TCB

Introduction

At Kingsbury Green Primary School, the Total Communication Base for hearing impaired and deaf children (TCB) is an additionally resourced provision with 18 full time places. Pupils who attend the TCB are all members of the mainstream school and participate in school lessons, assemblies, playtimes, lunchtime activities, after school clubs, school productions, open days and educational visits.

Information relating to the school is on the school website or alternatively, can be obtained from the school office. This includes the address, telephone/fax number and email address of the school, as well as details of uniform, school times, holiday periods and our expectations of a child’s behaviour in school.

Kingsbury Green Primary TCB meets the needs of deaf children through the whole primary phase in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Kingsbury Green Primary School Mission Statement

At Kingsbury Green we will create the opportunities for all children, parents and staff to expect excellence as standard. The learning climate and environment will offer and develop in children and staff, empathy, intellectual and physical agility and the pleasure of hard work and a job done well.

Empathy, Agility & Hard work: The values, attitudes and attributes which will enable us to achieve high performance and be a world class school.

The Communication Policy in the TCB

In the TCB, English is used as a main mode of communication. Signing is used to support communication, teaching and learning. We aim to make maximum use of the child’s residual hearing through consistent use of appropriate amplification e.g. hearing aids, cochlear implant processors, FM and the Soundfield Systems.

We aim to provide an enhanced listening environment throughout the school. Access to Deaf culture is encouraged.

Staff who work in the TCB

Within the TCB, professionals from the Education and Health Departments work together to meet the needs of the deaf children.

Professions who work in the TCB include:

• Teachers of the Deaf who have responsibility for day-to-day organisation, planning and delivery of the curriculum to deaf children. This involves the preparation, implementation, monitoring and assessment of individual learning programmes
• Specialist Teaching Assistants who work with the Teachers of the Deaf to plan and deliver programmes of work and provide support for deaf pupils

Inclusion
Inclusion means that all children are included in the full range of activities that the school has to offer. For some children this may mean doing different or similar things or receiving extra support for what everyone else is doing.

The TCB and mainstream staff work closely together to ensure inclusion. All children attending the TCB are members of mainstream classes and integrate at different levels, according to their individual needs. Each child’s programme is monitored regularly and amended when necessary.

Both deaf and hearing pupils benefit from inclusion. The TCB pupils gain socially, emotionally and intellectually from working alongside their hearing peers. Communication skills are also improved and inclusion helps prepare deaf children for life hearing society.

Hearing children benefit from inclusion in a different but equally valuable way. By playing and learning with deaf children, they gain first hand experience of how deaf children learn and communicate with each other and with the hearing world.

In this way, all children learn to value diversity and to respect one another.

Moving to secondary school
TCB pupils leave the school at the end of Year 6 and transfer to a secondary school placement.

• Parents work with the London Borough of Brent SEN team (SENAS) to identify appropriate provision
• Some pupils attend their local school without extra support
• Some attend their local school but may require support from a Teacher of the Deaf and/or Specialist Teaching Assistant
• Some may continue to need special provision, which may be at a secondary school with an additionally resourced provision for deaf and hearing impaired pupils or another type of specialist provision.