The School of Signs is growing its free BSL programme with ten new conversation-focused lessons designed to progress pupils’ learning in both primary and secondary schools.
What if learning BSL could mean more than memorising signs? From 5 October, pupils will have the chance to practise real conversations, ask questions and use BSL in situations they might encounter every day.
The School of Signs is launching a brand-new set of free British Sign Language resources to help more pupils across the UK learn BSL.
Currently supporting over 4000 primary school classrooms with 20 beginner-friendly lessons, the programme is now expanding with 10 new lessons created to allow both secondaries and primaries to continue their pupils’ BSL journeys.
The new lessons move beyond learning vocabulary, focusing instead on allowing pupils to develop the skills they need to hold everyday conversations in British Sign Language. Each lesson video gives pupils the chance to watch a realistic conversation between two Deaf BSL users, learn useful questions and phrases, and practise signing around themes they can relate to in school, at home and in their wider community.
Who can use the new lessons?
These lessons are designed to meet the needs of both primary and secondary schools. The teaching builds on the knowledge already covered by the previous 20 beginner-friendly lessons.
The lessons are flexible to suit a variety of different learner needs, with the accompanying lesson plans explaining ways to make each lesson more accessible or more difficult as needed.
This includes guiding teachers to where less experienced pupils might need to repeat sections, giving teachers full flexibility of how much vocabulary to cover in each lesson, and providing alternate versions of printout activities and homework quizzes with different difficulties. Each lesson is fully independent, so schools can complete the full 30-lesson programme or choose selected topics and resources that best suit their pupils.
Whether introducing BSL for the first time or looking for additional resources to enrich an existing curriculum, schools and home educators across the UK can adapt the programme to suit their learners. Home educators, after-school clubs and extracurricular groups are also welcome to sign up.
What will pupils learn in the new lessons?
From everyday life and activities, to getting around their local area, talking about people and exploring creativity, the new lessons are built around situations pupils can recognise and use outside the classroom. Each topic teaches pupils useful skills for interacting in different everyday situations:
- Being Around Adventures
- Being Around People Who Work
- Being Around Everyday Life
- Being Around The Home
- Being Around Events
- Being Around Activities
- Being Around Your Local Area
- Being Around People
- Being Around Transport
- Being Around Creativity
Each lesson is supported by detailed lesson plans, adaptable homework quizzes, printable classroom resources, new CodeBreakers episodes, a video dictionary with illustrations, interactive games and flashcards.
Together, these resources give teachers everything they need to help pupils move from learning individual signs to using BSL in meaningful conversations.
When will the new lessons be released?
Starting on 5 October 2026, The School of Signs will release one new lesson every Monday until 7 December 2026. This gives schools a term’s worth of one-hour lessons that can be taught in sequence or used individually to suit each class.
On the platform’s Lessons page, teachers will be able to see the new topics in release order. Lessons that are not yet available will show a Coming Soon tag, and each lesson page will explain when it can be taught.
Teachers can also preview lesson plans before the full lesson is released, making it easier to plan ahead. Once a lesson is live, they simply need to print any resources needed and press play.
Whether you’re introducing BSL for the first time or looking for fresh ways to support your existing curriculum, the new lessons give pupils the chance to move from learning signs to using them in conversation.
The new lessons will be available through The School of Signs platform, completely free for schools and home educators to access. If your school has not signed up yet, create an account to unlock all 30 lessons on the platform for free!
Sign up or log in to The School of Signs today and get ready for the new secondary-school lessons launching from 5 October 2026.
