Pupils at Paisley’s West Primary School were on the big screen after starring in a film which showcased their learning of British Sign Language (BSL).
The piece recorded the journey of the pupils through learning basic signs at the very start all the way through to being able to have a basic conversation in BSL.
There was also understanding of the signs that are used in the BSL/English performance which took them on an adventure around Paisley’s historical sites.
The film addressed the learning experiences of the youngsters and showed how much they enjoyed the experience as well as how important it is to have a deaf tutor teaching the language in schools.
The kids spent six weeks learning BSL with Graham Dow, a BSL tutor, and David O’Rorke, the communication support worker from West Scotland BSL.
Pupils had a further four weeks of working with John Henderson who is the artistic director of the Historical Adventures theatre company.
David and Graham were struck by how quickly the pupils picked up the language. We were all so impressed with how well the children picked up sign language and just seemed to embrace it.” David said.
Graham added: “Their minds are like sponges at that age and just seemed to keep on absorbing what we were teaching them.”
John also commended the pupils for their efforts for wanting to get involved in the story that they performed.
He said: “Not only were the children exceptional with their BSL learning, but they were so keen to learn about their own cultural roots in Paisley which we used as the basis of the story that they performed.
“They were eager for the challenge of learning stagecraft and theatre too which just culminated in a thrilling, exciting and unique experience.”
The project was made possible thanks to a collaboration between Renfrewshire Council, OneRen and Future Paisley.
A West Primary spokesperson said: “We celebrated the premiere of a short film that starred our P6b pupils. They were involved in a successful project last year when they learned key words and phrases in British Sign Language.”
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