text: Archived reports to NEC by BATOD Wales representatives
  BATOD Wales held a half day training event on July 2nd 2012. The topic was Visual Phonics and presented by Babs Day. The event was a success with a good turn out of Teachers of the Deaf. BATOD Wales was pleased to welcome BATOD President, Karen Taylor, at our training day. Our AGM followed this training day.
  Committee members met on July 12th for an informal meeting to discuss plans for the next academic year. Committee members will familiarise themselves with the SEN consultation document for Wales.
  A meeting has been set for Wednesday 19th September where we will prepare a response to the SEN document.
  19 September 2012 Committee meeting TBA Sallie Durbridge
  Report to NEC by Lucy Phillips and Lyndsey Stringer, BATOD Wales representatives at NEC
  BATOD Wales are organising a training afternoon on 2nd July, 2pm, at Parc Dewi Sant, Carmarthen. This will be followed by the AGM.
  There will be two presentations, one by Babs Day on �Visual Phonics� and another on the experience of using �Read Write Inc.�
  We look forward to welcoming Karen Taylor, BATOD President to our meeting
  Committee members met on 2 May to confirm the details of the training afternoon on 2nd July 2012.
  2 July 2012 Visual Phonics Parc Dewi Sant, Carmarthen Sallie Durbridge
  Report to NEC by Lucy Phillips, BATOD Wales representative at NEC
  BATOD Wales is organising a training afternoon on 2 July in Carmarthen. This will be followed by the AGM. Babs Day will be presenting on �Visual Phonics� with a second presentation on ELSA, Emotional Literacy planned.
  Committee members met in January and February to discuss the feasibility of holding a BATOD Wales Conference this year. In light of the present financial climate, and the uncertainty of the numbers who may attend, as members are having increasing difficulty in obtaining study leave, it was decided to hold an afternoon only meeting. A meeting has been organised in Carmarthen, on 2nd July 2012.
  The Committee will meet again in May to discuss the event further.
  Training afternoon and AGM � 2nd July 2012
  Regional Issues: Updating BATOD information for the Welsh region on the BATOD website. We are drafting an update for NEC, which we will circulate once complete.
  Report to NEC by Sally Davies, BATOD Wales representative at NEC
  BATOD Wales committee members met on 19 October at Cwrt Sart Community School. We had a good turn out; a committee of ten. Sally Davies has stepped down from NEC. Lyndsey Stringer will take her place on NEC.
  The Foundation Phase Developmental Assessment was discussed. It has displayed some issues with �SSE and BSL� users; there is no consideration for children with additional learning needs. The baseline assessment does not link with the foundation phase outcomes, although this is to be reviewed. It was decided that we would write to the Welsh Government Inclusion Team to air our concerns. The Welsh Early Support materials were discussed, these have just been released. Many teachers are finding that these are unfriendly to use. We are still waiting for the fridge magnets.
  It was decided to hold a BATOD WALES Conference on 2 or 9 July 2012. The committee are considering venues and speakers. Topics for the day are being discussed; we are considering speakers involved in the field of Counselling, Mental Health and Phonics. The committee will meet in December to finalise venue, topic and speakers for the day.
  We have very little to report this time as two of our meetings have been cancelled for a number of reasons. We have therefore not held a meeting since the last NEC meeting in March but the committee has arranged to meet on 22nd June. Terina Blaiklock has recently resigned from the committee which is a great loss. She was Chair for a number of years and has played a very active role in BATOD Wales for many more years. We will discuss how to thank her formally for her contribution to the committee at our next meeting. On a more positive note we have recruited two new members to the committee and they will attend for the first time on the 22nd.
  We held our Evening Meeting and AGM on January 18 at Cwrt Sart Community School, Neath Port Talbot. The topic was Early Support Wales and Julian Hallett from the Downs Children�s Association who is the Early Support Consultant for Cardiff, updated us on the roll out, training and available resources.
  The turnout was low despite it also being the AGM but those who attended found the information very useful.
  Lisa Whitney was elected as Secretary. We discussed the issue of having a revolving Chairperson. However the situation will remain the same as no one is prepared to take on the role at present.
  It was also decided to not hold a Conference this year as the organisation and planning required is enormous for a small number of people. It is increasingly difficult for colleagues to be released for conferences. So with this in mind we decided to miss a year and think about an event in 2012.
  Our next Committee meeting is on the 30 March at Cwrt Sart Community School, Neath Port Talbot.
  BATOD Wales held a committee meeting on 25 November in Port Talbot. It is the second meeting we have had since the decision was made to have a rotating Chair which is working well so far.
  We are currently planning our conference which will be held at Llangoed Hall, Powys in July. The bulk of the day will be divided into two parts with David Canning presenting on his assessment tool for room acoustics and the NDCS talking us through their Mental Health Strategy �Healthy Minds�. We also hope to have short presentations from the Wales DCS and RNID Wales.
  As we are holding a conference this year the decision has been made not to hold evening meetings. We have found attendance at these to be poor in the past.
  We have had an influx of new committee members thanks to the ToD course at Newport. Jayne Walters, Lisa Whitney and Lyndsey Austin were welcomed to the committee and all congratulated on recently qualifying as Teachers of the Deaf.
  The BATOD Wales AGM was held at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend on 11th November, followed by a presentation from members of The South Wales Cochlear Implant Programme. The evening was very well attended. The AGM was short and concise with no new members being elected to the BATOD Wales committee. All of those presently on the committee remain.
  The South Wales Cochlear Implant team members made a presentation on �Developments in Cochlear Implants�. They focused on bilateral implants, working with younger children, FM systems with cochlear implants and recent changes in the structure and referral pathways of the cochlear implant programme in South Wales.
  The committee has decided that with the 2009 BATOD Conference being in Bristol, all Welsh members will be encouraged to attend. There are no plans to organise a Welsh Conference next year, 2009.
  BATOD Wales held their annual conference on 30th June at The Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells. 65 delegates attended a day of workshops provided by Joyce Sewell-Rutter, Trish Cope, Stevie Mayhook, Ken Higgins and Abdul Hussain of The Ewing Foundation relating to the theme of Inclusion, entitled �Count Me In�. The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Education, Jane Hutt, joined us for an hour, giving a presentation, followed by a question and answer session. We thanked all members involved in organising this successful meeting.
  During the conference thanks were given to Maggie Denholm, who took over as Acting Chair of BATOD Wales in April, completing her term at the end of June, on moving on to a new job. Maggie will be greatly missed, as she has been a great support to the committee, BATOD and many teachers in Wales; we wish her all the best in her new post. Our Chair for the next 12 months is Marian Williams; we wish Marian well.
  During the Autumn term we aim to have a training evening and to hold the AGM.
  BATOD Wales committee met on February 5th and will meet on 12th June. Discussion centres around the BATOD Wales conference that will be held on 30th June at Llandrindod Wells. This year we have called the conference; �Count Me In�, with training being provided by The Ewing Foundation. There will be three speakers, with workshops giving an overview of various aspects of inclusion. The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Education, Jane Hutt, has accepted an invitation to speak at the meeting.
  A meeting was held with the Minister for Education in November. Four topics were discussed: Welsh Assembly Government Quality Standards, Teacher of the Deaf training, Mental Health Issues and ESP. It has since been agreed that the WAG is purchasing ESP.
  The BATOD Wales committee remains keen to recruit new members. Terina Blaiklock retired as Chair in the Spring; we thank her for all her hard work and support of BATOD and BATOD Wales. Thanks also go to Maggie Denholm, who took over as acting Chair in April. Our Chair for the next 12 months will be Marian Williams; we wish Marian all the very best.
  BATOD Wales committee met on 9 November at Cwrt Sart Community School. It was pleasing to welcome three new members to the committee, Sally Davies, Mari Brown and a student representative from the Teacher of the Deaf training course in Caerleon, Lyndsey Austin. Sally Davies has agreed to become the second Wales representative on BATOD NEC. However, it was also a sad occasion as we wished two longstanding committee members, Norma Moses and Eirwen Carpenter all the best for the future and thanked them for all their support, hard work and dedication to BATOD Wales.
  The BATOD Wales AGM was also held on 9 November, followed by a presentation from Paula Brown and Valerie Copenhagen from the NDCS. Paula spoke on her role as Family Support Officer and Valerie about the Deaf Role Model project. It was an enjoyable evening with many contacts being made.
  Members of the committee will be meeting the Education Minister, Jane Hutt on the 20 November. A range of topics is to be discussed in the hour long meeting.
  Plans are now in hand to arrange the Conference 2008, the topic being 'Inclusion', training being provided by The Ewing Foundation.
  On 2 July the BATOD Wales Conference was held at a new venue in Swansea. The theme of the day being �Evaluation and Assessment: Hearing, Listening and Learning�.
  Alison Weaver chaired and introduced the day. Mary Hostler spoke on �Real world evaluation of children�s hearing aids�, followed by Tony Shaw presenting on 'Exploring listening beyond the pure tone audiogram'. This was followed by a brief presentation from PC Werth before lunch. Following lunch, Sue Lewis spoke on 'Classroom listening and learning: assessment and target setting, implications for programme.' Prior to the start of the day, and during lunchtime, delegates were able to visit the Exhibitions. A total of 80 delegates attended the conference. The day was informative, successful and very enjoyable. Thanks were expressed to the speakers, those attending and especially to those committee members who organised the event. �
  The AGM was postponed on the day of the conference and will be rescheduled for some time in the Autumn. �
  BATOD Wales committee met in May at Llanishen High School, Cardiff. Following this, a training event was held, with Christine Rocca presenting 'Music Time'. Despite a dreadful evening weather wise, those who braved the conditions were treated to an excellent and inspiring evening of musical activities to take back to the classroom. �
  A letter has been received from the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, asking for copies of our newsletter. The committee agreed to forward these to the Library. �
  In September, at our next committee meeting, the AGM and annual evening training programme will be discussed, as will ideas to recruit new committee members!
  Report to NEC by Terina Blaiklock, BATOD Wales Chair and NEC rep
  Our thanks to Marian Williams for sending the Spring newsletter with details of the May training event. Christine Rocca came to Llanishen High, Cardiff on May 10th to entertain us and her theme was �Music Time�. Her presentation was excellent, and she was inspiring! She brought many resources with her to demonstrate how to develop music with children who are hearing-impaired. It was an evening of singing and use of percussion instruments. We were fortunate that she visited Wales, as she had to make the visit between a trip to Holland and then she was off to Berlin the next day. I would like to thank the committee members that were involved in organising this event as everyone had to work hard to organise the evening.
  The Qualifying Course in the Modification of Language for GCSE, has had to be postponed until the Autumn. There is a real shortage in Wales of people qualified to carry out this important work. Further details of the course will be circulated, once they have been finalised with Jenny Baxter and Marian Williams.
  The sub-committee, Sallie Durbridge, Pam Stephens and Lucy Phillips are busy planning the conference for July 2007. The theme is �Evaluation and Assessment, Hearing, Listening and Learning�. The venue is The Towers Hotel, Jersey Marine, Swansea Bay. The date is the 2nd July. Alison Weaver, President of BATOD is the Chair for the day, and Mary Hostler, Sue Lewis and Tony Shaw are the speakers.
  The committee hope that this conference day, including the AGM, is well supported, as it was last year.
  BATOD Wales had a meeting in November at Cwrt Sart Comprehensive, Neath. Since this time, much of the communication has been by email. There has been much planning and organisation to bring about our next three training events, details of which have been circulated in the January newsletter.
  At our training event on 8 March at St Cenydd Comprehensive school in Caerphilly John Popplestone of Connevans provided an �Audiological Equipment Update�. As the event was near to the celebration of St David's Day, the committee agreed that we would present a written quiz based on a welsh theme. The prize winner received a Welsh food hamper.
  The next training event will be �Music time� presented by Christine Rocca in May, at Llanishen High School in Cardiff.
  The committee has purchased the �front row� portable sound field system, and this is now available to use during meetings and conferences.
  On a personal note we welcome back Marian Williams who is back in the role of secretary following her operation and congratulations to our treasurer Rhian Gibbins who has recently had a baby boy.
  BATOD Wales held a committee meeting at Brecon on September 19th. Following this, a surprise celebration, was organised - a Cheese and Wine Evening - to say thank you to Norma Moses for being Treasurer for 12 years.
  During the committee meeting of November 9th there was a brief demonstration from Andrew Murray, which led to the purchase of the �Front Row� flexible FM active learning system to use in future BATOD Wales meetings.
  Arrangements are now under way to organise a training event in early March 2007 inviting John Popplestone, Director of Connevans, to speak.
  The BATOD Wales conference will be held on July 2nd 2007, and the theme will be �Assessment�. It is to be held in the Vale Hotel, Vale of Glamorgan.
  A conference call was held on November 27th between representatives from BATOD and UCAC, the Welsh teachers� union to discuss the current pay/salary situation and TLRs. A report of this will appear elsewhere.
  There is ongoing discussion about developing communication and increasing participation from members in North Wales.
  Discussion is taking place within the committee about further developing presentations to Universities, and email links have been made with Eirlys Lamb at Caerleon.
  Marian Williams contacted Jennie Sparks and a GCSE Language Modifiers� course has now been arranged for Wales in the Spring, as the Autumn newsletter indicated.
  On July 3rd the BATOD Wales conference and AGM was held in Mid Wales at Llandrindod Wells. The theme for the day was �Optimal Listening for Learning�.
  Alison Weaver chaired the day and introduced the conference with �Current Issues and Priorities�. Dr.Ivan Tucker OBE presented �New Technology and Tiny Ears� followed by Joyce Sewell-Rutter on �Developing Listening Skills Today - Issues and Challenges�. Lunch was followed by the AGM, where new officers were elected. During lunchtime the 72 delegates were given the opportunity to see the Exhibition. A lively presentation was delivered by Tony Shaw in the afternoon, on �Assessing and Maximising Audition in the Classroom�. The whole day was successful and very enjoyable, and thanks were expressed to the sub-committee that organised the event.
  Following the AGM, there are two contacts in North Wales who are both willing to help develop more effective communication with the BATOD committee. This is a positive step and the committee hopes that these links will develop.
  Thanks were extended to Maggie Denholm who is retiring from the position of chair, and Norma Moses, who is retiring from the position of treasurer after twelve years. Fortunately, both of these ladies are going to remain on the committee and so their expertise can still be called upon. Terina Blaiklock will be the new chair, Marian Williams will continue as secretary and Rhian Gibbins will be the new treasurer. Special thanks to Marian who continues to work extremely hard for the BATOD Wales committee.
  On July 12th there was a Joint Meeting of Organisations related to Deafness, with the Minister for Education, Jane Davidson in Cardiff Bay. BATOD raised the issue of Funding for Masters Level degrees as the current situation across Wales is unsatisfactory. Also a joint BATOD/RNID paper was presented on Mental health issues by a representative from the RNID.
  In September at our next committee meeting the annual programme will be discussed, and this will be followed by a cheese and wine party. The new committee members already have lots of interesting ideas up their sleeves, so watch this space!
  Reports to NEC by Stephen Dart, Wales representative
  A BATOD Wales committee meeting was held at Cwrt Sart Comprehensive School on 18 May, 2006. We confirmed arrangements for two obituaries to be included within our newsletter.
  We considered comments received from several members asking if the BATOD survey could be reduced in breadth, aligned to current LEA surveys and undertook to forward these same comments to NEC. The central difficulty lies in the time involved in its completion and the extent of duplication for some members.
  One committee member agreed to survey informally neighbouring LEAs to learn of their arrangements for TLR criteria for allocation to Teachers of Deaf.
  Arrangements to meet with the Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning were made along with a consideration of the agenda items.
  The financial report led to a consideration of the comment from the BATOD treasurer that our travel expenses seemed high. The reasons for this possibility were considered in the context of measures to reduce the overall claim.
  Arrangements for Interpreter payment were considered once again and procedures outlined.
  Arrangements for responding to the commissioning editor's request for articles were made.
  The committee received an update regarding the joint initiative on Mental Health and Deafness led by WAG.
  Continuing arrangements for the BATOD Wales Annual Conference were described and confirmed by members of the organising sub-committee. Some tasks were shared amongst committee members.
  Annual arrangements for elections were planned.
  A request has been received from the organisers of the Wales Teacher of the Deaf training course for practical support in the areas of placements, supervision, marking coursework etc. We arranged for these tasks to be offered to members through the newsletter.
  BATOD Wales committee met in Bridgend in February, 2006. Contact has been made with schools and services in North Wales seeking their views on a number of alternative routes to organise their involvement in BATOD meetings. The responses are awaited.
  Sue Lewis has been invited to talk at our next members' meeting in March on work with LSAs. Arrangements were planned.
  Annual Conference sub-group reported on progress and arrangements for Wales Conference.
  Following our recent annual meeting with the Minister, we will respond soon to WAG with details of TLR experience for Teachers of Deaf in Wales and differences that we are able to record.
  Request to build an article explaining curriculum adaptation for Welsh first language deaf learners has been received. We discussed possible authors but were unable to identify any. Members who are involved in this adaptation are asked to contact Steve Dart
  A report was received from a committee member on the initial meeting of the Newborn Hearing Screening quality assurance group. A main issue of cover availability problems was considered.
  The UWIN MQ ToD Steering Group report regarding the future contact with professionals in Wales was received.
  A second meeting has taken place with Sue Lewis and BATOD representative regarding the development of support materials. Schools and Heads of Service have been contacted regarding access for video profiles of work in Wales.
  RNID is leading a group involving NDCS and BATOD on Mental Health services. An initial meeting to take this further has taken place.
  Details of the BATOD survey non-responses were received and details distributed to individual committee members for follow up and encouragement.
  There was a good attendance at the recent BATOD Wales Committee meeting held in November.
  There has been no decision on the state registration of Educational Audiologists in Wales. There is a question mark over ToDs who attend clinics and so it is important to keep in touch with Audiology managers and inform the BATOD Wales committee of any further developments
  We have reiterated BATOD's wish to attend the Wales All Party Group (WAG). BATOD Wales will be informed of the date of the next meeting in spring 2006. Jane Davidson, Minister, is stopping individual meetings with groups but will see all groups concerning the deaf, together.
  The joint initiative with RNID Cymru on mental health issues was discussed at the meeting with the Minister; she did not see any problem accessing treatment outside Wales. Jane Davidson will accept a joint BATOD/RNID paper on this issue. Following discussion with Cathy Rogers (RNID) a meeting is to be arranged to see how such a paper can be taken forward.
  The External Reference Group has not met. The Quality Standards document was scheduled to be published before Christmas.
  The Wales section of the BATOD website is almost complete; addresses of services in Wales still have to be entered. There are already several articles about members in the 'News of members' folder. Steve Dart is anxious to receive feedback to questions posed on the 'Questions for feedback' page in the BATOD Wales folder.
  There will be a Newsletter early in New Year and a pdf copy will also be available in the Wales website folder.
  Letters and emails have been received from Janet Butterfield (links with N. Wales), Eirlys Lamb (SEALAN grant - Specialist Equipment for Learners with Additional Needs), Eryl Davies Jones (obituary for Caril Miles) which keep the committee up-to-date with information.
  Wales BATOD representatives are in close contact with the staff at UWIN and Mary Hare School contributing to the management Steering group and the e-Learning materials work that proceeds apace. BATOD representatives have contributed to the course for some time and the Committee praises and endorses the progress that has been made recently.
  The next BATOD Wales committee meeting will be in February.
  The BATOD Wales Conference/AGM was held in Llandrindod Wells. The main theme was Mental Health issues and Deafness. Our speakers Margaret De Feu (Birmingham Hospital), Tina Callaghan (South East Wales Counselling Service for the Deaf) were well received. Ted Moore chaired the day and contributed his thoughts on the Education of Deaf Children in general and with an eye to the future. 60 delegates attended most of whom were Teachers of Deaf. The conference ran at a loss, circa �1100, two thirds of which was the cost of interpreters. The AGM proceeded with reports well received and Officers elected.
  The conference planned for July 3rd 2006 is likely to be concerned with Audiological issues. A working group was established to take this forward.
  New members were welcomed to the committee meeting in early September at Carmarthen Education Offices. Conference costs were assessed especially the cost of Interpreters, together with the following items.
  The committee decided to put a request to WAGSEN (Welsh Advisory Group for Special Educational Needs) to be included within a BSL group when it is convened.
  Training of Teachers of Deaf in Wales: We have been trying to understand the process that has led to WAGSEN providing finance to facilitate the continuation of the training course at UWIN, Caerleon. Subsequent links had been made with Sue Lewis at Oxford Brookes University/Mary Hare. BATOD had not been involved. We are now to be included in meetings that concern the development of training arrangements.
  A report was received indicating the progress made so far by the WAGSEN Group on Quality Standards for Sensory Impairment.
  Issues were put forward as an agenda for the Annual Meeting with Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.
  North Wales members: Ideas were discussed as part of our continuing efforts to facilitate contact between North and South membership. We will seek to arrange contact at a different time to our meetings with a representative member.
  An annual programme of members' meetings was planned with our next meeting scheduled for November.
  BATOD Wales committee has tried to organise meetings around the publication of Wales Assembly expected guidelines regarding the organisation and management of hearing-impaired services. However, the meeting for members has had to be cancelled on two occasions as the publication date has been set back.
  We issued a newsletter to our members highlighting Stan Cornelius' career and retirement, the National and Wales AGMs and inviting ideas and feelings from schools, services and individuals regarding the training crisis.
  An expected general members meeting was replaced by a committee meeting. We had planned a forum on regionalisation at Cwrt Sart Comprehensive School. The committee considered the training issue and the related paperwork obtained through NEC and reflected upon the newsletter that has been sent to known Welsh members and discussed the issue.
  It was not found possible to come to a clear preference at the moment beyond the belief that the answer needs to be a UK-led, whole profession answer. Committee members felt that we would need to follow the lead of the profession as led by BATOD NEC. An answer peculiar to Wales was felt to be impossible to obtain and sustain. There is no infrastructure within Wales capable of providing the expected quality of research, lecture standards and financial structure necessary to underpin a high standard of training, that is equally accessible to all points and LEAs in Wales. Committee members foresee standards and quality being higher if we act as a UK group and do not become isolated.
  We are influenced by the experience of previous training arrangements in Wales which we have seen move between several venues and management arrangements in the last decade. Moreover, we are conscious that it has been difficult for colleagues from more rural and distant places to gain access to training courses in Wales. So we have decided to explain the issue to all members, invite responses and support the endeavour of BATOD NEC officers and groups, trusting that activity at UK national level will represent our interests well. We expect that we will have to complement BATOD's communication with DfES by maintaining close contact with Wales Assembly members/officers.
  Our next step is to collect members� and services� responses and report them back at the Wales AGM, seeking to formulate a Wales membership view. There appears to have been a recent meeting at Caerleon College, Newport regarding training of Teacher of Deaf plans, to which voluntary organisations have been invited. We have not received an invitation as BATOD Wales. We will contact the College to learn of their plans.
  Website update work continues as we gather data and information about the services across Wales. We have a sub-committee which has taken up the administrative duties which were formerly undertaken by Stan Cornelius regarding our Wales conference. It has been formed to process the applications to attend our Professional Training day on 4 July 2005. This year we will welcome Margaret DeFeu who will be discussing Mental Health issues and Tina Callaghan who will explain the work of the Counselling Service for Hearing-Impaired children. We anticipate that Ted Moore will coordinate the day as Conference Chair and keynote speaker.
  We have been planning a renewed attempt to involve colleagues from North Wales and have thought about the use of new communication facilities in this regard; video conferencing, telephone conferencing and preparatory telephone calls to a North Wales coordinator and feeding responses into our discussion. Preliminary contact has been made in this regard.
  The BATOD Wales Committee has been very busy. Consideration was given to the gap that exists in our University activity now that Stan Cornelius has retired and is unable to continue to deliver talks to explain our work and foster applications to become teachers of deaf children. We resolved to continue the links we have but have not heard from this year.
  A member had had her Senior post dissolved under the reorganisation plans of a LEA. Updated information informed us that her post has been retained following the large protest that had followed by letter and telephone including representations by BATOD NEC members. The member conveyed her thanks for the support but regretted that it is at the expense of another area of special education in the region.
  BATOD Wales has been informed that the Assembly receive few letters in respect of sensory education issues relative to other areas of special education. We resolved to be more conspicuous by letter as occasions demand.
  We discussed several documents which were pointed out to us as useful from ESTYN and Cambridge Education.
  Ideas were talked about for training regimes where teachers wishing to train might be attached to a unit/Resource Base yet be employed elsewhere, so that they may train with a link to deaf children. We have received notification from someone desperate to train but unable to find an appointment involving deaf children that would facilitate training.
  Members have responded that employers were now producing their own demanding record and rendering BATOD CPD logs less significant. The original role of BATOD in this area was appreciated but members felt it was becoming a secondary task. We would however like to find a way to usefully retain it if it can be proven to be a sensible decision.
  We planned the next series of meetings including proposals for Annual Conference/Study day. We intend to have two meetings in this Autumn term to allow us to receive the new proposals on Regionalisation due in December. We scheduled a members' meeting to take place in the Spring as a general question/answer forum if the proposals lead us to believe this to be a useful and desirable means of organising our BATOD Wales response to the proposals.
  We discussed finance and thought of the intention to purchase equipment. Arrangements were made to purchase items. In this context we set the fees for Conference.
  We discussed the website update progress. We felt able to rewrite the opening page, send forward our newsletter, possibly our minutes but felt hampered by the need to understand the level at which confidentiality is important. We do not know if we are allowed to mention names of schools without seeking permission of Governor Bodies. We understand that people mentioned in our minutes and as committee members need to be approached for permission.
  We discussed the new JCQ document on examination access arrangements with some alarm that members may be hampered by omissions. It was resolved to contact them individually and to ask the BATOD Secretary to coordinate a response on behalf of all Teachers of the Deaf.
  Several items were taken to NEC for consideration.
  BATOD Wales Committee meeting during May was dedicated to finalising the arrangements for the Annual Wales Study day. These arrangements were concerned with administration and seeking to respond to suggestions following from last year; for example, locating the AGM at a time which suits people.
  We are holding our conference once again in Llandrindod Wells and we will welcome Jane Davison, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning at Wales Assembly to present an address. Sue Archbold and Geoff Plant will follow with a programme covering the main part of the day including Cochlear Implant update, Speech Acoustics and Speech tracking.
  The main members' meeting was given over to a talk and discussion entitled �Teacher of Deaf in the 21st Century�. Sue Lewis was favourably received as indeed she was earlier in the day as she delivered a training day when the assessment of children using the ACE package was explained to a gathering of twenty West Wales staff and a few representatives of other LEAs and schools from East Wales.
  Following the cancellation of Wales� January meeting, due to bad weather, a meeting was rescheduled There was a new committee member at this meeting and it was noted that Maggie Denholm will be replaced as NEC representative by Helen Weston. The committee and membership are very grateful for Maggie's contribution to NEC.
  A general members' meeting designed to collect membership reactions and contributions concerning the 0-2 document is scheduled to precede our forthcoming committee meeting. A sub-committee of the region met to create a committee response to this document. Schools and offices have been encouraged to respond to the consultation documents which review provision in 0-2 years and 2+ years.
  The Assembly officer co-ordinating the consultation for the 2+ age group reports that there has been a useful and well-formulated set of responses from teachers. However at that time there were disappointingly few responses from the Authorities that will be affected by the proposed changes. The Interest Group for Resource Bases and Units has completed its work and produced a detailed response to the Consultation document to reflect the particular issues which they felt had been overlooked. The group proposes a separate survey to fill the gap it identifies.
  At our next regional meeting we intend to organise a session considering emotional and behavioural issues in the context of counselling. This will seek to follow on from a training day delivered by a local Counselling service late in the Autumn term. Arrangements for our Summer term Annual General Meeting and Professional Training Day are secure and the day is planned for June. Sue Archbold and Geoff Plant have been invited to explain their work on speech tracking. The Minister for Education and Life long Learning in Wales, Jane Davidson, has agreed to contribute to the day on the subject of proposed change for Deaf children in Wales.
  The annual meeting with the Minister for Education took place at the National Assembly in October. Issues discussed included Initial Teacher Training, Professional Development, LSA Training, Funding Issues and the recent Audits of Education for Deaf Children. These items were included in the submission to BATOD Wales was invited to make to the committee for Education and Lifelong Learning together with comments highlighting the need to consider Mental Health in the context of HI/Deafness. Details of the discussion and submission are available upon request to the BATOD Wales committee.
  Wales hosted the first UK-based meeting of FEAPDA with participants from all parts of Europe. Jane Davidson addressed the meeting and was enthusiastic about our work. A civic reception got the conference off to a good start and the topic of Behaviour produced interesting and informative papers. The Congress closed with a cultural dinner with harpists, choir and folk singers entertaining the delegates. The evaluation sheets were very positive.
  NAfW (National Assembly for Wales) consultation document 'Education Services for HI children and Young People'. This document may change the way in which services for Hearing-Impaired children are organised within Wales. It nominates several alternatives and favours one option. Consultation now commences and will conclude on 31 January, 2004, by which time all interested parties must have responded.
  Hearing-Impaired Resource Base/Unit Group. This group has had its second meeting to organise its response to the Consultation document. A third meeting is scheduled for January 2004.
  Teacher of the Deaf Training Course, Newport. The course continues with six participants in their second year. Students cover a wide age range between them. There is no cohort in their first year as the course is organised bi-annually. Two prospective entrants are known to the Organiser. The Organiser has indicated his intention to withdraw from the position at the conclusion of this academic year and has notified BATOD Wales of this fact.
  AGM 2004 Arrangements are almost concluded for 28 June 2004. We expect the day to be composed of an address by Jane Davidson on the future of HI/Deaf education in Wales following the consultation document phase. This will be followed by an outline of the 'Speechtracking' work conducted by Sue Archbold and Geoff Plant and an update on various aspects of cochlear implantation. We expect to remain based at Llandrindod Wells.
  University of Manchester Audiology Training Days. The Assembly has financed training for audiology professionals, four per area - two Teachers of Deaf and two Health professionals - to take place at Manchester.
  Autumn Meeting. This took place at Neath on 25 November, 2003. An early committee meeting was followed by a meeting for members during which presentations were given on the RNID 0-2 Draft Guidelines (Maggie Denholm) and the NAfW Consultation Document on HI Services in Wales (Eirlys Lamb).