Picking the right nursery and school for George

As George approaches his third birthday, we’re often asked, "When is he starting nursery?" I’ve always explained that I’m not ready to send him just yet, particularly since he’s not able to communicate his wants and needs with people he doesn’t know. I also worry that in a larger group, George might get overlooked.

We’ve always planned for him to start school nursery in September 2025, so he’ll have a full year of nursery before starting reception in September 2026. We’ve been organising visits to the 2 schools we’re considering for George, along with our Teacher of the Deaf.

The first school we visited was a mainstream school with a deaf resource base. I had initially thought that I didn’t want George to be in the resource base, fearing it would isolate him from 'real life'. As hard as it is to accept, George will more often than not be the only deaf person or cochlear implant wearer in the room, and sign language won’t always be available to him. From a young age, I want him to grow up learning to be resilient in those situations.

However, after meeting with the school and observing both the mainstream nursery and the deaf resource nursery, I can confidently say that the resource base would be fantastic for him. The environment was welcoming, much brighter than the mainstream setting, and less overwhelming. With a small group of children, George wouldn’t be overlooked. I left the visit feeling unexpectedly reassured.

Next, we visited our local Catholic school, which is within walking distance from our house and was the school I’d always envisioned for my children before George was born. We met with the special educational needs (SEN) lead, and although I won’t go into all the details, the visit didn’t leave me feeling positive. One moment in particular sealed my decision. The SEN lead pointed out a deaf pupil in one of the classrooms. I was looking for her in the front row, but she was seated in the second row from the back. This school had received training from the Teacher of the Deaf, so it was disappointing to see that even basic guidance wasn’t being put into practice.

The book 'Hello, Holland: The Path to Embracing Your Child’s Hearing Loss' by Beth Leipholtz really captures my feelings perfectly. It describes how we have this dream of traveling to a specific destination, carefully planned out in every detail, but then the plane is thrown off course and ends up in Holland. I had always envisioned walking my child to and from our local Catholic school every day, but with George’s hearing loss, that plan was thrown off track—it just wasn’t the right fit for him. Now, we find ourselves in 'Holland'—a wonderful, welcoming school with a deaf resource base, one that will set George up for success in life!