Who are the Vision and Hearing team?
The Vision and Hearing team are a team of specialist teacher advisers (hearing impairment), specialist teacher advisers (visual impairment), higher level teaching assistants for visual impairment, communicators (who hold qualifications in British Sign Language) and a qualified habilitation specialist who supports children and young people with visual impairment.
We work with children and young people with a sensory impairment (hearing, vision or a multi-sensory impairment – a combined hearing and vision loss). We can support children and families from the time of referral to when they leave school/college or an approved apprenticeship. All hearing impairment referrals are done through Audiology but referrals for visual impairment can be made by anyone e.g. settings such as nurseries, schools, colleges, parents and other professionals. The level of support for each child and family is based on the child’s needs, their stage of development and the knowledge and support they have around them.
There are two sensory impairment inclusion centres in Portsmouth:
- Primary: King’s Academy Northern Parade
- Secondary: St Edmund’s Catholic School
Our work includes:
- Providing training and advice for settings e.g. school staff
- Working closely with other agencies that may be involved with the family such as portage, therapy services such as SALT, OT’s and the Educational Psychology service
- Contributing to assessments, monitoring and reporting of needs both formally and informally
- Promoting programmes of support for vision/hearing
- Providing training on the use of equipment and maintenance of equipment
- Supporting transition to and between early years, schools and colleges.
How are young people’s needs met?
At school or college most needs can be met through ordinarily available provision, there are some children and young people who require an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to provide additional support in the school or college setting. A child or young person does not need an EHCP for our involvement. Please contact the team if you have any questions about a child or young person’s hearing or visual impairment.
Further information
For more information about the Vision and Hearing team, visit the Portsmouth SEND Local Offer website.
If you would like support from our team please download a copy of our request for support form, or contact Marie Lloyd, Vision and Hearing team leader:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 023 9268 8612
See an example of how our team supported a blind student to learn how to travel by train independently so that he can travel to London to continue his studies.