Students’ unique exam success

Students’ unique exam success

10 June 2015

THREE Newcastle students have become the first in Northern Ireland to pass a major exam in sign language.

Shimna Integrated College students, Andrew Edgar, Zoe Latus and 

Rachel Regan have passed a GCSE equivalent exam after intense study for two years.

As Northern Ireland’s first specialist school in languages and the international dimension, Shimna approached the Department of Education to have sign language added as an applied GCSE equivalent under the Entitlement Framework. The idea came from former staff member Stephanie O’Kane.

College principal said the school is proud of the students and grateful to their tutor, Raymond Abernethy.  

“Like all of the languages we learn, sign language opens up channels of communication within our community and gives hearing people a channel into deaf culture,” he said.

“It was Stephanie’s initiative which started the first staff class in sign language, which has led to our students’ success today.”

Rachel and Zoe both loved learning languages and wanted to add to the languages they already studied but Andrew had a much more personal reason. The milkman who delivers to Andrew’s home is deaf and signs, and Andrew had always wanted a chat.  

The icing on the cake is that Shimna has just been contacted by the University of Ulster, where the first teacher training course in sign language is underway, 

and the University department hopes to be working with Shimna in the coming year.