You can view this petition in British Sign Language here.

We're a group of deaf young people from across the UK, aged between 15 and 19, and we're worried that many mainstream teachers don't know enough about deaf awareness, and how best to support deaf children in class. There are more than 40,000 deaf students like us at schools and colleges nationwide. Many of us miss out because teachers don't always know how to meet our needs. This stops us from achieving as well as our hearing friends. And it makes many of us feel isolated and lonely in class. 

“Some teachers know exactly what to do to help me but there are some that don’t and are completely clueless about my struggles” – deaf young person, aged 16

More than half of teachers will teach a deaf child during their career. However, a recent survey from the National Deaf Children’s Society showed that only 3% of teachers in England feel that their teacher training has given them the information they need to meet a deaf child’s needs. The Government must make sure that all teachers have deaf awareness training and regular refreshers.  

“I wish my school provided more support and information for deaf students that may be feeling isolated or lonely, like I have.” – deaf young person , 17 

With the right support in place, we, and all deaf young people, can do anything and achieve the same as our hearing friends. But, a lack of deaf awareness and specialist support means that deaf students achieve, on average, a whole grade less at GCSE than other students in England.... All teachers must be given the skills and tools they need to make sure that deaf students are included and able to achieve their full potential. This is the change we want to see across the UK.

Holly, Toby, NJ, Elina, Tega, Scarlett, Daniel, Willoe, Rhys, Tegan, Maia, Miriam, Polly, Dinah, Siena, Billy-Jack, Dom and Merisa – Young People's Advisory Board