New Zealand Sign Language is ‘just part of what we do’

Haven Early Learning Centre are proud to celebrate diversity in language and culture.

A typical day at Ebbett Park School in Hastings looks a little different to many other schools in the country. This is because many in the student community are deaf or hard of hearing.

NZSL is used before the school day even begins.

Principal Kate Medlicott says the use of NZSL is present right from the moment ākonga walk in the school gates.

“It often starts with ‘good morning’ in NZSL and the question of ‘how are you?’ Children respond using NZSL to say they are excited, or tired – whatever it may be. We use NZSL to make that initial connection,” says Kate.

The school then begins each day together. Ākonga, kaiako and support staff gather outside and are led by Year 6 students through karanga, karakia and waiata. The morning gathering sets the tone for everything the kura embodies – inclusion and diversity.

The gathering also provides the opportunity for NZSL communicators and deaf students to lead waiata, which are performed in NZSL.

Kate adds that NZSL is a normal part of this practice.

“We gather as a whole school where NZSL is part of our day to day, so not only are we singing but we are also signing – it is just our normal practice. It’s a special part of us. It makes Ebbett Park, Ebbett Park.”

Throughout the day, NZSL is embedded into the learning in the same way English and te reo Māori are. Woven throughout lessons, NZSL is second nature to staff and students.

“If there is a deaf learner in the classroom, there is a communicator who is transferring information from the teacher to the learner in NZSL so they can access the curriculum equally – as easily as anyone else. For us, it’s about accessibility,” says Kate.

Principal Kate Medlicott and NZSL communicator Nora Kirikiri signing alongside a deaf student at Ebbett Park School.

Accessible learning

NZSL communicator Nora Kirikiri says NZSL is vital for deaf students to access learning.

“It is crucial to many deaf students’ ability to learn, communicate and participate in social activities,” she says.

Nora says non-deaf students who learn NZSL at Ebbett Park School are helping to “open a gateway of learning opportunities for both deaf and hearing tamariki”.

“All students just embrace it,” adds Kate.

“When I first arrived at Ebbett Park, I knew that NZSL was something I really wanted to learn. But the students would just naturally teach me. Then, during duty time they would test me, and I found that amazing. They would walk past and say, ‘Miss M, what’s Wednesday’? So I was having to think and suddenly sign ‘Wednesday’. It was special,” she says.

NZSL champions

Ebbett Park School was recently acknowledged for promoting NZSL within the curriculum, winning the NZSL in Schools award at the 2022 NZ Deaf Awards.

Additionally, Nora was the recipient of Change to Deaf Aotearoa’s NZSL ‘Local Champion’ award for Hawke’s Bay, recognised for her contribution to the promotion, maintenance and celebration of NZSL in her local region.

This year, NZSL Week ran from 9–15 May, with the theme of ‘NZSL is Essential’.

Nora says NZSL Week this year was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the language, and she praises other schools who used the week as an opportunity to implement NZSL into their curriculum.

“NZSL is essential; we should all embrace it, whether we have deaf students in our kura or not,” she says.

Kate adds that while NZSL is embedded every day at Ebbett Park School, NZSL Week provides other kura with the opportunity to really spotlight the language.

“The highlight is that we can give this some publicity – we can be who we are across Hawke’s Bay. We are proud of that because we do this every single day, but the week gives us the opportunity to put more emphasis into it.”

Kate champions schools as being the starting point for the integration of NZSL into society and encourages other schools to just “give it a go”.

“We have three official languages here in New Zealand – so don’t do it as an extra, do it as part of. Don’t be afraid of tokenism – if you are doing it regularly, it is not tokenism. Put it out there... you can do this! Anyone can learn to make this an everyday practice,” she says.

Ebbett Park School are proud to celebrate diversity in language and culture. Students signing during waiata

A haven for children and families

Kate and Nora’s enthusiasm for NZSL is shared by Tracy Leigh and Mark Seddon of Haven Early Learning Centre in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Established in 2018, Haven had previously been a community preschool with a history of involvement from the Ministry of Education since 1987, and the families wanted it to continue. So, Tracy and Mark took over the centre and decided to stamp their vision onto the centre.

We decided that when we were looking for a philosophy and a vision for Haven and for a preschool, we wanted it to be a place of refuge. The place of sanctuary, a haven, so to speak, not only for children but for families,” says Tracy.

The centre is situated 1.5km from Linwood Mosque. Children at the centre are part of families who were impacted by the 2019 terrorism attack, and many other families have had challenging journeys to Aotearoa.

“The majority of our children are Filipino or Indian and often come from backgrounds in refugee camps or on the move, and with this comes a need for diverse teaching.”

To aid her vision for Haven, Tracy engaged the services of a kaiako she had previously worked with, Jocelyn Thorpe, who is now team leader at the early learning centre. Tracy knew how valuable her talents were and wanted her as part of the leadership team.

Tracy Leigh is delighted with what Haven is achieving.

Covid-19 circumstances raised many communication challenges for Jocelyn, who is deaf. Virtual meetups such as in Zoom and mask restrictions made it hard to lip read and communicate effectively.

“We decided that we needed to do something to enhance communication with everybody. For Jocelyn, it was important considering she was starting on this leadership journey with me,” says Tracy.

An everyday practice

With Jocelyn and Tracy working with other leaders in the early childhood education community, the centre began to attract deaf students. This then helped to continue the journey to make NZSL an everyday part of the centre.

“We just started using sign and non-verbal communication as part of our programme and as part of the curriculum and it sort of snuck its way in slowly,” says Tracy.

NZSL and non-verbal methods are used for notices and most aspects of communication, and with all children, not just those who are deaf or hard of hearing

One boy is two years old, and his father is also deaf and signs a little but is fluent in te reo Māori. They use NZSL with this child, including some signs specific to Māori kupu (words). The difference can depend on the shape of the mouth, so depending on this, a phrase might be song or it might be waiata. Tracy says that other children are also picking up on this.

“He’s also just been introduced to hearing aids, and that is exciting because we’re working with him on recognising individual sounds now. Everything just sounds like noise to him, so, we’re working with him to differentiate between the sounds of voices, versus a musical instrument, versus a truck driving past.”

Haven also has a four-year-old who has come from South Africa, whose mother is amazed at the opportunities compared to her homeland. Another person who benefits from the school’s approach is a family with a deaf parent. Neither parent fully understands English, so signing has become the only means to communicate effectively.

“We couldn’t write them notes. We couldn’t speak to them about things. NZSL was the common language, and then that’s when it struck us just how big a deal it is, what we do at Haven. We adapt our practices, and the team are just really on board with supporting all families and with the advice and the support of our deaf children and families.”

Supporting all tamariki

One area that Haven has found NZSL to be highly effective is with their non-verbal students, who might be that way due to hearing levels, age, or autism. Instead of using the popular technique of ‘baby sign’, the centre uses NZSL.

“We thought why use baby sign when there’s a perfectly good language out there?” says Tracy.

The ability to use NZSL allows children to communicate both simple and complex ideas. This can be very helpful when they need assistance.

“Children are using these signs to request help from us when they are either non-verbal or a non-communicator. We do have several children with autism or diverse learning needs in the centre as well, and we have found that the visual cues and the sign supports those children just as well.”

The use of NZSL can also be very effective to attract attention across a playground or a noisy classroom without having to resort to shouting.

All children can react to seeing signs that indicate it is time to eat or have their nappy changed.

The experience of a deaf kaiako

Jocelyn’s hearing levels are classed as moderately severe and have been since she was two to three weeks old. She never learnt to sign, instead working hard on speech language therapy. She worked in several areas then changed her vocation and became a teacher aide at Ferndale School. While there, she was offered a cochlear implant which encouraged her to begin training as a kaiako.

While Jocelyn is very capable, there can be challenges. She needs to make sure she is positioned for the best view to supervise all students and may sometimes need to call on her team to assist with communications such as phones calls or Zoom sessions.

Jocelyn Thorpe is able to have a special relationship with deaf children.

“Softly spoken parents in a noisy environment can be challenging, as well as parents whose lips can be difficult to read when English is not their first language,” explains Jocelyn.

“Strategies I use include explaining I am having trouble hearing them and moving to a quieter space or a better spot. I will ask another kaiako to step in if the parent is wearing a mask.”

She has received feedback from a hearing parent who was pleased to see a deaf kaiako at the centre who could specifically support her deaf child when she started. She says it’s great to be part of making things better for the deaf community and their connections.

Jocelyn can provide special support for others in the school. This includes sharing personal knowledge and experiences of being deaf and schooled in an exclusive environment (compared to today).

She gives practical knowledge about how to put a hearing aid in and has additional empathy and support for situations where a child may have a sore ear and can’t wear aids for a few days.

She also helps children understand how to be helpful when interacting with a deaf person. She describes an incident when a hearing child commented that Jocelyn wasn’t listening to her and that another child, who is deaf, “did not have ears that work very well”.

Jocelyn coached the child as to how to communicate with the deaf child and they engaged with each other.

“The child returned to me and questioned ‘why doesn’t the other child wear a hearing aid like you?’ To which I replied, ‘he will one day’.”

Jocelyn sees a major benefit of having a deaf kaiako as having more tamariki and whānau know about the diversity within the centre. This means tamariki and adults are learning and using different strategies to engage with diversity in all its forms.

“As a team we support children to ask questions and not be fearful of physical or hidden differences. This openness leads to deeper and more connected relationships for all.”

Support for kaiako and whānau

The work that is being done by places like Ebbett Park School and Haven Early Learning Centre is assisted by people such as Cathy Pullan, an advisor on deaf children (AoDC) at the Ministry of Education.

Cathy Pullan, advisor on deaf children at the Ministry of Education, enjoys assisting children and families.

“We work with tamariki from identification until the end of the third year at school,” says Cathy.

Identification is usually from new-born screening tests, though sometimes hearing levels might be identified later if it’s a gradual change.

There is no waiting list once identification is made. When the Ministry get a referral, an AoDC will contact whānau within 48 hours.

“This is important because for most whānau finding out that they’ve got a deaf child can be a shock, and a very emotional time. There can be a lot of grief and there’s a lot for them to find out.”

About 95 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents, so most children come from a family with no knowledge or understanding of the deaf community or of NZSL.

“They’re wondering what the future looks like for their child. A lot of our role in the beginning is reassurance that their child has still got all the potential of their hearing peers.

“We tell them that with support and interventions, there’s no reason why most children with different hearing levels won’t develop language and go on to be successful.”

Network of support

The focus is to support the whānau and provide advice and guidance about how to best support their child. This includes attending audiology appointments to explain the information that is given. There are also home visits.

“There’s a lot of information, especially at the beginning, and it can be really confusing. It’s a lot to take on, and even if they take it in and they understand it at the appointment, they sometimes come away and they’re confused again. So, we do home visits.”

AoDCs like Cathy will help with the process of getting other professionals to come on board, for example a speech language therapist. Often obtaining this assistance requires putting in applications, so the advisor can assist with filling these out.

Another way in which the advisors help whānau is to support them to transition their deaf child into their local preschool and to introduce them to the Early Years Whānau Centre (EYWC) run by Ko Taku Reo | Deaf Education New Zealand.

EYWC staff work closely with the AoDC, cochlear implant habilitationists and a First Signs facilitator to provide a collaborative service for families.

The centre’s programme allows time for families to form relationships, support each other and identify the resources they need to meet specific needs and concerns. Whanāu are given the opportunity to attend ‘parent group time’ during their weekly sessions. Parent group times usually include an opportunity to learn NZSL.

“The parents get to support each other through their journey, and the children make really good friends,” says Cathy.

Advice for kaiako

AoDCs can also assist kaiako who have deaf children at their school or centre. This can include providing instructions as to hearing aid management such as changing batteries, checking that the hearing aids are working, or encouraging children to wear their aids.

Kaiako can be provided with remote microphones that hang around the neck like a pen. This allows their voice to be amplified through the child’s hearing aid or implant, helping them to differentiate between the noises around them.

The microphone can be passed to other children if it is a
mat/sharing time or if the teacher has asked a question and the answer might be a long one. If it is not suitable to pass the microphone, Cathy suggests that kaiako repeat what another child has said.

“If it’s just a short answer, for example you ask, ‘what’s one of the features of a mammal?’ and someone says ‘they give birth to babies’, the teacher can say ‘yes, that’s right. They give birth to babies, well done’, so the deaf child hears the answer.”

Cathy also says it’s important for teachers to check that children understand, as deaf children will often develop strategies to work things out rather than actually understanding what was said. Cathy says it is better to ask, ‘what do you need to do now’ rather than just asking ‘do you understand’.

Other advice for kaiako includes getting down to the child’s level, facing them when you’re talking to them, and not standing where there is a bright light behind as this can make it harder to see the teacher.

Getting the attention of the child before talking directly to them is important; this can be done by saying their name, or tapping them on the shoulder. Cathy says that unlike some other cultures, the deaf culture is usually happy to have someone touch them in this way.

NZSL tutors

Schools may also be eligible for funding through NZSL@Schools(external link) to have a NZSL tutor who can provide NZSL tuition directly to deaf or hard of hearing children, small groups, whole classes and to the adults in the teaching team.

“Sometimes classes from next door come along as well because children just love learning NZSL. They are like little sponges. They’re so engaged,” says Cathy.

“That’s a great service because the student is learning NZSL alongside their peers and the teacher, so everybody can be on the same page, everyone gets to use the language.” 

Resources

There are many resources kaiako can access to support tamariki and ākonga who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to promote the use of NZSL.   

Ko Taku Reo | Deaf Education New Zealand(external link) has resources for parents and whānau from early learning through tertiary, including Māori medium. 

NZSL@School(external link) is a service for deaf and hard of hearing students to strengthen the use and frequency of NZSL at school.

NZSL Week(external link) is celebrated every year during May to raise awareness of the language and culture of New Zealand’s Deaf community.

Thumbs Up! An Introduction to New Zealand Sign Language(external link) is a resource designed for students in Years 7–8 to support the teaching and learning of NZSL in English medium schools. 

The Deaf Aotearoa website(external link) has a range of useful resources, including an NZSL Dictionary, Learn NZSL online portal, games, booklets, and more. 

The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Deaf Aotearoa, has developed e-books in NZSL from the Ready to Read(external link) series.