Sign2Sing

Transforming the lives of Deaf children

Watch St John’s Primary Academy’s fantastic sign2sing film

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Lots of schools take part in sign2sing but not every school has a special sign club.  Children from St John’s Primary Academy in Essington get together throughout the year to learn signed songs lead by Support Assistant Jyoti Budd.  And now the children have made a special film showing them performing the sign2sing song ‘Reach Out Your Hand’,  with a special  appearance from Deaf pop star Fletch.

Signing is part of life at the school

The school has a number of deaf pupils including Dylan and Jordan, featured in the video, who are not only great friends but fantastic role models.

“Signing is part of life at the school’ says Deputy Head Teacher, Charlene Marston “If we have a Harvest Festival or special assembly the children always learn a signed song.”

The whole school learned the 2016 song Reach Out Your Hand and now Sign Club re busy learning the 2017 song Together.  The plan is for the club to sign the verses and teach the chorus to the rest of the school. One of the school’s deaf pupils is in his final year at the school so performing the song will be a fantastic opportunity to give him a really special send off.

“We love taking part in sign2sing’ says Charlene “It promotes deaf awareness and there’s something very poignant about the whole school learning to sign when we have deaf children at the school.”

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The new song for sign2sing 2017 is here and it’s called Together.   The song, written and sung for sign2sing by BottleTop MusicProductions with additional vocals by Get Gospel, has been brought to life in an uplifting video by Deaf film maker Bim Ajadi.

Bim and his team made the video for the 2016 song Reach Out Your Hand and for 2017 they’ve produced another superb film, featuring deaf performer Rebecca Withey. Filming for the video took place at The Cottesloe School in Wing where students were joined by deaf and hearing pupils from Wingrave C of E Combined School and Gifford Primary School.

Cottesloe School has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in drama and Bim and his team made the most of the fantastic facilities and talented students.  Also featured in the video is footage of deaf children who attend schools supported by SignHealth Uganda.

Deaf perfomer Fletch has also filmed a series of tutorials to hep participants learn the song and signs including a whole song tutorial and a line-by-line guide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The staff at Starbucks in Canary Wharf aren’t just good at making coffee, they’re good at signing too.   Now they’re encouraging other members of staff to learn too and get involved in sign2sing.

Staff from the branch joined colleagues at Starbuck’s Head Office for a special training event where they learned the song with help from Deaf Pop Star Fletch.    The sign2sing team were there to film everything, including a  signed coffee tasting session.

It reminded me of the meaning of the words we use regularly and the ones that we rarely do but should use more often…

The staff really enjoyed learning the song and signs with Fletch.   Comments included:  “This was the best thing I’ll do today” and “It reminded me of the meaning of the words we use regularly, and the ones that we rarely do but should use more often…”

Branches of Starbucks across London will be raising money for sign2sing.  If you’re business would like to follow their example, just register today and join in the fun.

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Chalfont St Peter Church of England Academy received a special visit from Deaf Pop Star Fletch, who taught Year 5 children the song and signs.   The children will now be passing on their new skills to fellow pupils in preparation for sign2sing, which takes place between 1-7 February.

sign2sing is a fun way to raise funds for a really important cause

Headteacher, Elizabeth Underwood said

“The children were really excited to meet Fletch and picked up the song and signs really quickly.  With the help of the Year 5 pupils and the wonderful resources provided by sign2sing, the other children at the school should soon be just as good.”

Added Mrs Underwood:

“The school has taken part in sign2sing in previous years so we know that it is a fun way to raise funds for a really important cause. The children really enjoy getting involved, you can see their confidence grow as they learn the song and signs.”

 

 

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21904357513_2f42829a96_o (1)The new song for sign2sing 2016 has been launched with a fantastic video made by award-winning Deaf film maker Bim Ajadi. The new video stars  Deaf Pop Star Fletch with Deaf and hearing children from
schools in Hertfordshire.

 

The video for the song Reach Out Your Hand was filmed at Garden Fields School in St Albans. Children from the school took part in the video alongside their friends
from Heathlands, a school for Deaf children. The two schools regularly get together, sharing PE and music lessons.

Fletch has also filmed a series of tutorials to help participants learn the song and signs. And this year she’s had an assistant in the form of Hollie Williams, who won our competition to write the 2016 lyrics.

 

 

 

 

 

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It was light, camera, action as pupils from Garden Fields School joined with friends from Healthlands, a special school for deaf children,  to appear in the sign2sing video.

The St Albans children appeared in a video for the 2016 sign2sing song Reach Out Your Hand, directed by award winning deaf film director Bim Ajadi.  The film also featured Deaf pop star Fletch, who demonstrated the signs.

The video will be used to promote sign2sing and to help groups learn the song and signs.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for both schools to be involved in the video.  

We were able to showcase the fantastic cooperation between the schools and the way the deaf and hearing children work and play together.

Yvonne Roach from sign2sing said:

“We were delighted that the two schools got involved with the filming.  Children from both schools regularly play and learn together so we thought they were the ideal people to share the songs message of kindness and accepting difference.”

Garden Fields Head Teacher, Mr Jukes, commented:

“It was a fantastic opportunity for both schools to be involved in the video.   We were able to showcase the fantastic cooperation between the schools and the way the deaf and hearing children work and play together. “