Esperance Primary School is being praised for going above and beyond for a deaf little boy who is in his first year of school.
Five-year-old Kip Freeman communicates in Auslan, and his mum Sarah Brophy said finding a school to suit his needs was a challenge.
“We knew in Esperance it would be tricky to navigate,” she said.
“The thing about educating deaf children is that it’s a struggle no matter where you are.
“We would have the same issues if we were in Perth.
“But access to resources is one of the majors.”
Ms Brophy said the family had been in Esperance permanently for a year and a half, and made the decision last year to enrol Kip in Esperance Primary School for pre-primary in 2025.
She said school staff wasted no time taking action to hire an AUSLAN interpreter.
“They continued to advertise [for the job] over the summer, fielding inquiries and responding all through the holidays,” Ms Brophy said.
“They could have logged off and sat back but they worked.
“Even before we started at the school, they were already working overtime to find solution for our son.”
Though Esperance Primary School was yet to secure an interpreter among their staff, Ms Brophy said she was blown away by the staff members, who had been so proactive to show their support for Kip.
She said in Kip’s first month of school, about 30 staff undertook deaf awareness training provided by a member of the mentoring program Auslan in the West.
The Auslan mentor also attended Kip’s lessons to guide his teachers and give them feedback on ways they could better support his learning.
Before they were available to the rest of the class, Ms Brophy said Kip’s teacher provided her with books and content for Kip to go through in his own time.
She said the school was also using a virtual interpreter during school assemblies so Kip wasn’t left out of what is being said.
“All these little things on top of already running the school and the class,” Ms Brophy said.
“There’s a huge amount of work they are doing in the background.
“In so many areas they are going above and beyond to educate our child.”
Ms Brophy said the biggest relief for her had been seeing Kip enjoy being at school.
“To be able to take my child to school and for him to want to be there is massive,” she said, “especially when he’s got issues communicating and understanding what’s going on.”
“The fact that he’s comfortable and feels safe is massive.”
Ms Brophy said Kip’s favourite subject in class had been literacy and he had been loving learning new words.
“He loves listening to stories and storytelling,” she said.
Ms Brophy said Kip was only one child with learning needs and it was phenomenal to think about support the school was providing for different families with different needs.
“They’ve got a really magic combination happening in that school and because of that they are going to get some really great students,” she said.
