• Development Matters – Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)
• Birthto5Matters-download.pdf
• What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete-FINAL-16.09-compressed.pdf (foundationyears.org.uk)
• Learning to talk 3 to 5 years – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
• Communication (Baby) – Family Hub (torbayfamilyhub.org.uk)
• Home – Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

A child’s hearing may be checked:

• Within a few weeks of birth – this is known as newborn hearing screening and it’s often carried out before you leave hospital after giving birth. This is routine for all children and even those having a home birth will be invited to come to hospital to have this.
• From 9 months to 2.5 years of age – you may be asked whether you have any concerns about your child’s hearing as part of your baby’s health and development reviews, and hearing tests can be arranged if necessary.
• At around 4 or 5 years old – some children will have a hearing test when they start school, this may be conducted at school or an audiology department depending upon where you live.

If you are concerned about a child’s hearing whether it is intermittent or long-term, please ask your Health Visitor for a hearing check.

Torbay Hearing Support Service provides specialist support and advice to families, schools and settings to meet the needs of children and young people with hearing impairment.

Pupils with a Hearing Impairment (HI) range from those with a mild hearing loss to those who are profoundly deaf and they cover the whole ability range. For educational purposes a child would be regarded as hearing impaired if they require hearing aids, adaptations to their environment and/or particular teaching strategies in order to access the concepts and language of the curriculum. Some pupils with a HI may also have an additional disability or learning difficulty. A hearing loss may be conductive or sensorineural and is measured on a decibel scale. Four categories are used: mild, moderate, severe or profound. Some pupils may communicate through signing instead of, or as well as, speech. Torbay Hearing Support Service – Family Hub (torbayfamilyhub.org.uk)