April to July 2025
David Salmon’s Story
“I was given the opportunity recently by the Norfolk Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) to teach families of Deaf children. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, teaching for 10 weeks, both the families and those around them, including some Children of Deaf Adults (CoDA). This gave new families an opportunity to make connections with others in a similar situation.
It was amazing to see the changes, as people blossomed from being shy and only knowing a little to being proficient users of BSL.
Over the 10 weeks we kept teaching, practicing and learning and by the end it was fantastic to see how far the students had come, from knowing only a few signs to being able to hold a conversation at a basic level. They had become proficient at fingerspelling and could recognise colours and numbers easily in BSL.
It was great including the children with the parents too as it gave us all an excuse to play some fun games like “Chase the Colour” . I would give them a colour in BSL and they would have to chase the person wearing it to win. This was very popular and inspired them to improve their receptive skills.
Having the course over a 10 week period also allowed grace for the parents to think of and ask questions of me as an adult Deaf person which I very much welcomed. Usually these were about things like “Deaf Culture” or how to teach or retain BSL. To be honest I was just pleased to see their confidence grow to the point they felt comfortable conversing with me and able to ask these things, it was great.
At the end of the course I presented the certificates and goody bags to the participants, these included little bits like a SH BSL branded water bottle. It was a really good experience teaching BSL like this and I know we will all retain some treasured memories from the course. I believe some of the participants will be joining me on a Level One BSL course in the very near future and I wish them well with their future of continued progress and learning!
I very much enjoyed teaching this course and am definitely looking forward to doing it again in the near future.”
Stephen Hurley’s Story
Norfolk Deaf Children’s Society Group PhotoNorfolk Deaf Children’s Society Group Photo“I was part of a WhatsApp group with the NDCS and we had been discussing the possibilities of this course but we needed a venue. We were all on the hunt for somewhere suitable. Fortunately, somewhere that I have previously used as a teaching venue had become available. It is an excellent place for teaching as it has plenty of space, good lighting and so on. We were able to book it and that got the ball rolling so to speak.
The first week I attended to support David Salmon, the Course Tutor, and help him get all the tech set up. We were using the TV, a laptop and so on. The time for the class to begin came and the space was soon filled with parents, siblings and friends of Deaf young ones. There were also two or three professional representatives there from Norfolk County Council.
That first class felt uncomfortable for more than a few, participants seemed self conscious and ‘stiff’ and we were faced with a sea of anxiety – lots of blank expressions and a definite lack of engagement. We persevered! Between us, David and I tried in that session to play some ‘ice breakers’ and gain some trust from our students. Over the following sessions, I handed the class over to David and we kept in touch behind the scenes, we had the unusual challenge of teaching with an intergenerational approach – we had young Deaf children and their older parents and siblings. We needed to teach in a way that was accessible and fun, but which also provided useful skills for all and the ability for the kids and adults to ‘gel’.
We had to ensure that the class was fairly fast paced, because as you know, children get bored very quickly and often have the attention span of a gnat, so that was a challenge.
Mid course the progress was indeed very tangible but by the end of the course I was so impressed with the proficiency of the students. I had prepared a goody bag for each participant, including a SHBSL branded water bottle and a Certificate for their “amazing” achievement. It felt like a real Graduation day, all we needed were the mortar board hats and the University gowns. We even took photos of the students proudly holding their Certificates, grinning broadly.
From being a stiff, uncomfortable and nervous bunch of learners, this wonderful group had progressed to be reasonably fluent at BSL and able to say absolutely anything with the use of fingerspelling. You could see the confidence in them as they signed in that last class, shoulders back and proud to have learnt so much.
It just shows how much you can learn in a very short time if you apply yourself and yes, some of them were so hooked that they are going to come back to SH BSL (of course!) to start their Level One qualification in BSL!