Our Values and Ethos
The Sensory Inclusion Service will always put children and young people with sensory impairments at the heart of everything we do. We strive to minimise barriers to learning and achievement for children and young people with sensory impairments. We aim to enable them to develop and use the skills they need for life in and beyond education.
We do this by :
- assessing their needs
- listening to their aspirations
- teaching and facilitating them
- supporting and working closely with them and their families
- working collaboratively with their teachers and support staff
What does the service do?
The Sensory Inclusion Service (SIS) works in Wolverhampton with:
- children and young people from 0 to 19 (to 25 under some circumstances, please contact to discuss) with a medically diagnosed hearing or a visual impairment
- their families and carers
- their schools or early years settings
Here you will find more information on types of eye conditions and information on hearing and deafness.
We follow statutory guidance on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice
We do this by:
- supporting families from diagnosis of hearing loss or eye condition by giving advice and guidance to carers, settings and school - We support Children and young people who have been diagnosed by a hearing specialist and/or have specialist equipment such as hearing aids. For more information on who we support and how we decide this for visual impairment.
- assessing functional hearing and vision and giving audiological support
- supporting settings and schools and providing in-service training
- teaching one to one and small groups of children
- providing educational advice for Educational Health and Care Plans
- offering support for transition to adult services
- specialist playgroup - for parent guidelines for the fortnightly sensory playgroup please see our downloads link.
- signing and Braille classes
-
habilitation (living and travel training skills) assessment and training for children and young people with visual impairment.
Here you will find more information about habilitation.
Here you will find a useful video showing mobility and orientation skills in use.
The outcomes we strive to achieve include:
- Raising expectations and achievements for children and young people with hearing and vision loss.
- Increasing awareness of the adaptations to teaching and strategies needed to support young people with hearing and vision loss.
- Supporting and empowering families, children and young people to understand and accept the implications of their sensory impairment
- Helping children and young people with sensory impairments to become independent learners and be prepared for adult life.
What skills or training do our staff have?
Our teachers have additional training and hold the Mandatory Qualifications for Teachers of Hearing and Visual Impairment (Teacher of the Deaf, QTVI).
We also have specialist Teaching Assistants, an Educational Audiology Lead, a Deaf Tutor and a Registered Habitation Specialist. For more information about the role of a Teacher of the Deaf and QTVI the video links below may help:
We work with other professionals and organisations and some useful contacts for hearing and visual impairment can be found in our downloads section.
For a taste of what life can be like for a child with VI in school take a look at the RNIB video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wGP_k_UP9c
How do we keep in touch?
- We provide a record of our visit to both parents and settings.
- Annual reports and targets and evaluations.
- Reports for Education, Health and Care plan reviews.
- A range of satisfaction survey questionnaires.
- Review meetings.
- When required interpreters can be arranged for assessments
We can provide materials in Braille.
Further information: Can be found in the downloads section of this page.
If you need to get in touch, in the first instance contact the Team Leader Sensory Inclusion Service.
The SIS follows the City of Wolverhampton Council’s complaints and compliments procedure. For more information please visit the following links. You can also leave customer feedback.
Hearing Impairment Team
Can be contacted via the Team Leader - Rachael Armstrong
Tele: 01902 555910
rachael.armstrong@wolverhampton.gov.uk