Miss-Delectable
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Evening News 24 - The school which helps the deaf
It is one of only three places in the county which caters for young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
And to mark national Deaf Awareness Week every pupil at Colman Junior School was encouraged to learn how to sign.
The 224-pupil South Park Avenue school is the only junior school in Norfolk to offer a specialised unit for deaf children where they can be taught sign language as part of the curriculum, and also join in with mainstream school lessons.
Another unit for infants is located at Colman Infant School, and a third for high school children is at City of Norwich School.
As well as Fiona Wallis, who has run the deaf unit at the school for the last three years, the deaf students also have a deaf teacher come into teach them sign language, something which is quite unique.
Ms Wallis said: “This school is famous for its specialist educational facilities. The aim is for all children to feel part of the school and for everybody to be included.
“The unit is for any deaf children in the county, the one downside of that is students can have to come from quite far away such as Great Yarmouth or Diss.
“What we try and do is integrate and mix the children into classes with the rest of the school, we can be flexible about what they do.
“In terms of other pupils and how they react to deaf students, as soon as they arrive in school all the pupils become very used to seeing sign language all around them. We have an after school club which is very popular, the children love going to it, so all the children are seeing sign language around them and used every day, so they just pick it up.”
To celebrate its unique facilities and last week's Deaf Awareness Week, the school held a special singing and signing event.
Paul Whittaker, founder of the charity Music for the Deaf, and professional tenor singer, Simon Berridge, were on hand to teach the children different songs to sing and sign at the same time.
Ms Wallis said: “The idea behind the singing and signing day is to help the children learn how use their voices so deaf people can understand what they are saying, but it is also including the deaf children because we are signing as well. Paul Whittaker has always advocated that deaf children should be included in activities and there should be more activities to bring deaf children and other children together.”
Earlier this year, the Evening News reported how Ofsted inspectors had rated the school good across the board.
The school was was praised in particular for efforts to meet the needs of its range of pupils about one sixth of whom do not speak English as their first language.
In the Ofsted report inspectors judged teaching and learning standards and leadership and management as good and also praised pupils' behaviour. They commented on how parents and the community held the school in high esteem and were proud of the diverse nature of its catchment.
It is one of only three places in the county which caters for young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
And to mark national Deaf Awareness Week every pupil at Colman Junior School was encouraged to learn how to sign.
The 224-pupil South Park Avenue school is the only junior school in Norfolk to offer a specialised unit for deaf children where they can be taught sign language as part of the curriculum, and also join in with mainstream school lessons.
Another unit for infants is located at Colman Infant School, and a third for high school children is at City of Norwich School.
As well as Fiona Wallis, who has run the deaf unit at the school for the last three years, the deaf students also have a deaf teacher come into teach them sign language, something which is quite unique.
Ms Wallis said: “This school is famous for its specialist educational facilities. The aim is for all children to feel part of the school and for everybody to be included.
“The unit is for any deaf children in the county, the one downside of that is students can have to come from quite far away such as Great Yarmouth or Diss.
“What we try and do is integrate and mix the children into classes with the rest of the school, we can be flexible about what they do.
“In terms of other pupils and how they react to deaf students, as soon as they arrive in school all the pupils become very used to seeing sign language all around them. We have an after school club which is very popular, the children love going to it, so all the children are seeing sign language around them and used every day, so they just pick it up.”
To celebrate its unique facilities and last week's Deaf Awareness Week, the school held a special singing and signing event.
Paul Whittaker, founder of the charity Music for the Deaf, and professional tenor singer, Simon Berridge, were on hand to teach the children different songs to sing and sign at the same time.
Ms Wallis said: “The idea behind the singing and signing day is to help the children learn how use their voices so deaf people can understand what they are saying, but it is also including the deaf children because we are signing as well. Paul Whittaker has always advocated that deaf children should be included in activities and there should be more activities to bring deaf children and other children together.”
Earlier this year, the Evening News reported how Ofsted inspectors had rated the school good across the board.
The school was was praised in particular for efforts to meet the needs of its range of pupils about one sixth of whom do not speak English as their first language.
In the Ofsted report inspectors judged teaching and learning standards and leadership and management as good and also praised pupils' behaviour. They commented on how parents and the community held the school in high esteem and were proud of the diverse nature of its catchment.