Hearing checks for schools.
Hearing checks are important at all ages, especially the 4-11 age group. Just as with vision, undiagnosed hearing problems can adversely affect a child’s learning, behaviour, welfare with implications for inclusion and SEND resources.
- CHECK children where poor hearing or vision may be affecting children’s behaviour/progress
- IDENTIFY welfare and health needs
- NO CLINICAL KNOWLEDGE NEEDED for use by SEND/support staff/teachers
- NO ADMIN All automated including data, letters to parents
- EVIDENCE Through automated anonymised reporting to SLT (and for MATS, MAT-wide)
- INCLUSION through timely/cost effective support
- ENGAGE PARENTS Through automated letters informing parents
- ECONSENT if needed, fully automated
How to deliver hearing checks in your school.
By using SchoolScreener for Schools Hearing, in a few minutes you’ll know if that child needs an audiologist hearing test or not. It doesn’t diagnose, you won’t be prescribing anything, that’s for the clinicians. But understanding the child’s needs can help teaching staff to accommodate that child better in class. After the hearing check, alert the parents with a referral letter, automatically produced. Help that child achieve more in class.
SchoolScreener for Schools Hearing is a software application, used with a hearing kit consisting of an audiometer and child-sized headphones. That’s included with the licence fee. All you need is laptop with a sound card and a USB connection.
Any colleague can use it, with a minimal period of learning how to set up and use it (c.20 minutes). There’s no need for charts and the app automatically records the hearing check results and instantly alerts if the child needs further examination.
SchoolScreener for Schools Hearing is a software application, used with a hearing kit consisting of an audiometer and child-sized headphones. That’s included with the licence fee. All you need is laptop with a sound card and a USB connection.
Any colleague can use it, with a minimal period of learning how to set up and use it (c.20 minutes). There’s no need for charts and the app automatically records the hearing check results and instantly alerts if the child needs further examination.
Background.
Since 2013, many NHS School Health Teams use SchoolScreener® in schools to deliver Reception age hearing screening.
SchoolScreener® for Schools is a variant of SchoolScreener for use by schools. It includes all the checks the NHS use and we’ve re-designed training, too so that schools are up and running with less than 30 minutes online training. And your school will have the evidence, through automatic reporting.
SchoolScreener was developed by Thomson Screening with the clinical leadership of Sebastian Hendricks, Consultant in Paediatric Audiovestibular medicine at Great Ormond Street Hospital and previously at The Royal Free and at University College Hospitals, London.
There’s a wealth of independent, academic research the need for hearing and vision checks here.
Case study: Beech Hill School, Wigan
Beech Hill Community Primary School introduced hearing checks for their younger children, with SchoolScreener® Hearing. Early Years Phase Leader, Sharon Hobin, tells us how this has benefitted the children, their parents, and the school itself.
Those include:
- By identifying children with hearing problems young, schools can mitigate the educational challenges quickly, which helps the children’s learning.
- For children failing their check, the software automatically generates letters for parents recommending they take their child for a full clinical assessment.
- The school now has vital evidence, which supports other evidence gathered about why some children don’t progress as they should. It helps when dealing with the local authority education team.
Read the full post about this hearing check case study on the SchoolScreener website.
The Link is the speech and language magazine for schools. Our Medical Director: Hearing, Dr Sebastian Hendricks, featured in Issue 28 of The Link Primary, February 2024.
See the full article on page 8 of the magazine. Access via the button below, or the associated link.
We’d love to show you SchoolScreener for Schools Hearing. The application, how it works and how it can help your school.
To schedule an online demonstration, please contact us, without delay.