Sign language gives me my humanity

Channel 4 Interview with Catherine Drew by Cathy Newman

 

British Sign Language is to be offered as a GCSE in England from September 2025. It will be open to all pupils, who will learn around a thousand signs.

 

The government announcement follows years of campaigning by deaf schoolboy Daniel Jillings, who is now 17. And while it may come too late for him, the deaf community is celebrating the new qualification as a way of breaking down barriers.

 

We spoke to Catherine Drew, who is a deputy head teacher at a school for deaf children in north London, and she joined us with her interpreter.