Peterborough Year Six pupils marvel in sign language song to friends

Sign language teacher Venetia Troop wanted to help bring the children together, despite them all being apart. Venetia, who runs ‘Happy Little Hands’ which teaches sign language to babies and children thought it was the perfect opportunity to keep the children motivated and in touch.

She said: “When the news broke that the schools were all going to close due to Coronavirus, my heart went out to my daughter Amélie (11) and all her friends. These last few months of primary school are special ones for them and they had lots of things planned to celebrate. The reality that they may not return to the same classroom was incredibly sad.”

After re-writing the song to fit the current situation and add some more cheer, Venetia and the pupils got to work learning the song. The motivated children had done ‘amazingly well learning the signs.’

She said: “I wanted it to offer them hope, positivity, motivation and socialisation each day - so they didn’t feel so isolated from their friends.”

After recording themselves signing and singing, Venetia put the whole group together so they sounded like there were in the same room. The fantastic work has made all the parents extremely proud and has kept the children motivated and in touch with one another. The group will continue to join together through sign language until the schools re-open.