For children in schools and settings:

• Hearing aids work best when the speaker is closer. Social distancing may make it harder to hear teachers and peers. Ensure that attention is secured; to face the child; to avoid standing in glare/shadow; to have the lights on when speaking; and, to keep background noise low.
•  If there are children in school who normally use a radio aid, ensure this is made available. The audio cable can be used for audio-visual resources if preferred (in place of headphones).

Online learning at home or in school can present additional challenges for children who are Deaf/Hearing Impaired (or parents/carers). Please consider the following when setting homelearning tasks:

• Model tasks visually as well as in words e.g. a sentence starter, a visual answer structure, a diagram of what a table should look like, or a picture of what the final outcome should look like.
• Some children with HI have lower than average vocabulary and comprehension skills, which are below their chronological age (as noted in pen portraits provided). Consider the reading and inference level of material given, and differentiate as required. Provide students with suitable websites to find simple definitions of subject terminology (which may be different from general English), or hyperlink key terminology to a diagram or a definition online.
• Choose videos and clips with subtitles where possible, and if this is not available a transcript may be required. Concentrating on longer clips can also cause tiredness which will make tasks take longer to complete.
•  Lessons taught by video or video calling may be harder to hear, and the quality of pictures can be variable. Consider using software with automatic captioning or use text conversation.

Additional considerations for all HI children:

• If school is contacting home to speak to pupils directly to check on their learning or wellbeing, bear in mind that some children may not be able to hear voice calls easily or may not be confident phone users. 
• Also consider that deaf children may find it difficult to understand or accurately hear information about Covid-19 and measures taken to combat it, which may cause anxiety. Please consider this when discussing it with them or when preparing emails or information about the outbreak itself.

We will try to contact families to ascertain how well children are able to access materials. Please contact your Teacher of the Deaf (if known) or the Sensory-ICT Manager (below) if you require:

• further advice, support or recommendations for specific children;
• assistance with contacting children or their parents/carers;
• guidance where parents report difficulties with accessing materials; 
• practical assistance for teachers to help with resourcing or adapting home-learning resources for HI children they teach.

Uday Thakrar – Sensory-ICT Manager Email: uday.thakrar@st-pauls.org.uk Mobile no: 07827825645