SEND Sensory Service
The SEND Sensory Service brings together the Children’s Vision Team and the Hearing Impairment Service. The Sensory Service is a team of specialist teachers and support staff who work across the city with children and young people with Hearing Impairment (HI), Vision Impairment (VI), and Multi-sensory Impairment (MSI). The Sensory Service manages six Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARPs) across the city.
Contact us:
Joanne Scott, Manager SEND Sensory Service
Email: sensoryservice@newcastle.gov.uk
Children’s Vision Team
The Children’s Vision Team supports babies, children, and young people 0 – 25 years of age who have a medically diagnosed visual impairment. We are a team of qualified Teachers of Visual Impairment, specialist Learning Support Assistants, Children’s Habilitation Specialist and Technical Support Officer.
The team offers:
Peripatetic Teaching and Support:
- Support the educational, social and emotional needs of children and young people (and their families) from birth to 25 years who have a diagnosed visual impairment.
- Advice, information and assessment are provided to children in their home, pre-school, nursery and school placement.
- Most work takes place in schools city wide on a peripatetic basis, but specific work also takes place with pre-school children and their families in partnership with other children’s services and health professionals.
- With parental permission, information is received from, and shared with, other relevant professionals and services.
- The nature and frequency of visits (of which there is agreed criteria) varies according to the circumstances and needs of each child.
- A pre-school baby group (Bright Lights) runs weekly at the Alan Shearer Centre.
Referral
There is an open referral system that allows anyone to refer, including parents. If referred directly from Ophthalmology, your child will have a medical diagnosis of their visual impairment. Your child may have been registered as Sight Impaired (Partially Sighted) or Severely Sight Impaired (Blind) and have been issued with a Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI). New referrals are seen within 2 weeks.
Visual Impairment Additionally Resourced Provisions (VI ARPs)
Children and young people with a visual impairment may attend an Additionally Resourced Provision based within Regent Farm First School, Gosforth Junior High or Gosforth Academy.
The VI ARPs provide a base where pupils receive specialist support as part of an individual educational programme. The ARPs provide access to mainstream and specialist equipment, and relevant training for the children to use it. Curriculum resources are adapted to provide large print, modified texts or tactile/braille resources. Children are also taught touch typing skills. Pupils have access to a continuum of provision from individual support to full inclusion within mainstream classes. The provision is an inclusive part of the school, and the pupils are integral members of the school community.
Mobility and Independent Living Skills
The Children’s Vision Team have a full time Habilitation Specialist, working with children and young people in VI ARPs, mainstream and specialist schools throughout Newcastle. The Habilitation Specialist liaises with all educational settings and health professionals to ensure a co-ordinated and holistic approach.
Children and young people with a visual impairment have access to mobility and independent living skills training. The development of these skills has life-long implications for a child’s ability to participate in social, recreational, educational and employment opportunities.
Contact us:
Katie Fuller
Email: sensoryservice@newcastle.gov.uk
Hearing Impairment Service
The Hearing Impairment Service is a Newcastle City Council service which supports babies, children and young people 0-25 years old who are deaf or have a hearing impairment. We are a team of qualified Teachers of the Deaf and specialist Learning Support Assistants who have undertaken specialist training.
What we do
Peripatetic Teaching and Support:
- We support the educational, social and emotional needs of children and young people (and their families) from birth to 25 years who have a diagnosed hearing impairment.
- Advice, information, assessment and teaching are provided to children and young people in their home, pre-school, nursery and school placement.
- Most of our work takes place in schools city wide on a peripatetic basis. Specific work also takes place with pre-school children and their families in partnership with other children’s services and health professionals.
- With parental permission, information is received from, and shared with, other relevant professionals and services.
- The nature and frequency of visits (of which there is agreed criteria) varies according to the circumstances and needs of each child.
- Specialist audiological equipment, such as radio aids, are provided jointly by Health and Education. Decisions regarding the provision of the radio aid equipment are made after a trial of the equipment and assessment of benefit to the child.
Referral
Referrals are from the Ear Nose and Throat Department (ENT) and the Audiology Department at the Freeman Hospital. Qualified Teachers of the Deaf will carry out listening assessments and observations in schools; this is upon request by colleagues in the ENT Department or the Audiology Department. If referred directly from Audiology, your child will have a medical diagnosis of deafness or hearing impairment. Babies identified via the ‘Newborn Hearing Screening Programme’ (NHSP) will be contacted within 48 hours and offered a visit within 5 working days. Referrals received outside of NHSP are seen within 2 weeks.
Hearing Impairment Additionally Resourced Provisions (HI ARPs)
Some Teachers of the Deaf and Learning Support Assistants teach and support pupils in Hearing Impaired Additionally Resourced Provisions (HI ARPs). As part of a range of provision, children and young people with a hearing impairment, or those who are deaf, may attend an Additionally Resourced Provision based within Benton Park Primary School, Broadwood Primary School or Jesmond Park Academy.
The HI ARPs provide a base where pupils receive specialist support as part of an individual educational programme. This addresses their hearing, communication, language, listening, and social and emotional needs together with any additional difficulties. The ARPs provide access to specialist audiological equipment and training for the children to use it.
The ARPs provide individual and small group teaching in an environment adapted and modified to meet the needs of pupils with a hearing impairment. Pupils have access to a continuum of provision from individual support to full inclusion within mainstream classes. The provision is an inclusive part of the school, and the pupils are integral members of the school community.
Children's Hearing Services Working Group (CHSWG)
The Newcastle CHSWG is made up of parents and carers of deaf/hearing impaired children and young people, professionals from health, education, social services and representatives from the voluntary sector. The aim of the group is to ensure that the different services are working well together to provide the best possible support and outcomes for children, young people and their families across the city.
Contact us:
Rebecca O’Leary