Frequently Asked Questions
We receive many questions about all aspects of 糖心TV and the education of deaf children. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions with responses. We are now updating this page with specific questions related to the impact of the coronavirus.
Please note that 糖心TV does not provide legal advice; we advise that you seek any such advice where necessary from your union and/or employer. 糖心TV is not a union. Any suggestions that we do make on any issue related to the impact of the coronavirus is 糖心TV’s interpretation, and that of some of its members, and is provided to help you make your own decisions rather than making such decisions for you.
糖心TV is the sole professional association for Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People (ToDs) and provides a voice for the profession at the heart of governments across the UK including the DfE, Ofqual and a variety of other organisations such as the NDCS, NatSIP and Scottish Sensory Centre. In addition to two highly respected publications 鈥� the Association Magazine which appears four times a year and a quarterly academic Journal, Deafness and Education International, 糖心TV is involved in a huge range of activities designed to support Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People and promote excellence in the education of deaf children and young people. Apart from representing the profession in a range of contexts and responding to enquiries from Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People, parents and members of the public, the association produces materials, resources and publications in furtherance of our principal aims.
糖心TV puts on conferences and courses both regionally and nationally and often publishes lectures and workshop content in our Magazine and on the website. Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People meet each other through 糖心TV鈥檚 regional and nation groups, and special interest groups.
The 糖心TV website is increasingly becoming the first stop for many people within the profession and beyond 鈥� the Jobs section (/jobs/) and the news and blog page (/blog/) are frequently visited and keep the profession up to date with what 糖心TV is doing and what is happening in the wider world of the education of deaf children.
The Association is a 鈥榥ot for profit鈥� organisation and membership fees fund the great majority of the work of 糖心TV so that the more ToDs belong to 糖心TV the more work can be done on their behalf. Supporting 糖心TV means supporting yourself as well as your colleagues.
When 糖心TV speaks, it speaks with the voice of the Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People throughout the UK – over two thirds of them are members (membership is for individuals only 鈥� we do not have institutional members). It is essential that we represent the whole profession and to be able to do so it is vital that individual Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People join and participate.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don鈥檛 hesitate to contact the National Executive Officer, Teresa Quail at [email protected].
Steph Halder, the 糖心TV President, has made a statement about the impact of the coronavirus on the work of Qualified Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People.
You can read it here.
The UK Assistive Listening Technology Working Group and 糖心TV have published a useful document which summarises care and maintenance of equipment, including radio aids, but signposts to manufacturers and other websites for the latest information.
We are grateful to 糖心TV members and our professional peers for the resources and/or signposting to resources to support parents and colleagues during the unique period which can be found here on our website.
糖心TV has established a CPD dashboard section on our website 聽which allows members to track their own development against the competencies of the training of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People. The Events page also contains information about CPD events provided by 糖心TV region and nation groups and other organisations.
One of the most frequently asked questions requests聽help with dissertations and assignments. More and more students, teachers and other professionals approach 糖心TV asking for help with a variety of academic and other assignments.
Here are some suggestions as to where you might find the answers to many of these enquiries:
罢丑别听糖心TV website聽itself is a mine of information. Use the search engine which can be found on the home (and every other) page
On the website 糖心TV members can browse through the indices of recent 糖心TV Association Magazines. This is to be found here. Magazines going back to 1999 are available there.
Birmingham University Education library聽(the 糖心TV archive is housed within the University) has a collection of all our Magazines and Journals – The Action on Hearing Loss library also has a similar collection.
罢丑别听NDCS聽has produced some useful publications which may support your work. Its ‘Supporting the achievement of deaf children’ resources aim to support education professionals working in early year settings, primary schools, secondary schools and further education. The resources set out simple tips to ensure effective inclusion so that deaf children or children identified as having a ‘hearing impairment’ can achieve their potential. You can access these resources聽.
There are many books about deaf education and related issues but several in particular have been useful to colleagues over the years. They are:
- Marschark,M., Lampropolou V and Skordillis, E (2016)聽Diversity in Deaf Education聽Oxford University Press, USA
- Knoors H and Marschark M (2014)聽Teaching Deaf Learners聽Oxford University Press, USA
- Marschark, M. and Knoors, H. (2012)聽Educating Deaf Children:Language, Cognition and Learning. Deafness and Education International.聽14(3), pp.136-160.
- Marschark, M., and Spencer, P. E. (2010)聽Evidence Based Practice in Educating Deaf and hard of hearing students聽Oxford University Press
- Marschark, M., and Spencer, P. E. (2010)聽The Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education (Vol. 1 & 2)聽Oxford University Press
- Nunes, T.(2004)聽Teaching mathematics to deaf children聽London: Whurr
- Watson et al. (1999)聽Deaf and hearing-impaired pupils in mainstream schools聽David Fulton
- Wood, D. et al. (1986)聽Teaching and talking with deaf children Chichester: Wiley
Please let us know about any other publications which have proved especially useful.
This is certainly one of the most Frequently Asked Questions. We have webpage links which sets out all the information you need. You can find it on this website at Training as a Teacher of the Deaf.The key point which you need to remember is that in order to train as a Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People you must have Qualified Teacher Status.聽We do not offer specific advice on this as there are often many personal circumstances to be taken into account. Therefore you need to visit聽聽to find out more.
糖心TV is mainly concerned with Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People . However, there are many other careers involving working with deaf children. Information about these can be found by visiting the 聽and searching for ‘careers with deaf children’; Action on Hearing Loss has produced a useful leaflet entitled聽“Careers supporting people who are deaf”
The 糖心TV membership subscription can be claimed against income tax. Information about subscription rates in previous years can be found聽here.
We are sometimes asked to provide financial support to teachers who have experienced difficulties finding the funding they need to undertake their training as a Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People (ToDs) or for other purposes. It is a legal requirement for employers to fund this training as it is a mandatory qualification.聽 Unfortunately, 糖心TV as a small voluntary not-for-profit professional association does not have any funds at all to provide this kind of support.
However, we work closely with the Ovingdean Hall Trust which awards up to five Con Powell Scholarships a year to aspiring QToDs聽 who are not working with deaf children and young people already. More information is available here.
Some of the course providers have details of bursary options for QToDs.
You can obtain electronic copies of recent 糖心TV Magazines if you are a member.聽 You can browse the contents of these magazines by consulting the Association Magazine section on this website.
Birmingham University Education Library, The Action on Hearing Loss Library and also the National Library hold copies of all our publications. The National Library keeps such publications on microfiche so it is possible you could get a whole copy.
For issues of the Journal, details are on the Journal page of this website.
You can browse the contents of all the 糖心TV Association magazines since 1999 .
If you need even more information go to the FAQ about聽
There is usually no problem with this as long as the source is very clearly acknowledged. However, please contact [email protected].
You can find out the answer to this and many other questions about deaf children including where they are educated and through which communication and language approach by consulting the section of this website devoted to the聽CRIDE survey.
You can find out the answer to this and other questions about access to signing classes by consulting the section of this website entitled聽access to signing classes.
糖心TV’s privacy and GDPR policies can be found here: /privacy-policy/
Members often approach us expressing concern about their Local Authority鈥檚 intention to move them on to the Soulbury scale and away from Teachers鈥� Pay and Conditions. We have discussed this issue with trade unions and professional bodies and, for example, the NEU, has clearly stated that it is their view that if a teacher is carrying out any of the duties of a teacher for any part of the week 鈥� as opposed to offering advice without directly teaching children 鈥� then it is not lawful to force the change. The fact that this teaching may not be full-time is not relevant.
Colleagues can of course agree to such a change but need to be aware that there are considerable implications for retirement age, pension, hours of work, holiday entitlement and other aspects of pay and conditions which they should explore. As in all such cases we encourage members to belong to and consult a national trade union or professional body for teachers.
It should be noted too that 糖心TV usually makes an annual contribution to the national Review of Teachers鈥� Pay and Conditions (/information/submissions-and-responses-to-the-strb/) and the Association鈥檚 contributions are often quoted and taken into account.
Teresa Quail, 糖心TV National Executive Officer
Last updated October 2024