Twelve teachers of the Deaf and hearing impaired will attend an intensive course at The Ear Foundation in Nottingham. The course was designed according to their professional needs. Currently no training of the sort is offered in Malta. Working with children, families, schools and being advocates of Deaf rights in school settings, it is a must for teachers of the Deaf to keep abreast with the latest technologies, methodologies and knowledge. As afore mentioned, language development is crucial for the academic, social and emotional success of a child, therefore it is essential that teachers of the Deaf are appropriately trained. Programme - Activity 1 Monday 6th October 2014 Welcome at The Ear Foundation Introduction to the week to include setting of individualised learning objectives Option 1 – School visits Option 2 – Observation individual AVT sessions Tuesday 7th October 2014 Theme ‘School’ - Update on hearing technology - What did you observe? Evaluating practice from school visits - Support in Education; working with Teaching Assistants and CSW’s - Developing Language through classroom routines Wednesday 8th October 2014 Theme ‘Working with Families’ - Working with families of deaf babies and infants - Small Talk – using a practical resource for the families of babies - Chit Chat – using a practical resource for the families of small children Thursday 9th October 2014 Theme ‘The use of audition for language and thinking’ - AVT in action: What do you see? - Guided observation - Techniques and strategies in AVT - More than words; the importance of pragmatics. How is theory of mind linked? - Practical ideas for pragmatic language development Friday 10th October 2014 Theme ‘Play’ - It’s child’s play - What next? Evaluation of learning and future planning - Evaluation of course and finish Course Tutors Confirmed: Sue Archbold (CEO The Ear Foundation, TOD) Suzanne Harrigan (Specialist SLT) Lyndsey Allen (LSLS Cert AVT, SLT) Di Harbour (Audiologist/SLT) Joanne Zellweger (TOD) This course is expected to impact positively the service given to hearing impaired students. The participants will also be able to disseminate information to new members of staff, LSAs of students within the service and school staff in general. In the long run one can only wish that with effective support at early stages, students with a hearing impairment will fare better at school, avoiding dropouts and thus promoting life long learning.