In June, the Resource Base team took our deaf and/or hard of hearing students along to a ‘Deaf Role Model’ day organised by the Specialist Teacher Advisory Service (STAS) for Hampshire. This event was hosted at a primary school with a Resource Base for deaf children and was attended by children from similar primary and secondary settings.
Our students had the opportunity to meet different deaf role models so they could learn about them and their specific job roles, their interests, and experiences growing up. Throughout the day, students mixed with peers from all settings as they met each individual role model. These included a deaf DJ, a hairdresser, a sailor and a tennis player. Interpreters supported some of the deaf role models as they shared their individual journey to their chosen job role and demonstrated their talent. Their resilience and determination to succeed, empowered our students as each demonstration reminded them that anything is possible.
Highlights of the event were our students demonstrating their talent as they practised tennis skills and stepping into the shoes of a DJ; experiencing a ‘WOOJER’ vest that enabled the vibrations of the music beat to be felt as the tunes played – each one of our students was literally ‘blown away’. The sailors demonstrated various knots and our students learnt how to tie a ‘sailors knot’. They also looked at maps to determine how to get from one destination to another. As they watched a hairdressing demonstration with the deaf role model talking about their own secondary school and college experience, this encouraged the students to think about the type of job they might like to do one day and sparked conversation around goals, dreams and aspirations for the future.
To finish the day, the deaf DJ Jeffo played the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ whilst all the students (and adults) joined in!
On the way back to school, our students were buzzing with excitement as they recalled the best parts of their day. One student summed the day up perfectly: ‘best day ever!’