Frank Barnes Deaf School celebrates 8th birthday of govt' recognition of British Sign Language (BSL) with new website

Published: 24 March 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

DEAF children from across the capital visited Frank Barnes School on Friday for the launch of its new bilingual website.

Marking the eighth birthday of the government’s recognition of British Sign Language (BSL), the new website uses both English and BSL. Pupils from Kingsbury Green in Brent, Blanche Nevile in Haringey and Meridian in Greenwich, were joined by youngsters from Heathlands in St Albans. They watched excitedly as the site was launched on a giant projector – before tucking into a cake in the shape of an eight.

Karen Simpson, headteacher of the school which is based in the old Jubilee Waterside Centre in Camley Street, King’s Cross, said: “It reflects our learning environment and the fact that we value these languages equally and we want our children to have a high level of competence in both so that they are comfortable in both the deaf and hearing communities.” 

Deaf Instructor Catherine Drew added: “At Frank Barnes, our specialist staff teach through the pupils’ preferred language aiming to achieve high standards of education and develop high levels of self-esteem and confidence through our bilingual philosophy.”