We are looking for a 0.9FTE experienced and enthusiastic qualified Teacher of the Deaf to join our team of specialist Advisory Teachers supporting children and young people with various levels of deafness.
Required from 01 September 2025, or as soon as possible after that.
This post is a peripatetic position covering a large geographical area across West Dorset (Lyme Regis, Bridport, Weymouth and Dorchester) with an office base at County Hall in Dorchester.
What's in it for you:
We are passionate about inclusion and equality for children and young people and our role involves training and advocacy as part of the wider SEND team supporting children in schools and settings across Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) councils.
The Hearing Support Service is a team of qualified Teachers of the Deaf (QTOD) including an Educational Audiologist, MSI Specialist Teacher, Specialist Teaching Assistants/Technician and Sign Language Support Worker. We work closely with our colleagues in the Vision Support Service and are known as the Dorset Hearing & Vision Support Service.
We are a pan-Dorset team working across Dorset and BCP with families, early years settings, mainstream schools, special schools and alternative provision. We are part of a wider multi-agency team, including NHS colleagues in Speech and Language Therapy and Audiology Services, who work together to ensure deaf children have appropriate equipment and support to reach their potential.
What you can expect to be doing:
You will be working as a peripatetic Advisory Teacher for CYP with Hearing Impairment. The centre of duty for this post is County Hall, Dorchester, Dorset, which is the main office. We have a satellite office base in Wimborne for colleagues who work in the Est of Dorset and BCP area. We use a hybrid working model which allows for working from home alongside extensive travel to schools and settings across the region.
All the children we support have a diagnosed hearing loss, varying from mild to profound. The children use a variety of listening equipment including hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone conduction listening devices and radio aids. Most children attend their local mainstream school, or local special school provision. We work with families with very young children, often within weeks of birth, when hearing loss is diagnosed. Our work continues through the school and college years and for students with an EHCP our involvement can extend up to age 25.
This post involves working across a diverse age range, including young babies, pre-school children, children in mainstream schools, children in special schools and some post-16 students. Several of the children have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) with additional complex educational or communication needs.
About you:
Applicants must be Qualified Teachers of the Deaf (QTOD), ideally with extensive SEND and peripatetic work experience.
- Able to work flexibly and independently while being part of a supportive team.
- Detailed knowledge of hearing devices, including maintenance and training to schools.
- Understanding of the impact and strategies to support social, emotional and mental health concerns for deaf children.
- Experience of using language and communication assessments to inform practice and advice to parents and schools.
- A willingness to work with children who have complex language and communication needs, including sign language support.
- The ability to communicate effectively in writing and in-person with families and multi-agency professionals.
- A detailed understanding of the support needed at all stages to guide deaf children, families and schools to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Additional Information:
- Applicants must hod a mandatory post-graduation qualification as a Qualified Teacher of the Deaf.
- British Sign Language (BSL) qualification and skills of at least Level 1.
- Car and driving licence; this role includes essential travel to work across West Dorset and other across the county/BCP for meetings and training. A mileage allowance is paid for travel expenses.
- Previous experience of working in a peripatetic role is an advantage.
- Salary is MPS/UPR + SEN2 for Qualified Teachers of the Deaf.
- This is a 0.9FTE (standard term-time teaching contract) specialist teaching post within the centrally-employed Hearing Support Service tem, which is a pan=Dorset service covering Dorset and BCP local authorities.