A mainstream school providing specialist educational support for deaf and hard of hearing students
Grovedale West Primary School and Grovedale College are mainstream co-educational schools, hosting the Grovedale Deaf Education Centre catering for Deaf students from across the Geelong Region. The centre enables the students to access a mainstream education with the support of highly skilled Teachers of the Deaf and Auslan Communication Aides supporting them in the classroom.
The Primary School hosts Prep - Year 6 students and neighbouring Grovedale College hosts Years 7-12 students providing a smooth transition for deaf and hard of hearing students.
Deaf students are supported to learn in regular classes with hearing children of the same age. They participate in the full range of educational activities provided by the school assisted by Communication Aides, Teachers of the Deaf and other appropriate support staff if required.
Withdrawal sessions in the Deaf Learning Centre cater for students specific individual needs including auditory, language and speech programs.
The students have the opportunity to learn in a mainstream environment as well as having the support of their specialist teachers.
Students in the Grovedale Deaf Education Centre have the opportunity to build friendships with both hearing and deaf students. They are actively involved in all school activities as well as participating in other sporting and cultural activities with deaf students from other schools.
The Teachers of the Deaf undertake professional learning and educational planning with the whole school teaching team and do not work as a separate unit. This ensures that they have strong curriculum knowledge in order to support the deaf students to access learning in the mainstream classroom and that their capacity as a teacher is continuously developed and enhanced.
The Grovedale Deaf Education Centre also hosts the Regional Deaf Network and has links to the Victorian Deaf Education Institute ensuring excellent contact with other deaf education services.
Students who meet the DE guidelines for enrolment in the P-12 Deaf Education Centres are not bound by the neighbourhood boundary guidelines. (See Specialist School Enrolment Policy)
Children enrolling in the Geelong Deaf Education Centre can reside in any area of Geelong and surrounding areas and can enrol at any level of the school providing they meet the criteria for the Program for Students with Disabilities - Hearing Impairment.
Eligibility is based on the child having a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss that is moderate/severe/profound and the student requires intervention or assistance to communicate. (DET)
Hearing Impairment
Compassionate grounds may be given to students with significant hearing impairment who do not meet the Deaf Education Centre enrolment criteria and live outside the school boundary but will benefit from the specialist hearing services in the school. The students are required to have an audiogram indicating the level of hearing impairment. Subject to the school’s capacity, the enrolment may be considered.