Ahead of the launch of 10 new lessons this autumn we've looked back at the impact The School of Signs has already had.
When Signature launched The School of Signs initiative in the autumn of 2025, the aim was simple – deliver free and interactive British Sign Language (BSL) lessons to primary school pupils across the United Kingdom.
It built on the victory that came three years prior, when British Sign Language was legally recognised as a language in 2022. However, that triumph could not just be for the here and now – it had to be passed on to the generations to come.
One year later, and the uptake has been astonishing. Over 4,000 schools currently use lessons from The School of Signs as part of their curriculum or extra curriculum. The schools involved range from the Shetlands to St. Helier in Jersey, touching all four corners of the British Isles. However, whilst those numbers are impressive, it is the individual stories where the real impact is felt.
At Lumley Infant and Nursery School, teacher Rachel Butler revealed that they adopted The School of Signs because one of their pupils is deaf.
“We thought it would be great to teach the children (alongside us learning too) so it gives us all the tools to communicate together,” Butler made clear.
Given the fact that there over 50,000 deaf children and young people in the UK (National Deaf Children’s Society, 2025), the work being done by The School of Signs is vital in terms of communication within education establishments, as well as being a useful skill for students to develop and maintain for later life.
Several miles south of County Durham, in Leeds, Kerr Mackie Primary School, “are running an enrichment club at lunchtimes where [they] are working through the course with some year 5 and 6 children.”
According to staff member Lucy Lambert, the students there are “absolutely loving learning BSL and are using it amongst themselves,” outside of the lessons.
Such engagement comes partly because the platform “is extremely user friendly,” for both staff and students, according to Ross Wilkinson of Cestria Primary School, but also because of the accompanying fictional mini-series, ‘CodeBreakers’.
CodeBreakers follows two spies who go undercover in a school to uncover the mysteries behind the scenes. The learners become ‘Recruits’ in an exciting spy agency, keeping them engaged throughout the programme.
While the lesson videos themselves are delivered completely in BSL, the CodeBreakers episodes are recorded in English. Each episode applies the topic of a lesson to an exciting plot in a relatable setting, and is full of activities that show learners fun ways to use their new skills.
This hybrid format ensures students strengthen connections across the two languages and gives all learners an accessible entry point into learning BSL.
It is a format that has evidently worked. Wilkinson added that, “we can’t speak highly enough of the impact it has had on the children. The progress has been staggering.”
“It really is an amazing project,” said Terri Rivero of Longfleet Primary School in Poole, further emphasising the far-reaching impact The School of Signs has had.
And now with Signature set to launch further lessons that can be used by both primary and secondary school students (releasing weekly from 5 October onwards), with a new series of CodeBreakers incorporated, that impact is sure to continue spreading.
