Support available to schools

Find out about the support available to educational settings.

The Sensory Service provides support, advice and training to teachers and other professionals working with children and young people with a sensory impairment so that they are well equipped to meet the child’s needs. 

Support Available

Deafness and Hard of Hearing

The Service provides support, advice and training to teachers and other professionals working with children and young people with a sensory impairment so that they are well equipped to meet the child’s needs. 

We also provide information on specific types of sensory impairment and how these may impact on learning in educational settings. 

Some of the recent training programmes have included:

  • Deafness/Hard of Hearing Awareness training – this is offered to all educational settings with children and young people who are deaf/hard of hearing.
  • Bespoke training to educational settings – this focuses on the needs of individual children and young people who are deaf/hard of hearing.
  • Teacher training in the use of audiological equipment.
  • Peer Awareness Training. 

If you would like further information on the training available or to speak to someone about your training needs, contact the Sensory Service.   

Vision Impairment Support

The Service provides support, advice and training to teachers and other professionals working with children and young people with a sensory impairment so that they are well equipped to meet these children’s needs.

Some of our recent training programmes have included:

  • Vision Impairment Awareness Training
  • Supporting the Inclusion of Children and Young People with vision impairment (VI) (SENCOS & Teachers).
  • Supporting the Inclusion of Children and Young People with vision impairment (VI) and Role of Classroom Assistant (Classroom Assistants).
  • Bespoke training to educational settings – this focuses on the needs of individual children and young people with vision impairment (VI).
  • Cerebral vision impairment (CVI) - Awareness of CVI and Support Strategies.

If you would like further information on the training available or to speak to someone about your training needs, contact the Sensory Service.

Regional Vision Resource Base

The Regional Vision Resource Base (RVRB) provides adapted texts for children and young people with a vision impairment in large print or as PDF’s for access on students’ devices.

For more information, please contact the Sensory Service on 028 2566 1258 or email: [email protected] 

Caption Connect Captioning Pilot

The Speech to Text Software Pilot aims to test and understand the benefits of using 'Caption Connect' captioning software in schools, primarily for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The captioning software will be available for teaching staff in five pilot schools, enabling students to read live captions on the interactive whiteboard or screen at the front of the classroom. Additionally, the software will transcribe the lesson, allowing the teacher to share it (once edited) post-class.

For more details see our Caption Connect Captioning Pilot information. 

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Contact the Sensory Service

The Sensory Service can be contacted for advice and information specific to children and young people who have, or may have, who are deaf/hard of hearing, have a vision impairment, or who have a multi-sensory impairment.