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Put sign language on the National curriculum for all children from nursery through to secondary schools

“This Association in Conference Assembled Urges Her Majesty’s Government to Put Sign Language on the National Curriculum for All Children From Nursery Through to Secondary Schools.”

Head Office,

2019

Sent to Secretary of State for Education

At the moment there is no teaching of British Sign Language on the National Curriculum.

The majority of people surveyed by The National Deaf Children’s Society in May 2017 have said that sign language should be taught in schools.  The survey revealed that 92 % said that British Sign Language (BSL) should be offered as a GCSE.

British Sign Language (BSL) is a recognised language within the UK and is used by thousands of people; however it is not yet available as a GCSE subject that can be taught in schools.  After a campaign led by deaf young people, we understand that the Department for Education agreed in principle that a new GCSE can be introduced.  However progress in developing this appears slow.   

We are now calling on the Dept. of Education to ensure this does happen, as quickly as possible, so that no deaf young person is left unable to gain a GCSE qualification in their own language.  It is estimated that 10% of deaf children use sign language in their education, it is a language used across the country by thousands of people, the longer it goes on that it is not taught alongside other languages in schools such as Welsh or French etc, it implies it has a lower status and importance.  This is not fair or just, equality is an issue here, it could even be seen as discriminatory to deaf people, putting them at a disadvantage compared to their hearing peers.

Furthermore, by allowing BSL to be taught as a GCSE, it would help wider Government initiatives, in that our research has shown that there is a shortage in sign language interpreters, resulting in higher costs for Government programmes, such as (Access to work) making it harder for deaf people to enter the workforce.  A BSL GCSE could lead to more people considering interpreting for deaf people as a career, and so help address these issues.

The National Deaf Children’s Society issued a briefing in September 2019, reporting that they understood it may take two years at least for the Government to be able to introduce BSL as a new GCSE, and that relevant criteria must be met in order for this to happen.  Like them we as an Association are keen to see much quicker progress on this, and would like some reassurance that it will happen.

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December Update

2020 is a year none of us will forget in a hurry but as it draws to a close we would like to update you with the current situation as far as Head Office is concerned. The office is now closed until after Christmas but Claire, our secretary, is working from home.

It has been a very strange year with no events, no clubs, no getting together. All our events had to be cancelled, and though we are no different to any other organisation it has been such a pity because this is what we are about friendship, education and fun. On the positive side we have worked hard getting out letters to as many members as we could with the help of club officials. They have been brilliant keeping in touch with their members through emails, ‘WhatsApp’ and phone calls they all deserve a star!

With the moving into different tiers it sometimes gets very confusing and loneliness has been talked about a lot on the television and the media but we hope through the clubs this has not affected our members too much. With the hope of a vaccine it might not be too long before we are back and enjoying our club life again and remember after December 21st the days start to get longer and Spring will be around the corner.

Here at Head Office Eleanor retired at the end of September, Eleanor had told us of her plans at the beginning of the year so we had plenty of notice but of course we could not have the retirement party she was entitled to. However, we are hoping she will come to conference next year and we can say farewell properly. We did send flowers on the day and Mary, our treasurer made her a collage of all our good wishes, and it was beautiful.

If you are looking at our website for the first time look at the list of clubs and see if we have one near you, they are friendly places to go to. Most meet once a week with speakers, demonstrations and outings. Each club is different and if there isn’t one in your area, why don’t you start one!  We honestly think our sort of club is just what the women of our country needs right now.  We are a non-political, non-religious and non- sectarian group that offers friendship and interest. Take a look at this website and see what we have to offer.

So Christmas is coming and what a difference to the one we probably envisaged, but remember ladies we might not be able to party as we have in the past but if we keep safe we can celebrate next year with family and friends. 

So on behalf of The Committee to all our members and whoever is looking at this website, we wish you all a Merry Christmas, keep well and let’s look forward to a better New Year.