The 2011 January term saw the beginning of an exciting new project at
Wisdom school (writes Jemma Hogwood, UK volunteer at FCYF). A previous volunteer, Kat (see A Life in the Day Of) put a lot
of effort into strengthening links between the deaf school and Wisdom primary
school. This has finally culminated in an ambitious project to integrate six
deaf children into mainstream school.
It took a
lot of work, with Kat organizing taster days and a football match (which the
deaf school won 2-0 – there is surely no better way to earn respect from your
peers!). I was surprised at how much work it took with regards to the
mainstream teachers, as they had neither met nor taught a deaf child before. It
was not unusual to hear comments or questions such as ‘how do you teach them if
they cannot hear?’, ‘you mean they have knowledge?’, ‘how can they write?’.
During the taster day, a great look of surprise rushed around the class when
one deaf child put up her hand in class and got the question right. There was a
lot of misunderstanding about their abilities.
During the first few weeks of this term, I have taken great delight in
introducing the deaf pupils to their classes and keeping half an eye on them,
following their progress. Despite the ridiculously long days at Wisdom
(6.30am-5.00pm) and the big class sizes (50+), they seem to be doing really
well. They come out of classes with big smiles on their faces and I’ve noticed
some lovely acts of friendship from other pupils (which is a big step as some
children were quite nasty during the taster days). Their books are full of red
ticks and the teachers have been surprised. One teacher came up to me with
delight, saying ‘Jemma your pupils are really good, they are so jolly and are
working hard’ When I asked her if they were doing okay with the work, she said
they were better than most of the rest of the class- what a success!
I have been
trying to do some tentative training for the teachers too in deaf awareness –
I’ve written a ‘tips for teachers’ sheet with some simple, but easily
overlooked ideas such as making sure you face the class when talking rather
than the blackboard so that they can lip read and remembering simple gesture
like nodding or shaking your head, pointing or giving thumbs up which can all
help a deaf person keep track of what is going on. The teachers are stunned at
how they can follow the class and stare in amazement when they see them
chatting to each other in sign language. I demonstrated lip reading with the
hearing pupils by standing at the front of the class and mouthing ‘good
morning’ – hands shot up as they realized they could understood what I was
saying. In a class of younger children they too were intrigued by sign language
and I began to teach them the alphabet and they started making up sign names
for themselves!
There is
still a long way to go but slowly the deaf children are proving themselves to
their peers and their teachers. I think it will take time for them to settle in
completely, especially finding the confidence to use their voice, something that
they aren’t used to but I am so happy that things have gone well so far. Sadly
there are problems with funding, as expenses at the Primary school are far
greater than the deaf school, which means the future of the project is in
doubt. With very few deaf children having parents that can afford school fees,
uniforms and school resources, FCYF has to subsidize their places at the
school. But I am staying positive, and as I left work this evening, I said bye
to one of the deaf kids. She asked me if I would be at Wisdom school tomorrow
and I said no, I was going to work at the deaf school. She looked sad so I
replied in basic sign, ‘I love the deaf school!’. She signed back: ‘I love hearing
school’. Need I say more?
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