Here are some facts about the old and new schools: - The 'old' Elmfield School in Wesbury-on-Trym is about 45 years old.
- In March 2006, pupils will move to a new combined Fairfield and Elmfield School in Horfield.
- The old Elmfield has only 40 deaf pupils but new school will have 1000 hearing and 40 deaf pupils sharing the same building.
- At moment, Elmfield is an all-age school for only deaf children - the new school will be only for secondary pupils.
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We think it will be better to have secondary pupils separate because the primary pupils need to move to a separate school when they finish year 6. They will feel they have grown up. The new Fairfield/Elmfield school will have six floors! The views will be amazing looking over houses, roads and parks. Elmfield school at the moment has only one floor. Smart technology A group of architects and designers planned the school specially to include special equipment for both deaf and hearing students. In the new school every class will have separate flashing lights - one light for a fire alarm and the other light for showing pupils when the lesson has ended. Every class will have good 'sound treatment' for all deaf pupils so they will be a good quality sound. The new equipment for hearing and deaf classes will be up-to-date wireless links for the computers.
 | | Teachers will have a new staffroom too! |
The new school will have lots of laptops which deaf and hearing pupils will be able to use anytime. In old Elmfield School, there are only wired links to computers. In the new school, all classes will have brand new smart boards unlike at the old school where there are only a few smartboards. No more travelling to lessons At the moment some pupils have to travel to old Fairfield school for their GCSE subjects which we think wastes time. When both schools are together pupils wouldn’t need to travel because they will study at the same site. One of student said: “I feel the new building is great because it will look amazing and there will be lots of new wicked equipment.” Another student said: “I am excited about going there because I will have a brand new school.” Another student commented: “I feel the new building will be fabulous and it will have great equipment too.” So, those are the facts about the changes - but how do pupils feel about the prospect of learning in the new environment and will they miss the old school? Three pupils share their views on 'the big move': LQ: I am profoundly deaf, I have one sister and I live with my mum. My mum and sister are both hearing. I started Elmfield School in the nursery, aged three and started to learn how to sign while playing at nursery. It is important that I learned to sign because it makes me confident and I can make friends and have fun. I have enjoyed being in Elmfield for all this time and all the teachers can sign. Every week we have after-school club, I like this because we can all relax and have fun with everyone signing together. I am a little nervous about the move to the new school because I’m not sure how we will communicate with the hearing children. There will be hundreds of Fairfield School children and far fewer Elmfield children. I want to teach them how to sign so that I can communicate with them and make new friends. 'I'll be fine' SD: I am 14 years old and I started Elmfield School this year, at the start of year 10. Before that I went to a hearing school where I was one of only two deaf pupils. I found it quite difficult to talk with my friends and sometimes they didn’t want me to be in their group. I have now started to make new deaf friends at school and sometimes meet them in my home town, Bath. I have found learning to sign quite difficult but I want to learn more. When we move to the new school I’ll be fine. I know lots of hearing people also I currently have some GCSE lessons at Fairfield School, but I do find it hard to understand the Bristol accent. Now we have to travel between two schools for lessons in taxis, this is a total waste of time. 'Different types of people' KM: I am 15 years old and until two years ago I lived in Holland. For a long time I didn’t attend school, then my mum found Elmfield School in a guide book from Bristol City LEA. She wanted me to go to a signing school because I couldn’t speak English. Now I can speak English and have learned BSL as well. I found coming to a British school strange because now I have to wear a uniform, and in Holland you don’t get a school dinner! I feel great about moving to the same building as Fairfield School. I often meet other Dutch pupils and I love to chat with them. At Elmfield we have nursery children I don’t think that’s fair really. At secondary schools you get different social groups who like different things like hiphop and goths. I want to meet different types of people. The pupils have made a photographic record of the old school so that in the future people will still be able to see what it was like. | 
