Teenager with aspirations of joining the police thrives at specialist school

Ben Bower has been a pupil at the Doncaster specialist school for more than two years, joining in Year 6. He joined from a mainstream school in his home area.

He said: “One of the things I like best about school is that there are deaf pupils and teachers, and everyone can sign and communicate with each other.

“When I grow up, I’d like to be a frontline police officer. My favourite subjects at school are PE and Science and I play football every breaktime when I practice being a good goalkeeper.”

Ben’s mum Sarah has seen Ben become a real part of the community at Doncaster School for the Deaf.

She said: “We really wanted to keep Ben in mainstream school but as time went on it was obvious to us that he desperately wanted deaf friends as well as hearing friends. Thankfully he now has friends who understand him.

“When we first visited Doncaster School for the Deaf, Ben knew instantly that the school was the school he wanted to go to as they provided everything that Ben needed and more. It was at that point too that I knew that Doncaster was the best school for him.

“All the staff and the head teacher were very warm and welcoming the children were clearly happy and spoke and signed to Ben and to see him respond was such a lovely warm experience for myself and Ben. He did not want to leave at the end of his visit he wanted a place there and then and made sure the head teacher knew this on leaving his first visit.

“Since joining Doncaster School for the Deaf he has become a very confident happy boy who knows that with the help and support of the school all his dreams and hopes can come true. It is wonderful to see him develop, and his speech has progressed exceptionally well to the point that his sign name is ‘talking’, which he never stops!

“Thanks to his growing confidence, Ben expresses opinions and is listened to, his social and emotional development has improved considerably well.

“We are very proud to be part of the family of this school. Every child is an individual with hopes and dreams and with the correct support and guidance their dreams can come true with the correct settings and my child has all of this which is down to the hard work and dedication of Doncaster School for the Deaf.”

For further information about Doncaster School for the Deaf visit www.deaf-trust.co.uk/school