West Cheshire College has delivered a sign language course for 15 members of staff at Hoole CE Primary School and HETTY Pre-School to support their communication with a deaf pupil at the school.

The Chester-based school decided to sign up to the Level 1 course to help staff work with the young boy and enhance his education.

Denise Bowes, Manager at HETTY Pre-School said: “When the boy started with us we made a decision that one of the best ways to enrich his learning was for members of staff to learn sign language.”

“The course has been hugely beneficial for all of us and has helped greatly with communicating with the boy. We have all learnt so much from it that we decided to progress to the Level 2 course to further develop our sign language skills.”

“It is an excellent qualification for our members of staff to have and allows us in the future to be able to provide the best care for deaf children here.”

Andrew Mayers, British Sign Language Tutor at West Cheshire College, said: “It is a great achievement that 15 members of staff from the school completed the qualification and I know it has benefited the staff as well as the child.”

“They were a pleasure to teach and I’m delighted that they found the Level 1 qualification so useful that they have progressed onto the Level 2 course.”

For more information about studying sign language at West Cheshire College call the College hotline on 01244 656555 or visit www.west- cheshire.ac.uk.