New deaf service for children in Perth's south

• Southwell Primary School to host new service to help young children who are deaf and hard of hearing get the best start before school

• First early intervention service for deaf children based south of the river

Parents of babies to five-year-olds who are deaf or hard of hearing will soon be able to access a new early intervention service south of the river.

Education Minister Liz Constable announced today the new service would be provided at Southwell Primary School in Hamilton Hill from next year.

"When it opens at the start of the 2013 school year the service will have space for up to 35 children from birth to five-years-old," Dr Constable said.

"Children and their parents will have access to specialist teachers of the deaf, educational audiologists, school psychologists, education assistants and interpreters.

"This will be an important service for identifying how much assistance children need and preparing them for a smooth entry into their formal schooling when they get to pre-primary."

The Minister said $800,000 would be spent on refurbishing an area of Southwell Primary School for the service.

The Southern Early Intervention Service will complement services for deaf and hard of hearing children currently offered at the WA Institute for Deaf Education in Cottesloe which has an early intervention service, as well as clinical audiology and other specialists.

The Minister said the services in Cottesloe would move to the new centre for Statewide Education Services at the former Padbury Senior High School site.

"The new Southwell Primary School centre will provide easier access for parents living south of the river," she said.

"Parents will be able to choose whether to send their children to the early intervention service provided at Southwell Primary School or the centre in Padbury."

      Fact File 

• Deaf and hard-of-hearing school-aged students generally learn in mainstream schools with support, including note takers, interpreters and visiting teachers of the deaf
• When the Southern Early Intervention Service opens there will be one school and three services which enrol solely deaf and hard of hearing children:
  • Mosman Park School for Deaf Children for kindergarten to year 7
  • Northern Early Intervention Service for 0 to 5-year-old children (in Cottesloe until mid-2013; then in Padbury)
  • Southern Early Intervention Service for 0 to 5-year-old children (at Southwell Primary School, Hamilton Hill)
  • Shenton College Deaf Education Centre for year 8 to 12 students (Shenton Park)

Minister's office - 6552 5700