Marland Hill has specialist provision for hearing impaired children in its Hearing Impaired Resource Base [HIRB]. This is staffed by highly skilled teaching assistants and a teacher of the deaf. The majority of staff are trained in British Sign Language (level 2). We currently have 6 deaf pupils that access the resource base provision, from Year 1 to Year 6. When Marland Hill was rebuilt in 2006 it was designed with hearing impaired children at the heart of the design. All classrooms are equipped with Soundfield systems, which can provide enhanced sound systems across the classroom through the built in speaker system.
The curriculum for these children is highly personalised, and where appropriate, combines individualised lessons in the HIRB, and time in mainstream classes. Children in the HIRB regularly spend time working on their targets, taking part in pre and post tutoring sessions, and working on speech and language objectives. All hearing impaired children at Marland Hill, have daily equipment checks, immediate access to specialist staff, speech and language sessions, and personalised time in the unit. All levels of hearing impaired children are welcome at Marland Hill, and can expect an individualised curriculum.
Our vision is to equip all our students with the skills to reach their full potential and alongside this, to see all students grow into confident, successful individuals with a strong self-belief and a positive deaf identify.
The aims of the HIRB are:
February 2023
As part of our Topic work on ‘houses and homes’ the children have been learning all about where they live, their houses and also their addresses. This week, the children in the HIRB all went on a local area walk to observe houses in the local area. We then visited the post office, bought our own stamp and posted a letter home. The children are looking forward to receiving their letters this week!
Outdoor learning- Autumn term
Our children love learning outdoors and have developed language through meaningful experiences. This term, the children have been observing weather and seasonal changes.
January 2022
This week in the HIRB the children have had their own Teddy Bear’s picnic. First we tasted a selection of picnic items and have been using expressive language and the pronoun ‘I’ to talk about which food items we like and don’t like. We then we made our own sandwiches. Our teddies loved the sandwiches, as did we!
National Deaf Children’s Society Roadshow Bus
Spring 2022
In Spring, we welcomed the National Deaf Children’s Society Roadshow bus to school. We had workshops on deaf identity, technology and e-safety. The children loved their experience on the bus and are already looking forward to a future visit. One of our children said, ‘The bus is perfect!’, which to us, sums up just how much they enjoyed it.
Ainsdale beach- Summer Term
The children in the HIRB had a fantastic time visiting Ainsdale beach. The children particularly loved flying the kite and searching for treasure with the metal detector! We even managed to have a paddle in the sea!
Gardening Club- Summer Term
This summer, we have our own gardening club in the HIRB outdoor area. The children have loved planting different vegetables and fruit and are incredibly excited hopefully eat some of this when it is ready. Each day the children are tasked with caring for the plants, ensuring that they have enough water.
Rochdale Music Festival
At Marland Hill, we have a signing and singing choir made up of our deaf pupils and their friends from across school. Recently, we attended a competition at St. Mary’s in the Baum church. We were awarded a special trophy and received amazing feedback off the judges. We are all incredibly proud and well done to the children for their hard work and practice!