Welcome to the NatSIP Website
This website offers access to a wealth of SI resources, most of which are now freely available. We encourage you to register on the site for full access to everything we have to offer. Registration is free, and open to anyone. A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.
- Written by: Ian Noon
The Education Policy Institute report on educational outcomes by deaf children, commissioned by NDCS, has now been published.
Please see the links below for more information on this:
- Written by: Ian Noon
Below is a link to a NDCS blog for parents of deaf children, giving an initial response to today’s SEND improvement plan from DfE.
NDCS will be doing more in-depth analysis over the coming weeks.
NDCS would also like to take the opportunity to thank colleagues for their support for the campaign work in this area. NDCS is clear that they couldn’t have achieved the outcomes that they have without this. In particular, the support for the CRIDE survey continues to be invaluable in evidencing and making the case to DfE for action on numbers of Teachers of the Deaf.
- Written by: Jane Sharp
RNIB are delighted to have reached the milestone of having over one million curriculum materials on RNIB Bookshare supporting children and young people with print impairments including vision impairment, dyslexia and dyspraxia to have the same educational opportunities as their peers.
RNIB Bookshare is a free online service that can be accessed by teachers, students, and parents, has a range of accessible formats so books and materials can be read electronically or adapted to suit personal reading needs. We have 45,087 students using the service from 12,647 educational institutions.
This achievement wouldn’t be possible without the partnerships we have; over 1,000 publishers and their imprints, including Penguin Random House and Oxford University Press, contribute to our service.
Titles can be accessed via the website directly or by downloading them to the Dolphin EasyReader app on computers, phones or tablets.
For more information on RNIB Bookshare visit: rnibbookshare.org.uk.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The Department has today published the SEND and AP Improvement Plan:
There is a specific mention of the need to ensure children with sensory impairments are supported and that the government has publicly announced the new apprenticeship.
The contracts for the providers of the MQSI from September 2023 are now in place, so the gov.uk page Mandatory qualifications: specialist teachers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) has been updated with their details and published the revised specifications.
- Written by: Ian Noon
Last year, NDCS carried out a survey of deaf young people to ask about their mental health and emotional wellbeing. We included some questions from the Good Childhood Index to allow us to make some cautious comparisons between deaf and hearing children.
A summary of the findings can be found at: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/media/8503/emotional-well-being-survey-of-deaf-children-and-young-people_2022.pdf
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The NatSIP exmination access working group is pleased to announce that the February 2023 update of the guidance: Ensuring equal access to public examinations for candidates with sensory impairments is now availbale to download.
Our thanks go to members of BATOD’s Examination Access Arrangement Working Group, and colleagues from VIEW, RNIB and NatSIP who have helped prepare this revision.
Available document:
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Come and join us for a face to face learning and networking event for therapists and educational professionals working with vision impaired and multi‐sensory impaired children and young people.
With updates on the latest developments in the SEND framework from the DfE and NatSIP, specialist practitioners talking about best practice, and opportunities to explore how to achieve best outcomes for these young people, there is something for everyone.
Parents and carers are also invited as delegates, especially for lunch, when there will be an exhibition and a chance to meet others, and for the afternoon sessions.
- Written by: Caireen Sutherland
149 education professionals joined a joint RNIB/Sense virtual training event on 30th November. The session was part of RNIB’s free CPD offer to all those working with children/young people with vision impairment which runs throughout the academic year in a twilight session from 4-5.30pm. The full programme can be found here: Training for professionals supporting learners with visual impairments | RNIB
Sense and RNIB are working together to deliver training for those working with children with VI and complex needs and/or multi-sensory impairment. November’s session discussed the importance of play – at any age and included some very practical take-away ideas. Two further sessions are planned Intensive interaction and the use of resonance boards and exploring a tactile world, in January and June respectively. See the link on RNIB for more details and how to sign up.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Evelyn is 9 years old and tells us about herself and her friends at Riddings Junior School in Derbyshire.
We would like to thank Evelyn, her family, friends and teachers for allowing us to share her enjoyment of school and letting us know what helps her.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The CRIDE (Consortium for Research into Deaf Education) 2022 England report is now on the BATOD website at https://www.batod.org.uk/information/cride-reports/ and on the NDCS website https://www.ndcs.org.uk/cride
CRIDE is the consortium across the UK which brings together a range of organisations and individuals with a common interest in using research to improve the educational outcomes achieved by deaf children. The reports from the other countries will be published in due course.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
This guidance, a version of which developed by the sensory impairment support team at Cambridge County Council, was circulated on the HoSS (Heads of Sensory Services) Forum in June 2022 as a contribution to the SI community of practice which the HoSS Forum represents.
NatSIP is pleased to endorse this guidance document and offer it a wider circulation.
Available document:
- Written by: Caireen Sutherland
Thomas Pocklington Trust are calling for the government to ensure that blind and partially sighted students have access to the support and resources they need in post-16 education to reach their full potential.
Their report ‘Give Me Access To College’ shows a fragmented and unreliable system of support for blind and partially sighted students as they leave secondary education.
Read the full report here: https://www.pocklington-trust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Give-me-Access-to-College-Report.pdf
- Written by: Emma Fraser
This is a closed Facebook group primarily for professionals in education, health and social care working with deaf children and their families. It is a place where professionals can provide feedback to us about our work, and a space for professionals from different disciplines to come together and discuss topics relating to working with deaf children. Professionals can join the group here.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
There is a new resource from CIICA, with EUROCIU, with up to date information on the impact of hearing loss and deafness and on cochlear implantation in children. It emphasises the importance of newborn screening and early diagnosis, with the opportunity for early implantation.
The link, where you can download your copy to share, is here: to https://ciicanet.org/resources/
- Written by: Martin McLean
NDCS has updated its guidance for higher education providers. It is aimed at higher education staff who would like to better understand the needs of deaf students including university disability advisors, admission tutors and lecturers. It is free to download from: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/documents-and-resources/deaf-friendly-higher-education/
- Written by: Ian Noon
NDCS has just published a position paper on support to families with deaf children to learn sign language.
https://www.ndcs.org.uk/media/8089/position-paper-on-support-to-families-to-learn-sign-language.pdf
NDCS is sometimes asked what they think should form part of a local authority offer to families on sign language. This paper sets out what NDCS would see as key points to consider and we hope that it will be helpful.
Page 3 of 16