Huddersfield New College has been working with Castle Hill School for over six years, and we’re very fortunate that teachers from the school visit the college to teach our students and staff how to ‘sign and sing’ to popular music using Makaton, a language that uses signs and symbols to help people who are unable to speak, or whose speech is unclear, to communicate.
This relationship is mutually beneficial, as the songs that our students are taught are then put to good use!
Every year Travel and Tourism students perform to the children as part of their BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma Course, and we take requests from Castle Hill students so that we can perform songs they want to see.
This year, the songs included ‘You Raise Me Up’ by Westlife, ‘Roar’ by Katie Perry, ‘Walks Like Rhianna’ by The Wanted, ‘Old MacDonald’ and ‘The Frog Song’. Our Travel and Tourism students are not just talented signers though- they also designed bright and colourful costumes and choreographed dance routines for their performance.
As always the performance was a great success, and it was fantastic to see everyone dancing and signing together. Our students love performing at Castle Hill, and we can’t wait to go back again next year!
