Last week was Deaf Awareness Week and we were incredibly fortunate to welcome Helen Maiden to lead a collective worship alongside Taya. Taya, who is in Year 5, has had cochlear implants for the past couple of years and spoke brilliantly about her experiences.

As a school, we have completed lots of learning around ‘Celebrating Difference’ and this was another fantastic opportunity to learn more about some of the fascinating things that make Taya and Helen unique.

Helen and Taya began by explaining some of the science behind hearing impairments before teaching us some really useful signs that we can use around school. In Class 4, we have been learning British Sign Language over the past few weeks, so it was fantastic to see how much the children had already remembered.

I was incredibly impressed with the thoughtful questions the children asked Taya and Helen. Hopefully, this collective worship gave us all the opportunity to educate ourselves further and develop a greater understanding of how we can support and work alongside peers who may face additional barriers in their lives.

Ryan Manning