Bright future for Doncaster Deaf Trust

Alexis Johnson, who joined the Trust in April 2019 said: “I have enjoyed the role immensely as the Trust is a fantastic organisation and has an amazing history in Doncaster. The Doncaster School for the Deaf has been open in the town for 191 years which is extraordinary and something that the town ought to be proud of."

Doncaster Deaf Trust is a national specialist centre for the education and training of children and young people, who are deaf, hearing impaired people or have communication and learning difficulties in the UK.

The Trust manages Little Learners Day Nursery, Doncaster School for the Deaf, Communication Specialist College Doncaster, Dickson House Children’s Home, the Specialist Employability Service for young people and adults and the Erasmus Spread the Sign project that promotes the use of sign language across the globe.

Mr Johnson, who has over 25 years’ experience of working in special education has had to deal with a number of challenges since joining the Trust, most recently the coronavirus pandemic.

"The role is a big challenge and the Covid pandemic has provided an additional set of challenges and the children, staff and young people have responded to it really well. We have a great set of dedicated, committed and skilled staff in all of our services with some highly specialist staff too and they are great to work with.

“All of our services have remained open during the pandemic and it has provided each service with its own challenges. We have focused on the health, safety and well-being of our children, young people and staff whilst continuing to provide services for those who need it most.

"We have learned a lot through the process and will continue to learn as the situation develops. We have had a lot of generosity from the local business community to help with PPE, in particular clear visors which are essential for sign language users who rely on facial expressions and lip reading.”

As well as adapting to the ‘new normal’ way of working Mr Johnson also had a personal battle on his hands after contracting the virus at the end of March.

"I became quite poorly which was upsetting for my family. It was a stressful time and I was off work for several weeks but I have now fully recovered.

"Like every other family we have had to adapt and cope with the situation. We are constantly looking for the positives in the situation and trying to remain optimistic.

"It's a learning experience for us all and as a family we do reflect on what we have learned about ourselves. I have learned that my children are more resilient than what I thought and that they know more about IT than I do!”

Mr Johnson, who is married and has two daughters, has had roles in various provisions including that of Vice Principal in two Specialist Colleges and Head Teacher in an Independent Special School before joining the Trust.

Speaking about the impact the Trust has he said: “The Deaf Trust has and does support as many residents as we can. Obviously, our specialism is to support those people whom are deaf or hearing impaired and the Trust has developed a local, national and international reputation for excellence in education, training and care.

"The services we provide to children and young people are important to promote inclusion, independence and employability which are vital for those people who we support.

"The Trust is fundamental to the identity of Doncaster as it's so well known.”

Mr Johnson now has his sights set on the future including an ambitious fundraising mission.

He said: “The future does look bright for the Trust as we have so many strengths to harness opportunities and really develop our services.

“We are currently fundraising to renovate our college residential accommodation so that we can create smaller bubbles in the environment. We need to make smaller flats within Darley Lodge to minimise the impact of Covid 19 on the student population.

"I will be running the virtual Doncaster 10k at the end of November to fundraise and raise awareness for the project. I will be running around the sports field on site on my own! We need all the help we can get which could include people providing their time, skills or resources to help us with the project.”

If anyone can help with the fundraising mission contact Alexis on [email protected].

For further information visit www.deaf-trust.co.uk