Why do we use an auditory oral approach?
The biggest challenge facing many deaf children is the development of their literacy. Your child might be of average or above ability, but have a depressed reading age, vocabulary and understanding of written and spoken English. This is often confirmed by a big gap between non-verbal and verbal IQ. Our challenge is to try to ensure that when your child takes GCSEs and later A Levels, that they have closed that gap and that your child is able to express themselves as well as their general ability allows. We believe that the best way to do this is to immerse the child in the language of the curriculum which is English. It is critical that your child learns to express views and relate facts accurately in English and for that reason we do not use sign language in teaching and learning.
However we do not define ourselves by a negative – that we do not use sign – but rather by the things we put in place to ensure that the vast majority of deaf children can learn our way, even if they have deaf parents and use BSL at home or if their principal support at primary school has come through sign. Your child is able to learn without sign because of the excellent acoustics, use of technology and qualifications of the staff, all of which are described in more detail elsewhere.
If the primary aim of our philosophy is to give our pupils the language they need for their education and beyond, the second major benefit of the English medium approach is the support it gives your children in improving their speech and listening skills. This is a school where all deaf children have a voice and where it is heard respectfully by the whole community. It is our experience that the deaf children we meet want to talk and to listen and want help in developing those skills.
Away from the classroom, some pupils will sign socially with their friends, although we will always encourage them to use their voices. Mary Hare is proud to have pupils from deaf families and we provide interpreters for major school events.