of the week’ and regular assemblies.
Our students feel inspired as they can access learning and maximise opportunity to be the best that they can be.
Want to know more about Westminster’s own Deaf Specialist Provision? Come to
one of their open days!
17th September - Open evening from 5 to 7 pm
24th, 25th and 26th - Open mornings (Head’s speech and tour of the school)
26th October - Open morning for DSP (Led by Sanja Semic)
Contact Sanja Semic- [email protected] for more information
Kids’ Corner
As requested by families, we are delighted to include a Kid’s Corner!
1. Streamer A.
2. Door Bell (deaf friendly) B.
3. Roger Radio Aid C.
4. Receiver D.
5. Soundfield E.
6.Vibro-Watch F.
Match the word to the picture. You may have seen some of these items with the NDCS Lis-
tening Bus!
The bones in the middle ear (malleus, incus,
and stapes) are the body’s smallest bones.
All three can fit together on the surface area
of a one pence coin!
It’s getting HOT out there!
In this hot weather, your
sweat can damage your hear-
ing aid. You can limit the dam-
age by putting your hearing aid
in a drying pot every night.
You can get a drying pot from
your audiologist.
At the end of the year, we inevitably have to say goodbye to people and children we have worked with and known sometimes
for many years.
We are highlighting two of our lovely students who are transitioning to new settings come September.
Aleksandra has been with our service since she was ten years old, having moved from Latvia. She is a budding pho-tographer who has had the wonderful opportunity of attending camps, working with high profile professionals in the industry and we wish her all the best with her studies in 6th Form at St. Augustine’s High School where she will study geography, psychology and graphics for her A Levels.
We are also saying goodbye to Khadidja who is transition-ing from nursery to Laycock Primary School. Khadidja is a friendly, energetic little girl who has just undergone coch-lear implant surgery. We look forward to hearing about the new friends she has made and her progress at her new school.
In October we had the pleasure of Angeliki joining our team as a Higher Level Teaching
Assistant for Children with Hearing Loss and she has done a fantastic job. She always has
a smile for anyone and worked tirelessly with the students. She will be continuing her
career development in the area of child and family therapy. Angeliki had a very positive
impact on the students and families she worked with, with one student commenting
how she felt truly valued and understood by Angeliki. Although she was only with us for
one year, Angeliki was an important member of our team and she will be missed by chil-
dren, staff and the team here at WTO. We wish her well and hope to see her at future
events.
How to contact us
07471 035 926
07841 444 420
We are closed for the summer holidays. Have a wonderful summer
and we’ll see you in September.
