Dan Rogerson MP for North Cornwall

Dan Rogerson MP with Poppy Dawkins, aged 5, Alfie Dawkins, aged 11, and Ben Huseyin, aged 10 in Westminster. The children are holding props to show what they want to do when they grow up: Poppy wants to work with animals; Alfie wants to be a painter; Ben wants to be a doctor.

Mr Rogerson attended the launch of the NDCS campaign report, ‘Must do better’ to help draw attention to the significant attainment gap between deaf and hearing children.

Statistics show that little more than a third of deaf children in the South West achieve five GCSEs at grades A to C – substantially below the national average for all children of 57%.

Commenting, Dan Rogerson said:

 “I fully support the NDCS ‘Must do better’ campaign.

“I was delighted to meet some deaf children today and to talk to them about what their hopes and dreams are for the future.

“There is absolutely no reason why deaf children without additional needs should not achieve similar results to their hearing peers and fulfil their full potential”.

Susan Daniels, NDCS Chief Executive added:

“It is fantastic that Dan Rogerson MP is supporting the rights of deaf children. Today we are calling on governments across the UK to take a lead and make a commitment to close the attainment gap between deaf children and their hearing peers by 2022.  The national governments of the UK must give leadership, set standards and provide funding to ensure that no deaf child is left behind. A comprehensive strategy, tailored and targeted at the specific needs of deaf children is urgently required; without this deaf children will continue to be left behind”.

Notes:

The NDCS campaign report ‘Must do better’ details the key barriers to deaf children’s achievement and provides detailed solutions for the government to act on. Research outlined in the report shows that parents with deaf children experience considerable geographical variations in the information given to them, the quality of audiology services, family support, specialist education support and local authority provision.

·       The research further highlights that parents, teachers and specialist staff are not getting the resources they need from local authorities to be able to support deaf children. A recent survey of parents with deaf children, outlined in the report, shows that one in five parents with deaf children believe that their child’s school or early years’ setting has low expectations of what their child can achieve.

·       Dan Rogerson MP is one of over 100 MPs that have shown their support for the NDCS Close the gap campaign by signing an Early Day Motion, calling on the government to take action to address the attainment gap that exists between deaf and hearing children. 

For further information please contact:

Diana Brooks, NDCS Campaigns and Media Manager

Tel: 020 7014 1146

Email: diana.brooks@ndcs.org.uk

Philippa McIntyre, NDCS Media Relations Officer

Tel: 020 7014 1149

Email: philippa.mcintyre@ndcs.org.uk