Every Tuesday lunch, in room 102, students and staff meet to learn British Sign Language (BSL). The club covers a range of topics including: greetings, subjects, hobbies, the weather, transport, the home, clothes, pets and more. British Sign Language is mainly used by the Deaf community, but with 90% of deaf children being born to hearing parents, that doesn’t mean that hearing people can’t learn too! BSL is a beautiful expressive language that some believe to be difficult. This is not true, it is different in that BSL is a purely visual language that does not rely on sound, but it is no harder to learn than any other language. St John Fisher is the only secondary school in Peterborough with a Deaf hub provision. We believe that integrating BSL into the school culture is important. We want the communication barriers that some Deaf students experience to be broken down. The club is led by both the resident teacher of the Deaf, Lucy Lester, and Claire Edwards (employed by the local authority) who is currently training for her Level 6 qualification in BSL. With 24 students and staff attending the club, it is currently full. If you wish to practice British sign language, please see the weekly topics below.