CHILDREN at Wootton Wawen CE Primary School got to try their hand at a whole new way of communicating recently when they had a visit from sign language interpreter.

The visit was organised with Sign Solutions, an independent sign language interpreting agency, who held a deaf awareness assembly at the school.

Michelle Prestige, and her interpreter Sean Nicholson spent time with the five to 11-year-old pupils, explaining what life is like for Ms Prestige, and the difficulties she comes across on a daily basis.

The children also had a quick lesson in basic sign language and learned how to spell their names.

Sean Nicholson, CEO at Sign Solutions, said: “It’s pivotal that we educate people about the importance of being deaf aware, and there’s no reason that shouldn’t start at an early age.

“The children at Wootton Wawen CE Primary School engaged extremely positively with Michelle. I hope that they enjoyed the assembly and will share the messages delivered with their families and friends.”

Marion Jones, headteacher at Wootton Wawen, added: “The children learned a lot from Michelle and I’d like to thank the whole Sign Solutions team for taking the time to highlight the importance of being deaf aware.

“Prior to the assembly we had taught the children the Lord’s Prayer in sign language and had learned a few additional words using Sign Solutions’ finger spelling app so it was lovely to be able to end the session by seeing them pass on a message to Michelle without an interpreter.”