Our project will take the British Sign Language (BSL) Alphabet to First and Primary school children throughout the regions of North Tyneside, Northumberland and Newcastle from September 2023 to the end of December 2023. Whether a child is left or right handed, we will demonstrate the BSL Alphabet from A - Z and then guide children to introduce themselves by fingerspelling their own name, and later adding the fingerspelling of the name of the town or city they live in. Following our school visit we will give the children involved enough confidence and encouragement to take their new found skill out of the classroom and into their lives, by fingerspelling the names of family members, friends and the people who are most important to them. Once all school visits are complete a reminder resource will be created on the deaf awareness: NE website page, with handy reminders of the fingerspelling skills learned, tips for continuing to practice fingerspelling skills, and some fun sharing.

What we'll deliver:

• Our project will take the BSL Fingerspelling Alphabet to 20+ local schools.
• We will create a lasting Fingerspelling resource available on our website.

Why it's a great idea:

The togetherness between hearing and deaf children often breaks down in the early stages of life, primarily because of communication differences. Hearing children grow confidence in the spoken word and many deaf children grow that same confidence through British Sign Language. The early route of this learning is the Alphabet and our project plans to provide hearing children with an essential tool that can be used as the bedrock and basis of communication with their deaf peers. The benefits of instilling such communication strategies early are plentiful, with not only the possibility of an immediate connection between deaf and hearing children, but also the greater likelihood of longer term friendships, partnerships and togetherness. Participating schools also benefit via their children learning an additional practical skill, and also via demonstrating that signed language has a place in education more broadly. Local communities benefit via closer connections between children.

Steps to get it done:

• We will contact all First and Primary schools in the Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside region.
• We will work with each school to plan a date or set of dates for visiting.
• We will deliver a series of sessions to individual schools so that children can learn their BSL-ABC
• We will liaise with schools individually for follow up sessions as required
• We will set up an online resource for use at the close of the project