Pupils at a primary school near Lancaster went above and beyond to celebrate Sign Language Week.
St John’s Primary School in Calder Vale enjoyed a raft of activities to raise deaf awareness and around £300 in donations for the National Deaf Children’s Society.
The school kicked off the week with a meet and greet with a group of local deaf children for accessible crafts and games, where they shared experiences and had fun together.
On Wednesday the school asked parents and staff to donate goodies for sale at their Parents’ Evening that night, along with treats from a school cake bake, to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society.
And on Thursday the whole school took part in accessible, deaf-friendly activities, crafts and games, including a British Sign Language (BSL) Scavenger Hunt and fingerspelling word searches.
The day culminated in a sponsored Fingerspellathon, where all the pupils reached their target of fingerspelling 10 words related to the Easter Story. There was also a rousing performance from the school’s signed choir.
Organiser Sarah Bolton said: “I couldn’t be more pleased with how well the week went, nor prouder of the pupils.
“They threw themselves into all the activities with huge enthusiasm and learnt lots about sign language and deaf culture – plus we made a pretty penny for the National Deaf Children’s Society into the bargain!
“We really wanted to make a difference for deaf children locally and nationally, and we had such fun in the process. We may be a small school, but we wanted to make a BIG difference
Tamsin Bayliss, who supports fundraisers for the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “I want to say a huge thank you to all the pupils and staff at St John’s for an amazing week of activities for us. It sounds you all had an incredible time and raised lots of deaf awareness as well as vital funds for our work – great job!
“The National Deaf Children’s Society is dedicated to supporting the UK’s 50,000 deaf children and their families. The efforts of schools like St John’s will help us to keep on doing our vital work, now and into the future.”
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