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Website set to help deaf youngsters - JournalLive
A PIONEERING website designed to help deaf children with their literacy skills is being developed in the North East.
Signed Stories will put some of the best known contemporary children’s books on the web in British Sign Language, with audio, animation and text.
It will be the first website in the world which will give deaf children access to story telling and will feature voice overs from many North East celebrities.
Recent statistics from the National Deaf Society have shown that only a third of deaf children get five A-C grades at GCSE, compared with 60% of hearing children.
The website, at Signed Stories - A major ITV web initiative for deaf children and their families, is being developed by Malcolm Wright, the managing director of ITV Signpost, who is based in Gateshead.
Mr Wright said: “It is an idea which came from the team. It was prompted by the Deaf Society saying that only 33% of deaf children achieve 5 GCSE’s at grades A-C.
“That is a scandalous figure and it seems the gap is getting bigger rather than closing.
“The world that these children live in is dominated by the English language and it can take a long time for parents to learn sign language and interact with their children.
“Hopefully our site will help combat this and give deaf children a boost with their literacy skills.”
The website is being funded by sponsorship and will feature 100 books in its first year with 200 more to be added by 2011.
As well as being fully signed, each story will feature a celebrity story teller who will voice the words and the text will appear on screen, allowing the whole family to join in with the story telling. Celebrities from this region who have already signed up to add their voices include Jonny Wilkinson, Jill Halfpenny, Brendan Foster and Kevin Whately and the books of Newcastle author David Almond are to feature. The website is scheduled to go live in December this year and is currently being tested.
The Northern Counties School, based in Jesmond, Newcastle, which caters for children with hearing problems, has been helping with a trial of the website.
Headteacher at the school, Judith James, said: “This is going to be absolutely phenomenal for these children. Story telling is vital in developing literacy skills and this tool could help that happen quicker and stop some of the disadvantages these children have.
“It will be a great tool for us to use as pupils can go off in twos or threes and read their own stories or we could set something for homework. We have trialled it and the children have loved it so far. It makes it even more special that something like this is being developed in the North East.”
One NorthEast, the regional development agency, has added its support for the scheme. Its chairman Margaret Fay said: “I’m delighted that the North East region is behind this ground-breaking website.”
A PIONEERING website designed to help deaf children with their literacy skills is being developed in the North East.
Signed Stories will put some of the best known contemporary children’s books on the web in British Sign Language, with audio, animation and text.
It will be the first website in the world which will give deaf children access to story telling and will feature voice overs from many North East celebrities.
Recent statistics from the National Deaf Society have shown that only a third of deaf children get five A-C grades at GCSE, compared with 60% of hearing children.
The website, at Signed Stories - A major ITV web initiative for deaf children and their families, is being developed by Malcolm Wright, the managing director of ITV Signpost, who is based in Gateshead.
Mr Wright said: “It is an idea which came from the team. It was prompted by the Deaf Society saying that only 33% of deaf children achieve 5 GCSE’s at grades A-C.
“That is a scandalous figure and it seems the gap is getting bigger rather than closing.
“The world that these children live in is dominated by the English language and it can take a long time for parents to learn sign language and interact with their children.
“Hopefully our site will help combat this and give deaf children a boost with their literacy skills.”
The website is being funded by sponsorship and will feature 100 books in its first year with 200 more to be added by 2011.
As well as being fully signed, each story will feature a celebrity story teller who will voice the words and the text will appear on screen, allowing the whole family to join in with the story telling. Celebrities from this region who have already signed up to add their voices include Jonny Wilkinson, Jill Halfpenny, Brendan Foster and Kevin Whately and the books of Newcastle author David Almond are to feature. The website is scheduled to go live in December this year and is currently being tested.
The Northern Counties School, based in Jesmond, Newcastle, which caters for children with hearing problems, has been helping with a trial of the website.
Headteacher at the school, Judith James, said: “This is going to be absolutely phenomenal for these children. Story telling is vital in developing literacy skills and this tool could help that happen quicker and stop some of the disadvantages these children have.
“It will be a great tool for us to use as pupils can go off in twos or threes and read their own stories or we could set something for homework. We have trialled it and the children have loved it so far. It makes it even more special that something like this is being developed in the North East.”
One NorthEast, the regional development agency, has added its support for the scheme. Its chairman Margaret Fay said: “I’m delighted that the North East region is behind this ground-breaking website.”