HWRK Magazine: Issue 03 - Spring 2018

drama club
Oscar winner wants sign for all
Meet the schoolgirl from Swindon who’s
hoping to bring sign language into classes
aisie Sly, the six-year-old star of
the British short film that won
an Oscar in March, has called on
Theresa May to allow deaf children to
study sign language in schools.
Writer Rachel Shenton and her fiancé
Chris Overton, the film’s director, joined
Maisie’s parents, Elizabeth and Gilson,
who are also deaf, in signing a Sunday
Times letter calling for schools to teach
GCSE sign language.
The Silent Child has attracted
worldwide acclaim since the
Academy Awards and work has now
started on the sequel, which will tell
Libby’s story as she grows up. Maisie
has been asked to reprise her role.
The 20-minute drama, about a
caring social worker who teaches
a deaf child to use sign language
walked away with the Best Live Action
Short statuette during a glitzy
night with the stars at Hollywood’s
Dolby Theatre.
The Times’s letter states 97%
of young people believe British
sign language should be offered in
schools.
It said the success of The Silent
Child shows that “when society,
family and government reach out to
support deaf children, there is absolutely
nothing they can’t achieve”.
At the Oscars Rachel made her
acceptance speech in British Sign
Language – after having made a promise
to Maisie.
Rachel said at the time: “I made a
promise to our six-year-old lead actress
that if we won I’d sign this speech, but
my hands are shaking.”
She added: “Our movie is about a deaf
child being born into a world of silence.
It’s not exaggerated or sensationalised
for the movie. This is happening. Millions
of children all over the world live
in silence and face communication barriers,
particularly in access to education.
“Deafness is a silent disability. You
can’t see it and it’s not life threatening so
I want to say the biggest of thanks to the
Academy for allowing us to put this in
front of a mainstream audience.”
“Millions of
children all
over the
world live in
silence...
particularly
in access to
education”
42 // HWRK MAGAZINE // Spring 2018
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