The Sensory Impairment and Communication Difficulties Support Service (SICD)

The Service for Sensory Impairment and Communication Difficulties (SSICD) comprises of a team of 64 staff. This includes both teachers and specialist nursery nurses and educational communicators. All staff who work with pupils have specialist qualifications e.g. Teacher of the Deaf, Teacher for Visually Impaired. Non teaching staff also have Braille and sign language qualifications as appropriate. The Service supports in the region of 833 pupils. Age range is from time of diagnosis, which can be as early as a few weeks old, to school leaving.

Staff support pupils with:

• hearing impairment;
• visual impairment;
• multi-disabled V.I. / deafblind; and 
• autistic spectrum disorders

The service also has a team of specialist Music Therapists.

The aim of the service is to support, monitor and assist in meeting the need of children with sensory impairment and communication difficulties and to give continuity of oversight from the time of diagnosis through all phases of schooling.

A small number of pupils with sensory impairment and communication difficulties are educated in out of county specialist schools, but the majority of pupils are educated within Bedfordshire schools. Whilst most pupils are placed in their own local neighbourhood schools with support and advice and sometimes direct teaching from the Service peripatetic team, some pupils are placed in specialist provisions in Bedfordshire.

The service has responsibility for 4 Provisions for Hearing Impaired Pupils – 2 in lower schools, 1 in a middle school and 1 in an upper school.

The senior and peripatetic staff from the Service are based at the Child Development Centre. This enables very close liaison with colleagues from Health e.g Consultant Paediatricians, Ophthalmologists, Audiologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, etc. Staff from the Service also work closely with families/carers and the voluntary agencies.

With respect to pupils of school age, staff from the Service provide a comprehensive range of support for schools in order that pupils' specialised needs are met. This includes:

• assessment of pupil's functional vision/hearing;
• information concerning the educational and social implications of a pupil's impairment;
• assessment of appropriate mode of communication e.g Braille, British Sign Language;
• advice on adaptations to the learning environment;
• advice on teaching materials and resources;
• advice on preparation of IEPs, Intervention Plans and setting of pupil targets;
• written guidelines to schools re. curriculum access, teaching strategies, behaviour management, appropriate technology;
• loan of some specialised equipment e.g. CCTV, radio aids;
• direct teaching support to assist the development of specialist curriculum areas e.g speech and language, listening skills, Braille;
• submission of reports and attendance at pupil annual reviews;
• direct music therapy sessions with pupils;
• in service training for teaching and non-teaching staff; and 
• liaison with other professionals e.g. educational psychologists, social workers

Staff from the service have national links with other Sensory Impairment Teams and contribute to DfES and other consultation documents.

Contact information

Linda Truscott
Head of Service

The Child Development Centre
Hill Rise
Kempston
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK42 7EB

Tel:  (01234) 300710
Fax:  (01234) 300720
Email:  sicdteam@bedscc.gov.uk|