Harlington hosts the Upper School Hearing Inclusion Provision for Central Bedfordshire. This is one of the three provisions in the county which support Deaf students from nursery to Year 13. The others are based at Toddington St George and Parkfields Middle School; both in Toddington village.
Our students
A Deaf person “can do anything a hearing person can do, except hear”, and the HIP students are fully immersed in the life of the school both academically but also in extra-curricular activities and on trips. We have students in the Student Council as ambassadors, singing lessons and involved in drama through both acting and lighting technician skills.
Our students act as strong role models for our diverse community showcasing confidence and amazing BSL skills. In recent years students have studied and successfully achieved nationally recognised qualifications in BSL Level 1. With a willingness to teach our students a second language they truly are ambassadors for the deaf community.
Our team
The HIP team is made up of a Teacher of the Deaf and experienced, knowledgeable Educational Communicators. We also have access to a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist and an Educational Audiologist when needed. Additionally, we also work with outside agencies such as hospital audiology departments, CI centres and DeafCAMHS.
Support
The students have 1:1 support from Educational Communicators in all mainstream lessons and they benefit from lessons with our Teacher of the Deaf. They receive additional support with anything from language and vocabulary to emotional literacy and pre & post teaching to support mainstream lessons. We can also support students in unstructured times and in clubs if this will be beneficial – though most of our students are quite happy to be independent during these times.
Communication
We have a ‘total communication’ approach, so we support students in the communication method of their choice whether that is BSL, SSE, spoken English or a combination of all three. We also provide teaching in BSL both to the Deaf students and to their hearing peers.
Deaf Awareness
All staff receive regular Deaf awareness training both as part of induction and as regular refreshers as part of whole school training. We think it is very important that all members of our school community are Deaf aware. As a school we celebrate BSL Week and Deaf Awareness Week every year.
Deaf Community
The students in the provision benefit from having a ‘Deaf community’ – going to school with peers who share their experiences. We have weekly HIP assemblies to bring the students together and look at Deaf history and culture and to celebrate the experiences of other Deaf people.
Technology
In the provision, we support students with their individual technology – hearing aids, cochlear implant processors and radio aids. We also have classrooms equipped with Soundfield systems which enhances the listening conditions for all the students. The HIP students are assisted to make best use of the technology available to them.