life & deaf 2: end of project summary report, april 2012 · life & deaf 2: end of project...

Life & Deaf 2: End of project summary report, April 2012

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Life & Deaf END OF PROJECT SUMMARY REPORT

Life & Deaf 2

April 2012

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Life & Deaf 1 began in 2006 as a Greenwich speech and language therapy project that

supported deaf children and young people to explore their identities through poetry in English

and British Sign Language (BSL); this with the aim of improving literacy, communication skills

and mental health. Through collaboration with colleagues in Greenwich Sensory Service and a

range of creative professionals a book/DVD of the poetry was created (Appendix 1). This

poetry was shared with families, schools, professionals and wider communities as

performances and as an interactive exhibition in the Stephen Lawrence gallery, Greenwich.

Life & Deaf was recognised at a local and national level for supporting the Department of

Health’s vision for every child to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive

contribution and achieve economic well-being. The Chief Executive of Greenwich TPCT stated

‘The poetry was truly amazing and got across the deaf identities of the teenagers more

securely than a million formal papers could have done’.

1.2 Following the success of this local project, that won the Children and Young People’s

Services Team of the Year award, the Life & Deaf Association1 was established as a not-for-

profit organisation with the aim of replicating the project nationwide. A free poetry workbook

was written and distributed across the UK (Appendix 2). A website was created where

children, families and professionals could access these resources and to which children could

submit their poetry, thereby creating a community of young deaf poets online. This was

funded by the Arts Council and the National Lottery and by donations given in kind.

1.3 In September 2010 the Life & Deaf Association approached Andrew Burgess, head of

Greenwich Sensory Service to propose a second phase of the project, Life & Deaf 2. Following

consultation, funding was generously agreed.

1 The Life & Deaf Association - Jane Thomas, Katie Ford and Helena Ballard, Directors; John Ballard, Treasurer; Andrew Ford,

Technical Advisor


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2. LIFE & DEAF 2

2.1 Summary of the Life & Deaf 2 project

2.1.1 Stream A aimed to create a community of young deaf poets across the UK in order to reduce isolation for a minority population and to strengthen communication networks between young deaf people.

2.1.2 Stream B aimed to present deaf children’s poetry and views to as wide an audience as possible in order to raise deaf awareness within the children’s immediate and wider communities.

2.1.3 Life & Deaf 2 continued to realise a need for strong leadership and a keen eye for detail, legality, governance and risk assessment. The three directors of the Life & Deaf Association undertook this through a clear constitution and regular meetings with sponsors.

2.2 Details of Stream A and B

2.2.1 Stream A – Resources and 2011 workshops

A national network was achieved by inviting young deaf poets who had submitted poems to

the website to attend workshop days in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The first of

these was held on 20th May 2011 when 35 children from the boroughs of Greenwich,

Lewisham, Bromley and Bexley came together. 35 children from across the UK attended the

second of these days held on 14th July 2011.

The students rotated around four work stations where art, visual and signed poetry, spoken

word and performance were used to explore and share individual experiences and feelings

about deafness. Developing the children’s creative output was secondary to exploring and

discussing their feelings and experiences, developing their emotional literacy and forming

networks and friendships. Each group was facilitated by a teacher of the deaf or specialist

speech and language therapist working alongside a deaf or hearing creative professional and

a BSL interpreter. Each child was filmed performing part of a poem they had created; this

footage was later edited, subtitled and distributed as a DVD to all of the participating children

and their schools (Appendix 3).


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2.2.2 Stream B – Presentation of poetry of deaf children to a wide audience: Production of

film, audio poem and visual performance piece – rehearsals and final performance at

London’s Southbank Centre

Over 100 poems were submitted to the website between September 2009 and September

2010. Stream B aimed to represent the common themes and most powerful images taken

from as many of these poems as possible.

Extracts from over 50 poems were woven together to create one collective poem, ‘That’s not

all of me’. This was interpreted as:

A short film

An audio poem

A visual performance piece.

It was important that the poetry was accessible to an audience of deaf and hearing people

with different communication modes and needs, e.g. BSL, Sign Supported English (SSE), lip-

reading.

2.2.2.1 Short film

During 2011 deaf children educated in Greenwich worked with the professional film producer

Eelyn Lee to transform the collective poem into a short film. Eelyn met with students from

Thomas Tallis secondary school and Shooters Hill post-16 campus to consult on the message

they wished the public to receive from the film and how they wanted to represent ‘their’

Greenwich. The students communicated their ambitions for the film and suggested a range of

Greenwich locations, important themes, film styles and imagery. Following this consultation

phase, there were further meetings between Eelyn and the Life & Deaf directors to finalise a

script and story board. Filming took place between 12th-15th October 2011 in several locations

across Greenwich, including Woolwich market, the Woolwich ferry and the Royal Park. The

young people participated as actors, make-up artists and producers. Further consultation took

place during the editing phase. The film features spoken English and BSL and is fully subtitled.


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2.2.2.2 Audio poem

In November 2011 a sound recordist, sound designer and the two Life & Deaf speech and

language therapists worked with deaf students from James Wolfe primary school, Thomas

Tallis secondary school and Shooters Hill post-16 campus. The children were recorded reading

lines of the collective poem. These were edited together into an audio poem that was later

heard by the audience whilst a dynamic interpretation was performed by two BSL

interpreters. This is a ground-breaking piece of theatre that has generated interest from Radio

4 and is being submitted to the British Library sound archives.

2.2.2.3 Visual / signed performance piece

On 15th November the Life & Deaf directors met with Sophie Austin, artistic director of

Teatrovivo, to plan a visual performance piece. This visual interpretation of the collective

poem complemented the auditory presentation. In December 2011 Sophie consulted with

deaf young people at Deaf is Special Children (DISC), the Greenwich youth club for deaf

children and their siblings. Rehearsals were held at the National Maritime Museum on the

four Saturdays of March 2012. The rehearsals were facilitated by Sophie Austin, Melanie

Mehta, a professional voice coach, the three Life & Deaf directors and three BSL interpreters.

The work also depended on the voluntary support of staff from Thomas Tallis deaf support

centre.


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2.2.2.4 Life & Deaf at London’s Southbank Centre

The collective poem in its three forms was performed in the Purcell Room of London’s

Southbank Centre on 29th March 2012 to an audience of 370 deaf children, their families,

school communities, professionals/organisations working with deaf children, members of the

general public, the Mayor and Mayoress of Greenwich, Gillian Palmer, Director of Children’s

Services, and the famous actors John Partridge and Josette Simon.

In addition to these three elements there were individual poetry performances by young deaf

poets, the deaf poet Richard Carter and the acclaimed hearing poets John Agard and Grace

Nichols. There was a presentation in BSL and English of the aims of the Life & Deaf Association

and its work since 2006, given by two of the young deaf poets. Outside of the Purcell Room, in

the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer, was an exhibition of poetry and artwork created by deaf

children and professional photography representing the various phases of Life & Deaf.

The Life & Deaf Association sets high standards for the children involved and this is reflected

in the highly professional quality of all of the supporting materials, including the invitation

(Appendix 4) and a 16-page souvenir brochure (Appendix 5). The latter was given to each

audience member to share the aims of Life & Deaf alongside factual information about

deafness, poetry created by deaf poets, feedback on the project and professional

photographs.


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During April, May and July 2012 an exhibition of Life & Deaf poetry and photography is being

held in the Greenwich Picturehouse Cinema. In September 2012, the exhibition will move to

the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre at the Old Royal Naval College. Later in the year an

exhibition of different materials will also be shown in the bar area of Blackheath Concert

Halls. Other exhibition venues are currently being sought.

3. OBJECTIVES

3.1 Life & Deaf aimed to develop Deaf children’s communication skills, including spoken

English, BSL, literacy and social skills, and to develop creative thinking skills. One of the key

objectives was to promote good mental health by raising self-esteem and confidence, thereby

reducing the risk of deaf children and young adults suffering from mental health illnesses. Life

& Deaf aimed to give deaf children a ‘voice’ within their communities, including their families

and schools, as well as the wider deaf and hearing communities within Greenwich and

beyond. A key aim was to raise deaf awareness, thereby facilitating better access to

community based services. Life & Deaf sought to raise the profile of BSL within Greenwich and

to encourage families of deaf children to learn BSL, thereby reducing isolation within the

home. Life & Deaf 2 addressed each of these objectives but on a national scale.

3.2 The original project linked closely to the Government’s ‘Every Child Matters’ framework.

Life & Deaf 2 supported the current coalition Government’s White Papers ‘Healthy lives,

healthy people’ and ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’ and its supporting strategies,

e.g. ‘No health without mental health’. Objectives within these include increasing the number

of people with good mental health and reducing experiences of stigma and discrimination.

The ‘Our health and wellbeing today’ strategy identifies mental health as an important factor

for improving educational attainment, reducing the risks of mental illness and promoting

physical health; it is stated that ‘focussing on mental health amongst young people is

particularly important with half of all lifetime mental health illness starting before age 14.

Poor mental health in childhood affects educational attainment, increases the likelihood of

smoking, alcohol and drug use and has consequences for poorer physical health in later life’.

The Government White Papers emphasise the importance of ‘building people’s self-esteem,

confidence and resilience right from infancy’.


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3.3 Life & Deaf 2 supports the vision of the Henley review, ‘Cultural education in England’,

which states that ‘the best performing schools bring cultural education practitioners into

schools alongside classroom teachers’. In the Henley review it is stated that ‘local authorities

have a vitally important role to play in ensuring the lives of young people in their area are

enriched with cultural activities and this should never be underestimated’.

3.4 A key objective in the Schools White Paper, ‘The importance of teaching’ (2010), is to

improve literacy and to offer children ‘a rich menu of cultural experiences’. It promotes

‘exploration of wider school issues which contribute to the well-being and engagement of all

students’. Life & Deaf 2 contributes to all of these objectives.

4. OUTCOMES AND FEEDBACK

Quantitative and Qualitative feedback has been collected at each stage of Life & Deaf 2.

4.1 Quantitative feedback

4.1.1 Stream A – Resources and 2011 workshops

Feedback forms were used to measure the children’s enjoyment of the workshop days and their learning experience. 100% of the attendees reported that they had ‘had fun’ and 90% reported that they had learnt something new in at least three of the four workshops (Appendix 6).




4.1.2.1 Eleven of the thirteen performers from Life & Deaf 2 completed a rating scale

considering their confidence levels before and after Life & Deaf. On the four-point scale

shown below (Figure 1), five of the performers moved up 3 points, three moved up 2 points

and three moved up 1 point. All of the young people reported an increase in confidence with

ten of the eleven reporting ‘just right confidence’ at the end of the project.

Figure 1: Confidence rating scale


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4.1.2.2 Each audience member was given a feedback card to return on the day of the

performances or to send to the Life & Deaf Association at a later date (Appendix 7). To date

104 cards have been received. Of these, 102 state that they enjoyed Life & Deaf at London’s

Southbank Centre.

4.2 Qualitative feedback Feedback has been gathered at each stage of Life & Deaf 2 from the children and their families, professionals working in the field of deafness and other members of the public. 4.2.1 Stream A – Resources and 2011 workshops

4.2.1.1 Feedback from deaf children and young people: ‘I think I want to do something like this more often and meet new people like me also I loved watching people do sign language especially since I don’t know sign language and I would love to learn it’.

‘It’s really cool, learning new language from different places including Derby and Brighton, I love it!!’

‘It’s make me feel more confident’.

‘I learn to think about my own feeling’.

‘I have learned other people’s expressions and feelings’. 4.2.1.2 Feedback from Professionals: ‘The ripple effects of a fully accessible and interactive day ... are still happening today. The effects are evident through seeing the gradual unlocking of one's Deaf Identity ... and creative cognitive skills amongst some of our Deaf students who participated in the workshops, as time goes by. The ripple effect quietly benefits families, friends, and the students' learning too’. Penny Beschizza, a deaf teacher of the deaf at Sedgehill school in Lewisham We continue to receive regular feedback confirming that our resources are used in teaching nationwide;

‘Thank you for your Life & Deaf 2 DVD. It has proven to be both useful and inspirational in our Hearing Support Facility. I wanted to use the DVD in the mainstream English classes when they teach poetry as part of Deaf awareness and examples of good poetry’. Teacher of the deaf in Lewes, East Sussex

‘I have been running a group with year 5/6 unit class at Laycock this term based on your Life & Deaf workbook. The children really enjoyed the group and are very excited about seeing their poems on the website! We are also doing an assembly tomorrow to present the poems to the whole school’. Hannah Patterson, specialist speech and language therapist, Islington, London


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4.2.2.1 Feedback from deaf children and young people ‘It important for the people in the audience to go to Life & Deaf especially our family because

it our chance to tell our family how we feel. Some of us like me find it hard to explain to our

parent how I am feeling so I really glad that I took part in Life & Deaf. I hope that the people

understand how we are feeling and hopefully they will made a change’.

‘I ask my family what think about film. Mum, dad, three sisters say “Now I realise what deaf

like, how you feel’.

‘At first, I am not confident. Then when I start to wrote my poem which help me with build my

confidence. Then workshop was make me think about myself after learning about people’s

views. Making the film, performance is make me feel very confident. Even use my voice on

front of stranger for first time’.

‘After weeks of working and rehearsing with young people I started to feel the impact of being

a good role model and soon afterwards I was feeling more impact of growing up becoming

mature that soon enough I cut straight down on drinking and didn’t feel the need to when

down the pub socializing’.

‘The impact on the audience just jaw-dropping. I want to do it front of all of people in this

world, wanna make them understand’.

‘The performance, workshop, film and all that just wake up whole of people and make their

eyes open seeing outside, it is not just hearing people, deaf are there too, they deserve to be in

community!’

‘I glad that Katie, Helena and Jane set up Life & Deaf because it give me a chance to say what I

want to say and be with other people who feel exactly what I feel like. I love going to Life &

Deaf and I wish it will carry on in the future’.

‘Before difficult sign, difficult feel embarrassed when deaf and sign. That why Life & Deaf

make more confident. When my first time Life & Deaf felt like on my own but after lots of

people came to Life & Deaf and help people be much better. Before Life & Deaf feel down

embarrassed. Life & Deaf make everyone happy, fun, feel increased confidence and happy,

now feel beautiful’.

We loved every single moment and made me so happy like a firework and colour going around wildly, AMAZING’. ‘It was to understand I’m not the only one who feels this way and that I’m one in many’.


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4.2.2.2 Feedback from families of deaf children and young people

‘It got me thinking that I should learn to sign for my child’s benefit’.

‘Helping us to understand our son’s issues being deaf and a teenager! THANK YOU’.

‘I was very proud of my son’. 4.2.2.3 Feedback from professionals

‘I have worked with deaf children for 25 years. What you have done is AMAZING! On every level: The artistic and creative work = WOW, the building communication, confidence and self-esteem = WOW, the building of a broader deaf community = WOW. Well done to all’. Rory McDonnell, head of the Advisory Teaching Team in Bexley.

‘My only disappointment is that I want everyone to be able to see it!!’ Pat Taylor, teacher of the deaf and head of the deaf centre at Shooters Hill Post-16 campus

‘The process of engaging professional creative practitioners (deaf and hearing) in working directly with young deaf people is crucial in helping them develop a sense of agency and in showing them that it is possible to make a career in the creative industries. The professional quality of the final products - poetry, film, performance - could only have been achieved with this kind of partnership. The central London venue and the support of the Southbank Centre was important in creating a real sense of ambition and status for the performance and film preview. The event itself was beautifully staged and choreographed so that the participants knew exactly what to do, allowing their confidence and excitement to be communicated clearly to the audience. The children were superb throughout - articulate, proud and fully present. They clearly had a sense of ownership of their work and shone on stage. None of this, of course, would have been possible without the magnificent project management skills of the core Life & Deaf team. I can only imagine what a wonderfully positive effect this event can have had on the self esteem, ambitions and Wellbeing of the young participants and their families. Long may your work continue!’ Jon Nicholls, head of specialism, Thomas Tallis secondary school

‘A very thought provoking glimpse into the lives of Deaf/deaf children. The project should be rolled out nationally and be given appropriate funding as this could really effect children’s lives and promote Deaf Awareness and a positive image of Deafness’.

‘An incredibly valuable resource for supporting not only deaf identity, but also deaf awareness in schools and communities. It was an enormously touching experience to hear the views of so many deaf young people’. 4.2.2.4 Other

‘This was really showing us what these deaf children experience on a daily basis. I felt like I was in their minds’.

‘It was truly moving and clearly such a fantastic opportunity for deaf people to express themselves’.

For further feedback, please visit www.lifeanddeaf.co.uk/feedback

http://www.lifeanddeaf.co.uk/feedback


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4.3 Anecdotal feedback

4.3.1 In addition to the formal feedback gathered, anecdotal evidence suggests the value felt

by the deaf children and young people involved. The children and young people

demonstrated huge commitment to the project by attending all of the rehearsals and

consultation meetings (held in evenings and weekends) and by independently setting up a

Facebook group through which they shared information, tips, encouragement and videos they

had made of each other practising their performances.

4.3.2 The specialist speech and language therapists involved noted improvement in some

children’s voice production and articulation skills. It seems that the highly motivating

experience of rehearsing then performing to camera and/or live audiences led to

consolidation of articulation and speech production skills. One of the participants fed back ‘To

be honest I use to hate my voice and is worried about use my voice. Since perform thanks to

you I now able to use my voice on front of stranger people also my own mum! Thank you so

much’.

4.3.3 Since the performance the participants have met to write thank you cards to all project

supporters and two young representatives of the Life & Deaf Association accompanied the

three directors to the London Book Fair in order to take part in a discussion chaired by the

Book Trust; this considered images of deaf and disabled characters in literature. The young

people independently made links for possible future collaborations with other related

organisations, which could in turn lead to work experience and employment opportunities.

4.3.4 In addition, the famous actors Josette Simon and John Partridge have offered to work

with Life & Deaf in the future and Jim Edwards, the chief executive of Signature, the BSL

accreditation body, would like to develop links with our organisation and plans to include Life

& Deaf materials in national deaf awareness training.


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5. MEDIA COVERAGE

5.1 Articles about Life & Deaf 2 have been published in the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust publication ‘Oxleas Exchange’, the Mercury, the Times Educational Supplement (TES) and Royal Greenwich Time. Life & Deaf 2 has also appeared in the Southbank Centre and Greenwich Picturehouse cinema event programmes. (Appendices 8-13)

5.2 Life & Deaf featured for 17 minutes on the BBC’s See Hear on Wednesday 25th April at 1pm. This can be seen on BBC iPlayer: See Hear Series 32, Episode 4.

6. FUTURE

6.1 The Life & Deaf Association have been nominated for the Signature ‘Organisational Achievement award’ and will apply for other associated awards on behalf of the children and the Association.

6.2 We have put forward a proposal for a collaborative project with the Book Trust, involving the children’s poet laureate, Julia Donaldson, who has a special interest in literacy and deafness.

6.3 In May 2012, meetings will take place with the organisers of the Cultural Olympiad event ‘Poetry Parnassus’ in which poets from each Olympic nation will be represented. The organisers are keen to involve Life & Deaf poets in order to showcase poetry in British Sign Language.

6.4 We are seeking to show the Life & Deaf short film at film festivals and are working in close collaboration with the film production team to reach as wide an audience as possible.

6.5 We hope to continue to exhibit the exhibition materials in various locations until the end of 2012. 6.6 A proposal for Life & Deaf 3 has been submitted to the Royal Borough of Greenwich. We are awaiting the outcome of this.

6.7 We would like to thank the Royal Borough of Greenwich for supporting the Life & Deaf Association and making such a successful project possible.

6.8 For further information, please contact:

Jane Thomas, Katie Ford and Helena Ballard The Life & Deaf Association 07748 104 051 [email protected] www.lifeanddeaf.co.uk

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.lifeanddeaf.co.uk/

life & deaf 2: end of project summary report, april 2012 · life & deaf 2: end of project...

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