Five Elms Primary School

Our Provision

Five Elms Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) for deaf children is part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s local offer for pupils with Special Educational Needs/Disability (SEND) and is within, and very much part of, Five Elms Primary School in Wood Lane, Dagenham. The ARP caters for 20 deaf pupils who have an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) with deafness as their main presenting need. Some of the pupils within the ARP have additional associated needs such as language delay and emotional regulation difficulties. The pupils are taught by a team of qualified Teachers of the Deaf (ToD) and supported by ARP LSA (Learning Support Assistant) and Speech and Language Therapists.

Communication

The ARP uses a Total Communication approach to teaching and learning. Total Communication uses sign language alongside speech. We use this approach as our pupils are diverse in their language needs. By using sign and speech we are able to facilitate language development and provide the fullest access to the curriculum. The range of pupils’ needs within the ARP means that the approach to communication is as individual to each child as possible. Through high quality language models, pupils are given the opportunity to experience a language rich environment. This helps to develop their confidence and skills, helping them to express themselves in a range of situations.

All pupils have weekly speech and language therapy with their Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.

The school actively promotes British Sign Language (BSL) within the school environment to facilitate the learning of all pupils. In addition, many mainstream teachers, LSAs and mid-day assistants have sign language qualifications. We offer an after school sign language club for staff.

Curriculum

The pupils follow the National Curriculum that is adapted appropriately to match the needs of each individual child. Using sign language, spoken English and visuals, there is high quality communication between staff, pupils and peers within the classroom, to maximise effective learning. The majority of pupils have English and maths lessons in their ARP class where the teaching is adapted a differentiated within small ability groups. Deaf children with age-appropriate levels of language (signed or spoken) access learning within mainstream classes as well as having specialist teaching from ToDs. If needed, they will have the support of an ARP LSA. All pupils are taught in their mainstream classroom in the afternoon with the support of an ARP LSA and fully take part in assemblies, plays, concerts, sports days and school trips.

Presently, all children are taught in the ARP (except nursery children) due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Deaf Community Trips and Enrichment

Friendship groups within the deaf community are important to us and we have strong links with other deaf provisions across boroughs. These include the ARP for deaf children at Eastbury Primary School and Eastbury Community School in Barking, as well as Hacton

Primary School in Havering. We attend annual events that give our pupils the opportunity to come together and see old friends as well as make new ones. We also attend trips organised by the Panathlon Challenge at locations such as the Olympic Park in Stratford, where many deaf provisions and schools attend from across other boroughs.

Presently, we are unable to attend trips due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Parents and Professionals

Closely working with parents and carers is a crucial part of our work in the ARP. In addition to the usual parents’ evenings and other events, parents and carers are invited to meet with their child’s Teacher of the Deaf and their Speech and Language Therapist every term to discuss their progress and plan and what needs to be focused on next. Education Health Care Plans are reviewed six monthly for pupils under five years old and annually for older pupils. Planning the transition to secondary school begins in Year 5 and the ARP particularly works closely with the secondary school ARP for deaf pupils at Eastbury Community School in Barking to help make the transition as smooth as possible. We also work closely the Early Years Teacher of the Deaf and Advisory Teacher of the Deaf within the Outreach Service to identify children that would benefit from a place in the ARP. As some pupils have SEND in addition to their deafness, we work closely with a range of other professionals such as Educational Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Teachers of the Visually Impaired, the School Nurse and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), as well as with the Paediatric Audiology Service and the Cochlear Implant teams.

We hold a termly coffee afternoon for parents that is well attended. The aim of the session is for parents to meet other parents of deaf children, feel included and well informed, and to provide a platform for parents to be able to ask questions and share their own experiences.

Presently, we are unable to hold our coffee afternoons, due to COVID-19 restrictions.