1. Before the visit
I found out about the Listening
Bus through our local support
service. We have several deaf
children in the school and we’ve
been teaching a lot of the classes
how to sign to make communication
easier between all the students.
I thought a visit from the bus would
be a really exciting and interactive
way to raise the students’ and staff
members’ deaf awareness and
signing skills.
On the day
It was fabulous and demonstrated
how the school, local support service,
parents and other students are all
working together for the benefit of the
deaf pupils. It was also an opportunity
for other professionals in the area to
visit our school and see how pupils can
be helped to access the curriculum.
Our school has children with
all different levels of needs and the
sessions held everyone’s interest! The
pupils enjoyed learning more signs and
the deaf pupils really enjoyed bringing
their friends onto the bus. I think the
whole day was fantastic and I am so
glad that we have had this opportunity.
Wendy Westgarth, NDCS Family
Officer for the North East, helped
out on the day, “As ever, Gabby and
Damian pitched the sessions perfectly
according to the children’s needs.
It was great to see so many of the
children fingerspelling and signing.”
A week after the visit
Parents know more about NDCS’s
services and our teachers are
more aware of our deaf students’
communication needs. This has
given the children more confidence
in class and there is also better
communication between our hearing
and deaf students. I’ve used the NDCS
website to get some of their school
resources, which I’ve passed on to
other staff.
What did the pupils say?
“We learnt some animal signs and
played a game. I loved fingerspelling
my name.” Hearing pupil
“The Listening Bus helped me to be
able to talk to people in school who
are deaf or use signs.” Hearing pupil
“We all had a try at wearing a
hearing aid.” Hearing pupil
“It was exciting! I liked the door
knocker that flashed and the vibrating
alarm clock that went ‘brr brr brr’
under the pillow. The man on the bus
had hearing aids like me.” Deaf pupil
TECHNOLOGY
IllustrationbyJohnPaulEarly•www.illustrationweb.com
NDCS’s
famous bus visits
Glendene School
Glendene School is a special school in County Durham and recently had a
visit from the NDCS Listening Bus™. Linda Logan, Advisory Teacher for Pupils
with Hearing Impairment, explains why every school can benefit from a visit.
36 NDCS Families • Spring 2012 www.ndcs.org.uk
Gabby, Damian and Wendy showing
bus visitors a vibrating alarm clock
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