Deaf Pupil Provision

Welcome to the Deaf Pupil Provision (DPP) 

The DPP (Deaf Pupil Provision) is a provision within Philip Southcote School, which offers support for deaf students who also have additional SEND needs.

The DPP are committed to providing support for our students to ensure they can access the curriculum alongside their peers. We have a Total Communication approach and can offer support to match the students educational and social needs. This could be through an aural / oral approach, using sign (BSL or SSE), using visuals to support understanding or a combination of any of these. 

The Philip Southcote philosophy is embedded in our motto "Learning for Life" where we place equal importance on:

• Academic Progress.
• Physical and Emotional Wellbeing.
• Enrichment and skills for life.
• The belief a student's deafness should not be a barrier to their ability to learn and achieve their potential.

Our curriculum provides a  wide range of subjects to ALL students including; Maths, English, Science, PSHE, ICT, Art, Food Technology, BSL, World Studies, Outdoor Education, Sports Leaders, Performing Arts, D of E and Sixth Form. Through the generous support of a local charity, CSSEF, we are proud to be registered as a Signature BSL assessment centre. This means that some of our deaf students are able to gain qualifications in BSL in addition to the wider qualification range offered to all Philip Southcote Students. 

Classrooms have Soundfield Systems to provide equal audiological access meaning students can hear as clearly at the back of the classroom as they can at the front. Deaf students who use Remote Microphone Systems are issued with Touchscreens by their local authority to work alongside the classroom audiology technology. Our school is fully wheelchair accessible and we have toilets with hoisting systems if required. We work hard to ensure our physical environment is fully inclusive for our deaf students; all fire alarms are fitted with flashing lights and classrooms have carpet and blinds to improve the acoustics for our students.

We encourage our students to be independent and to develop an understanding of how to look after and maintain their own  audiology equipment as appropriate. These are all vital skills for our students to be able to advocate for themselves in school and outside of the school environment. Our Teacher of the Deaf and Communication Support Workers regularly teach Deaf Studies to support our students to develop these skills.

We recognise our students as individuals and this is reflected in the nature of the classroom support they receive. Some will require Communication Support Workers to sit alongside them to support, while others will need the CSW to interpret the class using BSL or SSE. Students will also benefit from 1:1 or group sessions with our Teacher of the Deaf. 

Deaf students are a part of the academic and social life of the Philip Southcote Community. They attend classes with their peers and have a variety of sporting opportunities to take part in as well as residential school trips. Our students attend work experience and in KS4 participate in the college link courses provided to the whole year group.

All students at Philip Southcote have access to British Sign Language sessions in a relaxed and fun environment to gain a valuable skill and also to promote an understanding of deaf awareness. We are fortunate at Philip Southcote to have trained ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) who can sign to support the wellbeing of our Deaf students, this provides a fully inclusive approach that students can access with minimal additional adults.

Our Specialist SALT (Speech and Language Therapist), Deafness Team has many years of experience and expertise in working with deaf students. We work closely with the SALT team to enable our students to use and develop their existing communication skills effectively and to incorporate this into their classes and life outside of school.

All the staff at Philip Southcote have regular updates in Deaf Awareness to maximise their knowledge of how best to work with our deaf students and the wider community. We are also proud of our staff team for learning BSL alongside their students and for those going further and working towards a Signature BSL qualification.