The National Deaf Children’s Society has reacted to the changes to Covid-19 rules in education, announced by Gavin Williamson today.
Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said:
“It’s welcome to see another step towards returning to normality, but the job is far from done.
“During the pandemic, deaf children suffered significantly because decisions in education failed to take their needs into account. They battled inaccessible online lessons at home and face coverings when they returned to school, often having to struggle on alone without crucial visits from their specialist support staff.
“As we go forward, schools must make tailored reasonable adjustments whenever face coverings are used and reinstate visits from support staff as soon as possible.
“We cannot risk a situation where any student is falling behind or struggling to understand their teacher, something that has happened to thousands of deaf children already this year.”
For more information, please contact the National Deaf Children’s Society media team on 020 7014 1146/1149, rob.white@ndcs.org.uk or 07595 780 411 (outside of office hours).
The National Deaf Children’s Society
- The National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and their families.
- Three babies are born deaf in the UK every day.
- There are more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK. We help them thrive by providing impartial, practical and emotional support, and by challenging governments and society to meet their needs.
- For more information on our work please, visit www.ndcs.org.uk.
- For further support, parents, deaf children and deaf young people can contact us via our Helpline on 0808 800 8880 (voice and text), on InterpreterNow (interpreternow.co.uk/ndcs), by email on helpline@ndcs.org.uk or through online chat at www.ndcs.org.uk/livechat.
Got an article you would like to share, interested in writing for us or have someone that you would love to see featured on our blog? You can get in touch with us at ellie.foster@signature.org.uk or call us on 0191 383 1155.
