The Deaf Education UK Forum

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The Deaf Education UK Forum  is moderated by Teresa Quail (National Executive Officer) of BATOD.

What is the Deaf Education UK Forum?

A platform to share good practice and seek solutions to the challenges of the profession.  The Deaf Education UK Forum is an e-mail discussion list.  Messages posted to the forum, via email, are automatically sent to all members.

The purpose is to enable professionals associated with deaf education to exchange good practice, ask questions and discuss issues of current interest. The conversations are open to QToDs, ToDs, Speech and Language Therapists, SENCOs, audiologists, audiology technicians, support staff – anyone who may have pertinent questions and comments to share within the wide field of deaf education.

The value of the forum is:

  • it is free to join
  • it provides instant access to colleagues with similar concerns
  • it provides an opportunity to exchange professional views and opinions
  • it gives access to expertise
  • it can reduce professional isolation.

Topics which have been raised in recent posts have include access to examinations, regional BSL training, curriculum issues, and assistive listening device connectivity.

Members of the forum need to be aware of the public nature of exchanges and ensure that they are not compromising their organisations when they reply to messages.  .

We operate the usual basic courtesy rules and ask members of the forum to respect the no advertising rule. This applies in particular to job adverts (see below)

Who can join the Deaf Education UK Forum?
Membership of the forum is open to Qualified Teaches of Deaf Children and Young People, QToDs, ToDs, Speech and Language Therapists, SENCOs, audiologists, audiology technicians, support staff – anyone who may have pertinent questions and comments to share within the wide field of deaf education.

Membership applications are reviewed by one of the moderators before forum access is granted.

How to join the forum:

Complete the online form you can find here. 

Previous Name:

The Deaf Education UK Forum was known as the QToD Forum until late January 2022.

Note:

Job adverts can be advertised on the BATOD Website Jobs Page.  You can submit a listing here.

Conferences and other events can be included in the BATOD calendar (free) with a link directly to the organiser’s website. To advertise events on the BATOD website please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About the SI Forums

The SI Community Forums were originally provided by BECTA, and then hosted by the DfE, until July 2019, when the DfE finally withdrew their servers.

NatSIP provided an interim solution during extended DfE server downtime during 2018-19 for the HoSS Forum, to keep communication flowing to Heads of SI Services.  In October 2019 NatSIP offered a permanent solution to the wider SI community, with four forums live on the new platform in November 2019, initially supported by DfE through Whole School SEND/nasen.

There are now five forums in the family, with the addition of the Lead QToD (Resource Provisions) Forum in February 2022.

Subscription to any of the five SI Community Forums is free. Colleagues, who meet the eligibility criteria, are encouraged to subscribe to more than one of the five forums.

The SI Community Forums project was founded, created and is powered by NatSIP, which has taken on the running and technical management of the SI Forums Platform.