23 July 2007
Five children attending St Clement School’s new Total Communication Centre (TCC) have recently completed their first academic year.
The TCC, which is an island-wide provision, aims to support children who are severely hard of hearing or profoundly deaf by giving them access to learning opportunities suited to their ability. It is led by Teacher of the Deaf, Jackie Pickup who co-ordinates a team of five key workers who each work with individual children in the classroom.
St Clement School’s hall, nursery and music room all have a loop system which enables deaf pupils to access assemblies, concerts and plays. The TCC is based in a purpose-built wing and includes a one-way mirror which allows parents to watch their child’s learning development without being noticed.
Mrs Pickup says the school is lucky to benefit from so much outside support: “We are fortunate to have the expertise of a deaf adult who supports signing in school every Friday and we also have weekly specialist speech and language programmes.”
St Clement School prepared for the new centre by raising deaf awareness, teaching basic signing skills and encouraging the pupils to organise welcome tea parties so that the new children would feel comfortable in their new environment.
Only a year later, the results are easy to see. All assemblies are now signed, the children sign Happy Birthday to one another, there is a “sign of the week” for the whole school to learn and all displays include sign. Head teacher Sheila Ponomarenko says “It has been a steep learning curve for us all. Everything we do must be universally understood, for example on sports day this year, we used a visual sign instead of a whistle to start the races.”
HRH, the Princess Royal will officially open the new school in September.
Notes to Editors:
The new St Clement School opened its doors to staff and 210 pupils in September 2006, boasting its 30 place nursery, multi-sensory room, quiet room and a large outdoor play area.
For further information, please contact:
Sheila Ponomarenko: 854007 admin@stclement.sch.je
Ella Reakes: 440422
gov.je