Deaf News: Tower Hamlets’ only day nursery with resource base for deaf children could be privatised

Posted on February 11, 2017 by



The only day nursery in Tower Hamlets that offers a resource base for the deaf/partially hearing children in the borough is now under threat of privatisation.

Two years ago we reported on plans by Tower Hamlets Council to close the nursery. After three months of campaigning, the decision was overturned.

Now, two years later, the newly elected mayor is planning to privatise the nursery, leading to concerns from campaigners.

Husna Begum, who is chair of the Tower Hamlets Deaf Children’s Society, said there has been no public consultation, and added:

“As an organisation, we to want to know what assessment has taken place to suggest that privatising the nursery will improve the outcomes for Deaf children? And how will privatising improve the quality of provision in early years for Deaf children in Tower Hamlets?”
The final cabinet meeting and decision will be made on 22nd February 2017.
Two years ago, Begum wrote about the nursery for us. The below extract is from that article:

The building at Overland’s caters for the deaf children. The rooms are sound proofed and have good acoustics, which is a provision that needs to be in place for deaf children, to be able to use their listening and communication skills.

The centre addresses the needs of every deaf child by Teachers of the deaf and speech and language therapists, who work tirelessly to support them in their early years developments, So that they can succeed as well as their hearing peers.

Sign language is also a very important factor as for many of the children it is their only form of communication. The staff and professionals at Overland’s are trained in British Sign Language to be able to support and understand them.

The standards at Overland’s is very high. The quality of care is better implemented than at other private or voluntary nurseries.

 

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Posted in: deaf news