We support children from birth to 25 in homes, schools and settings across the city.
Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service Deaf / Hard of Hearing Team are a team of qualified specialist Teachers of the Deaf , a specialist Higher Level Teaching Assistant and a Deaf Tutor. We have a wealth of knowledge in D/deaf education meaning we support the children on our caseload , their families and the settings they attend backed up by experience.
We support children from 0-25 who reside in the City and are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. We support in homes, settings and schools across the city.
We also support those diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
Support from Sensory Inclusion Service is at no cost to the setting
Deaf/Hard of Hearing Team:
- work in partnership with families and educational settings providing support, training , assessment and specialist teaching
- promote the graduated approach of universal, targeted and specialist support following the assess, plan, do , review cycles as in the SEN Code of Practice 2015.
- Use Target, Monitoring and Evaluation forms to set and review targets for students we teach
- Support families from diagnosis
- Provide guidance to parents, settings and schools
- Provide specialist equipment including radio aids
- Assess functional listening in settings
- Provide audiological support
- Provide BSL tuition to students , families and professionals enabling those who prefer to use sign alongside speech
Sensory Inclusion Service offers support to settings and schools including, but not limited to
- delivering bespoke in-service training to individual, groups or whole school staff
- completing assessments to inform teaching and next steps
- providing reports for EHCP reviews, EHCNA’s
- delivering 1-1 teaching directly with the student
- offering modelling of teaching methods
- Access arrangement advise - to determine appropriate support in formal examinations
Wolverhampton has 2 specialist resource bases for children with a hearing loss. These resource bases are funded by the local authority and managed by the school that houses them. The primary base is at Warstones Primary School , the secondary at St Matthias School. Both resource bases follow a total communication approach and are run by a Specialist Teacher of the Deaf and provide BSL sign support to their pupils.
The Sensory Inclusion Service is available for educational settings to ensure they are able to meet the needs of children and young people who are Deaf/hard of hearing within Wolverhampton.
Referrals are usually made to the service via health professionals. We also accept referrals from settings and families who suspect issues with hearing and/or listening
To make a referral please use this link :
When a referral is received a Teacher of the Deaf will visit the child or young person at home or in the educational setting to assess their current needs. We use the NATSIP support levels and quality standards to determine frequency of visits and support needs.
The Sensory Inclusion Service offers five packages of support based on the child or young person’s level of need, these can be weekly, fortnightly, half termly, termly or yearly. The child’s level of need is decided by completing a NATSiP support level document.
Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service Vison Team are a team of qualified specialist Teachers of the Visually Impaired, a specialist Higher Level Teaching Assistant and a Habilitation Specialist. We have a wealth of knowledge in the education of those with a visual impairment meaning we support the children on our caseload , their families and the settings they attend backed up by experience.
QTVI’s – qualified teachers who have an additional mandatory qualification in teaching CYP’s with a visual impairment
TVI - Qualified teachers who are in training to gain the mandatory qualification in teaching CYP’s with visual impairments
HLTA – Specialist Higher level teaching assistant – who holds an additional qualification in teaching CYP’s with a visual impairment
Registered and qualified specialist Habilitation Specialist (RQHS) who is a member of Habilitation VI UK and works within the Habilitation quality standards.
We support students from 0-25 who have a medical diagnosis of a visual condition where their vision is not fully corrected by wearing glasses or contact lenses.
Students who attend a Wolverhampton setting or are under school age and live in Wolverhampton. (Home settings, early years setting, Primary, Secondary schools, PRU’s, colleges, specialist settings)
We support the family alongside the student to help them understand their child’s visual condition, its impact and signpost them to support services which may be relevant to their child or them.
We work with teachers, SENDCo’s and other professionals to develop their understanding of the student’s visual needs and how to ensure that they are fully included in the school curriculum and have equal access to it.
Support from Sensory Inclusion Service is at no cost to the setting
Vision Team
- work in partnership with families and educational settings providing support, training , assessment and specialist teaching
- promote the graduated approach of universal, targeted and specialist support following the assess, plan, do , review cycles as in the SEN Code of Practice 2015.
- Use Target, Monitoring and Evaluation forms to set and review targets for students we teach
- Support families from diagnosis
- Provide guidance to parents, settings and schools
- Provide specialist equipment including visual aids
- Assess functional vision in settings
Sensory Inclusion Service offers support to settings and schools including, but not limited to:
- delivering bespoke in-service training to individual, groups or whole school staff
- completing assessments to inform teaching and next steps
- providing reports for EHCP reviews, EHCNA’s
- delivering 1-1 teaching directly with the student
- offering modelling of teaching methods
- Access arrangement advise - to determine appropriate support in formal examinations
We use the NATSIP Benchmarking criteria to determine if children are taken on to caseload and supported by the service.
We have a touch typing and braille policy which sets out the threshold of support levels for CYPs to receive touch typing lessons or braille support (see policies?)
We have a habilitation policy (see policy)
For more information on Habilitation please visit Habilitation VI UK.
Wolverhampton has a specialist primary resource base for children with a visual impairment. This resource base is funded by the local authority and managed by the host school. The primary base is at Castlecroft Primary School ,it is managed by a Specialist Teacher of the visually impaired and provides Braille support if required for their pupils.
The Sensory Inclusion Service is available for educational settings to ensure they are able to meet the needs of children and young people who are visually impaired within Wolverhampton..
Referrals can be made by parents, schools, medical professionals such as Ophthalmologists, Orthoptics, Paediatricians etc, other professional support services such as SNEYS, physio, health visitors etc). Referrals can be made by contacting head of service (include link/ contact details)
Once a child has been referred to the SIS Service we will collect relevant medical information regarding vision. We will then assess the child’s functional vision in school or at home. Once the assessment is completed , a functional vision report is shared to parents, schools and any other professional supporting the student.
Each child’s assessment is shared with our habilitation specialist and if habilitation provision is required now or in the future this is arranged and carried out by the specialist in small blocks of support.
The student’s visual needs are benchmarked against the Nat Sip Criteria to determine the level of support from the vision team. This may increase or decrease with age, changing visual needs, transitions or additional skills required to access the curriculum or wider world in line with the Curriculum framework for CYP’s with visual impairment (link to VI curriculum framework).
To make a referral please use this link :
Post: Sensory Inclusion Service, Brickkiln Community Centre, Cherry Street, Wolverhampton, WV3 0QW
Telephone: 01902 555910
By email: rachael.armstrong@wolverhampton.gov.uk
The Sensory Inclusion Service offer bespoke training within settings, that is tailored to individual’s visual or hearing condition. This can be discussed directly with your specialist Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) or Qualified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (QTVI). The team also offer vision impairment awareness and deaf awareness training for staff, including ECT’s and Teaching Assistants.
Information and booking options are available by visiting Wolverhampton Education Services.
Rachael Armstrong
My name is Rachael Armstrong and I am the Sensory Inclusion Service Team Leader. I lead the team of Specialist Teachers and Higher Level Teaching Assistants within the Early Identification and Support Services Team. I am a qualified specialist Teacher of the Deaf and teacher, having previously carried out the role of SENDCo, Specialist Learning support Teacher and mainstream teacher in schools.
I have been a Specialist Teacher for 17 years and I have led the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Team for just over 3 years and Sensory Inclusion Service for 12 months, a busy but enjoyable role.
I am passionate about supporting pupils who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Visually Impaired within mainstream classrooms.
Natalie Hughes
My name is Natalie Hughes, I am a newly Qualified Habilitation Specialist working for Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service.
I have spent some time already with the team completing my placement whilst training for this role, and I’m looking forward to supporting children and young people with vision impairments.
I have experience of offering person centred support ensuring that holistic needs and risks are supported, and have experience of working with other professionals & parents/ carers to ensure that individual needs are addressed.
I have previous employment experience of working with both young people and adults with substance misuse issues, social housing, and probation services.
Cathryn Corbett-Butler
My name is Cathryn Corbett-Butler. I am a QTVI (qualified teacher of children and young people with visual impairments). I have been a qualified teacher for 25 years, teaching in mainstream primary schools for 16 years, having experience of teaching pupils with a visual impairment. I have worked in the Sensory Inclusion Service for 9 years.
I have personal experience of a visual impairment and visual impairment in my family. I have worked in an opticians while training to be a teacher. I work tirelessly to provide the best support to children and their families with a visual impairment to help them achieve their full potential.
Natalie Babb
My name is Natalie Babb, I am a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and started working for Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service in January 2023. I have been teaching for 13 years and have previously worked as PMLD lead and PMLD class teacher in a Special School and a Specialist Early Years Teacher.
Having worked with pupils with a variety of complex and profound medical and sensory needs, I am passionate about ensuring all pupils have a personalised and holistic approach to their learning. I also enjoy supporting families and staff to build their knowledge and understanding of different visual conditions and how to support each pupil to make progress and enjoy their education in accordance with their individual needs and abilities.
Stephanie Mountain
My name is Stephanie Mountain and I am Teacher of the Deaf with the Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service, which I joined in 2022. Before this post, I have worked as a mainstream teacher in primary schools across Telford, Shropshire and Sheffield, working in Keystages 1 and 2. I have also held roles as a team leader in specialist holiday provision for children with additional educational needs and worked as a care assistant for children with complex needs. My passion for this role developed during the pandemic, where I was able to teach more consistently on a 1:1 basis with children with special educational needs. Working outside of a ‘typical’ classroom and having had experience of teaching deaf children previously, led me on a path to train as a Teacher of the Deaf. I am passionate about supporting children from birth right through to adulthood and love using books to access literacy and emotional understanding.
Louise Reid
My name is Louise Reid, I am a Qualified Specialist Teacher of the Deaf who has been working for the Sensory Inclusion Service here in Wolverhampton for the past 10 years. I previously worked as a Teacher at Doncaster School and College for the Deaf for 10 years.
I am enthusiastic about supporting Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children and Young People (CYP) and their families and am delighted when CYP reach their full potential.
Danielle Smith
My name is Danielle Smith, I am the Deaf Tutor for Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Services. I started this role in March 2023 but before this I worked for several councils in mainstream schools, being part of a Deaf provision. I believe the experience and knowledge I have accumulated over the past 13 years has led me to this role. I am passionate and enthusiastic for British Sign Language (BSL) to be used throughout schools and encouraging it to be part of daily use for hearing children/ staff to support their Deaf/ Hard of Hearing peers/ pupils.
I am excited for the future of the children and families I support and them being able to access the wider world through BSL.
Rebecca Wood
My name is Rebecca Wood and I am a Qualified Teacher of the Deaf. I have previously carried out roles of a Teacher of the Deaf in a Hearing Resource base and also as a Primary School Teacher in mainstream schools across the West Midlands.
Rachael Freestone
My name is Rachael Freestone and I am a qualified teacher of the deaf. I started working for Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service in 2024 after being a Resourced Provision Lead at a mainstream Primary School with a provision for deaf children in Sandwell. Prior to this I worked as a teacher of the deaf at a Primary resourced provision for deaf children in Leeds, where I did my training in 2010. I started my career as an early years teacher but love the range of students and young people I get to work with and support whilst in this role.
Caroline Stokes
My name is Caroline Stokes, I am the Specialist Higher Level Teaching Assistant working for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing team in Wolverhampton. I began my present role in 2006 having previously worked for Wolverhampton Education services and other local authorities since1984, supporting children within Early years. Over the years I have gained much experience and skills which enables me to support families and children in my present role.
Hayleigh Millward
My name is Hayleigh Millward, I am a Specialist Higher Level Teaching Assistant in the VI Team, I have worked for the Sensory Inclusion Service for just over 4 years. I have 13 years’ experience working with children and young people with additional needs including VI in a SEN School, supporting age groups from 3 years -18years. I am also a qualified Nursery Nurse, having worked in Early Years settings both mainstream and special. I am passionate about giving children and young people with visual impairments the opportunities to thrive and succeed in education and beyond.
Mel Horspool
My name is Mel Horspool. I am a QTVI (Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Visual Impairments). I joined the Sensory Inclusion Services in September 2023. Prior to that I have worked in Mainstream and Special Schools and as an SENDCo in an International School, supporting children of all ages. I am passionate about this role. It is a privilege supporting the students, parents, and staff in ensuring we work together to broaden our experiences, knowledge, skills and understanding to enable the children to reach their potential by having the correct access to their learning.
Nina Baxter
My name is Nina Baxter and I’m a qualified Teacher of the Deaf with Wolverhampton Sensory Inclusion Service, which I joined in January 2024. I’ve been a Primary school teacher for 25 years, with experience both in mainstream and SEND provision, seven of those years being a Teacher of the Deaf in a hearing resource base. I’m passionate about supporting Deaf/hard of hearing children and young people to achieve their full potential.