On Thursday 15th February 2022, pupils at Newminster Middle School raised money for the charity SignHealth. They raised nearly £500 by holding a non uniform day and learning to sing and sign,using makaton, two songs, ‘Gospel Medley’ (which actually had 3 spirituals within it – ‘Oh When the Saints’, ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ and ‘Swing Low’) and ‘Believe’.

We learnt that being deaf does not stop you achieving your dreams and goals. We were shown video clips of Rose Ayling-Ellis winning Strictly Come Dancing 2021. We learnt about how she was not able to hear the music so she had to feel the vibrations, watch her partner carefully and count the pulse of the music in her head when she danced.