In 2019, our grant of £150,000 was towards the construction of a new primary school building. It was our third grant to Mary Hare, having awarded previous grants of £50,000 in 2001 for new residential accommodation, and £30,000 in 2005 in support of a performing arts facility – that brings our total support to £230,000.

Organisation

Mary Hare School was founded in 1883 by Mary Hare, a forward-thinking educationalist who believed that, despite the barriers to learning presented by their disability, deaf children should be given the opportunity to achieve as much as their hearing peers. The Mary Hare Foundation was established in 1991 to raise funds for the school, which is now the largest non-maintained special school for deaf children in the UK and takes children from year 1 to year 13 (aged 5-19) – most of them are boarders – across its primary and secondary sites in Newbury, Berkshire.

One of the biggest challenges facing many deaf children is the development of their literacy skills. Mary Hare believes that the best way to address this is to teach using an auditory/oral approach, without the use of sign language, to deliver a language-rich National Curriculum with language modified and adapted to suit each learner’s language level.

The ultimate aim is to ensure that pupils have the language they need for their education and beyond, including maximising their speech and listening skills. Mary Hare also delivers specialist training for parents and professionals, and runs postgraduate university courses in association with Oxford Brookes University and the  University of Wales, Newport.

building project

With the existing primary school no longer fit for purpose and at full capacity, Mary Hare launched a major campaign to a fund a new purpose-built facility better suited to the 21st-century needs of young deaf and hearing-impaired pupils. At the time of application £1.5million of the £6million project cost was raised. We awarded a grant of £150,000.