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Soundwave is our annual magazine showcasing the highlights of all Mary Hare activities across the last academic year.
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Deaf identity is very personal, and we are passionate about the work we do to ensure our students have the opportunity to explore what it means to them. Below is our original article published in December's BATOD Magazine. Katherine Clements, our Assistant Principal for Inclusion and Therapies, reports how Mary Hare School supports its pupils in developing a strong Deaf identity.
One of the advantages of being the largest school for Deaf children in the United Kingdom is the opportunity it brings for our pupils to develop a strong sense of Deaf identity. Our families come from all over the UK and further afield, and with this comes a breadth of diversity, unique experiences, and Deaf culture which provide a rich tapestry for our young people to tap into.
As a school that represents pupils from different cultural, communication, and religious backgrounds, we pride ourselves on the development of positive identities and an acceptance of difference through celebrating these, both in school and in the residential setting. Sadly, we see too many young people joining us who have poor self-esteem, low resilience, and no understanding of their deafness and how this makes them unique.
At Mary Hare, all our pupils have communication profiles and take part in Deaf identity workshops led by the speech and language therapy and audiology teams. Our Deaf staff in both the school and the residential houses are strong Deaf role models who our students can both identify with and aspire to be like.
Around the school, we celebrate the success of our Alumni ‘set your sights high’, showcasing the interesting, challenging, and varied careers our past pupils go on to do.
Our sixth form students studying childcare often have work placements at our primary school and support our Little Hares baby and toddler group, sharing their journeys and experiences with young deaf children still learning about their identities.
As part of our work on Deaf identity, pupils were asked to reflect on what they would want professionals to understand about deafness and to create a piece of work exploring their own identities. Below are some examples of the thoughtful and creative work produced by our students, including drawings, poems, and our ‘Do Good, Feel Good’ mind map on deaf identity.
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