Deaf News: NDCS warns Tower Hamlets Council that closure of only nursery with deaf resource base “will break the law”

Posted on November 25, 2014 by



Last week, we reported on a campaign to save the only day nursery that offers a resource base for the deaf/partially hearing children in the borough.

Husna Begum, the chair of the Tower Hamlets Deaf Children’s Society, wrote that there are four nurseries in threat of closure/ privatisation by Tower Hamlets Local Authority, and one of them is Overland’s Children’s Centre.

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Now, the National Deaf Children’s Society have weighed in, with Brian Gale, the charity’s Director of Policy and Campaigns, warning the council that they are breaking the law and asking for assurances about future provision for deaf children.

In a statement, Gale said:

Closing Overland Children’s Centre will not only remove a vital lifeline to the families and deaf children who depend on it, it will also break the law. It is quite clear that when a child is deaf, specialist support should be provided to meet their needs, for example employing Teachers of the Deaf.

Closing the centre will mean removing the only day nursery in the borough with the sort of vital specialist support to enable local deaf children to thrive.

“Specialist support is particularly important in early years for the development of good communication skills, emotional development and success in school. It’s also vital given that more than half of deaf children in England currently leave primary school without meeting the Government’s expected targets in reading, writing and maths.

We urgently want assurance from the Council that deaf children in their early years living in Tower Hamlets won’t be ignored and face an uncertain future.

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