A guide to creating an inclusive environment for Visually Impaired and Hearing Impaired learners is one of a set of courses available through Services For Education. These courses have all been designed to ensure that all staff within school have a good level of understanding of what it means to have one or more of these SEND needs. Here, we focus on Visually impaired and Hearing impaired learners and think about what their experience of school life is – and then give several easy to implement reasonable adjustments that can be put in place in your school with little or no outlay to ensure that these children are given the support that they need to be able to thrive in school.
By the end of this course, you should understand:
- What is an impairment?
- What is Visual Impairment?
- How does this affect learners?
- Top tips for supporting VI learners in class
- What is Hearing Impairment?
- How does this affect learners?
- Top tips for supporting HI learners in class
Who would benefit most from this training?
This course is useful for a range of different staff – teaching assistants or 1:1s would benefit, or it would be useful for more experienced staff as a refresher or when learners with a Visual impairment or Hearing impairment join their class. You could also use this training to support your bespoke ECT training, enhancing their learning before they work with your more vulnerable pupils.
The course offers a quick, accurate and reliable way of disseminating important information to your wider staff team – as we know a SENCO’s time is precious. This course makes it easy to bring other members of staff up to speed on the key details of these conditions as well as arming them with a range of go-to strategies to take away and put in place in your setting immediately.
About the Course Leader
Claire Steele - Adviser, Services For Education
With over 20 years of experience in primary education, Claire Steele is a respected and committed school leader who has worked across a diverse range of schools and multi-academy trusts.
Her previous roles include Assistant Principal, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), SENCo, and Senior Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead. She has also worked extensively with partners to support the delivery of a wide range of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). Claire also holds the NPQSL and NPQLTD.
Claire is deeply passionate about creating safe, inclusive, and nurturing school environments, where the well-being of pupils is at the heart of practice. She brings her extensive knowledge, dedication, and enthusiasm to Services For Education, supporting schools in embedding effective and compassionate safeguarding and SEND practices at every level.
As part of the team of advisers at Services For Education, Claire champions SEND and equality, ensuring these values remain central to all aspects of her work. Most recently, she has developed the newly launched SEND offer from Services For Education. She also delivers high-quality safeguarding training and conducts comprehensive safeguarding audits in schools.
