City Lit BSL

07/09/2026

Yesterday evening, Stephen and I arrived back in London after travelling from Amsterdam, following a wonderful and inspiring few days in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱

We would like to say a huge thank you to the professional association Levende Talen, NGT section (VLLT NGT) for inviting me to be one of four expert presenters at their international symposium on Saturday 5 September.

The symposium brought together at least 50 sign language professionals, teachers, researchers and students working across education, research, healthcare and social care.

The theme was an important and thought-provoking question:

“What is the future of sign language?”

It was a real privilege to share our experiences, perspectives and ideas about the future of sign languages and sign language education alongside three other inspiring presenters from three countries:

🌍 Corina Burggraaf-Maljers, Netherlands – teacher in special education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils
🌍 Marieke Kusters, Belgium – researcher and teacher
🌍 Emma Iliffe, England – BSL teacher
🌍 Alexandre Blox, Belgium – lawyer specialising in the development and rights of European sign languages

I particularly appreciated the 30-minute breaks between presentations, which gave everyone plenty of opportunities to network, exchange ideas and continue conversations. It was also wonderful to see Stephen Iliffe’s Deaf Mosaics photography exhibition and spend time looking through his photographs.

The symposium took place at Berengroep in Bilthoven, a fantastic building owned by a Deaf person and home to Deaf businesses. It was also interesting to learn more about Tolk Connect, which provides a service similar to Sign Video Relay.

The VLLT NGT is, in many ways, comparable to the Association of BSL Education Professionals (ABSLEP) in the UK. I hope this will be the beginning of opportunities for us to exchange experiences, advice, ideas and good practice between our professional communities.

I am incredibly proud of all the presenters, the organising committee, volunteers and international sign language interpreters who made the event such a success.

Many thanks for your warm welcome, wonderful hospitality and for creating such a valuable space for international professional exchange. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be part of it. 🤟🏼🌍

14/08/2026

Video Description: A behind-the-scenes recap of DawnSign’s Across the Ocean: The England Arc, featuring camera setups, crew members filming behind the camera, interviews with Deaf community members and historians, and scenic views throughout London and Edinburgh.

09/07/2026

2026 has so far had numerous celebrations within the British Deaf community including the Deaf Academy's 200th Anniversary celebration of its establishment in 1826, Bolton Deaf Society's 157th celebration and Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children's special 75th celebrations.

On Monday Mark Hopkinson and Peter R. Brown from City Lit, attended Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children's special 75th celebrations assembly with a packed out audience.

Throughout the morning, we saw stories from current and former pupils, current and former staff, parents, families, and school partners, sharing amazing experiences and memories on the school's journey from Old Street, to Swiss Cottage, to Jubilee Waterside, and now their current location at King’s Cross.

We would like to congratulate the school and wish it all the best for the future. There are 2 quotes that seem poignant at this time; one is from a memorial plaque for Joseph Watson, the first Headteacher of Britain's first free school for the deaf which was established at Bermondsey, Surrey in 1792, the plaque states "let us not be weary in well doing" when working with deaf children. The second quote is Watson's own motto written in 1809 - "labor ipse voluptas" (labour itself is pleasure).

Happy 75th Anniversary Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children!

Peter R. Brown

07/07/2026

I was grateful to be invited to appear on BBC See Hear for a Café Conversation in BSL with Deaf TV chef Scott Garthwaite, where we shared our life stories.

A heartfelt thank you to the BBC See Hear team for creating such a welcoming space for Deaf people to share their experiences, and for all the care that went into the filming, editing, and accessible subtitles.

If you’re inspired to continue your BSL journey, I’m pleased to be teaching the Signature-accredited BSL Level 4 course at City Lit. It’s designed for learners who have completed Level 3 and are ready to develop their skills further on the pathway towards Level 6.

Emma Iliffe City Lit BSL Level 4 Teacher on BBC See Hear!

Ideal if you have completed level 3 in BSL and are ready to develop your skills to level 4 standard. This is a new way to progress onto level 6. This is a Level 4 qualification course accredited by Signature. You will work though a practical programme designed and taught by our experienced teacher.

Here the link: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/level-4-certificate-in-bsl

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002yf2g/sign/see-hear-series-45-episode-9-cafe-conversations

Punk Chef welcomes two guests, Emma Iliffe and Chris Laing, for two separate, intimate cafe conversations over their chosen drinks.

25/06/2026

24/06/2026

Amazing seeing one of them called Harriet discussing tactile communication and showing how they both interact with each other. She studied BSL Level 6 in City Lit. I am so proud of her.

Deafblind Awareness week 💛

15/06/2026

In early British deaf education, the word “asylum” (meaning a place of care) appears, which today carries negative connotations. However, evidence shows that this term played an important role in the development of the British Deaf community we see today.

In 1792, ‘welfare’ Britain proudly announced the establishment of its first free ‘school’ for the deaf, properly known as the "Asylum for the Support and Education of the Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor", or more frequently referred to in public newspapers as the "Asylum for Deaf and Dumb". It is interesting to note that the word “the” was omitted, suggesting that the committee sought to present deaf people as human beings to the wider public. The asylum was established in Bermondsey, Surrey, now part of London, under the headship of Joseph Watson. At the time, the focus was more on compassion and the protection of unfortunate working-class deaf individuals than on their education. This was reflected in the formal title of the asylum where “support” precedes “education”. The term “asylum” was eventually removed in 1908.

This development was significant, as it marked the start and which I call the ‘Big Bang’, of the “asylum” model. This was a turning point from which unprecedented numbers of working-class deaf people began to gather. This, in turn, inspired society to establish more deaf ‘schools’, often referred to as "institutions", across Britain. As a result, their different sign languages were brought together and gradually developed into a shared language: modern British Sign Language (BSL) within a single Deaf community. This development was particularly evident from 1984 onwards, influenced by television with the new appointment of culturally deaf BSL presenters such as Clark Denmark and other developments, such as an awarding body for BSL qualifications, the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People (CACDP), now referred to as Signature.

It is interesting to note that, in 1996, a deaf person from Liverpool signed slightly differently from a deaf person in Manchester; prior to this, their signing would have been completely different, following the establishment of the Manchester and Liverpool deaf institutions in 1825, where deaf children were allowed to develop their own sign language within the institution.

Peter R. Brown

13/04/2026

Our annual Deaf Day event last Saturday went extremely well with a crowds of happy faced deaf attendees.

At 3pm in the afternoon, I gave my popular talk about how the recent discovery of ancient gestures from the British society had influenced BSL for over two centuries, from 1760 to postwar. Thomas Braidwood's deaf pupils in Edinburgh, 1760, acquired the ancient Greek held-up thumb gesture used in the military in favour or accept of surrendering. Postwar I believe that British deaf holidaymakers or adventurers acquired an old Roman ‘O’ gesture influenced from Europe or the north Mediterranean. This handshape is with the tip of the index finger touching the edge of the thumbnail with the other fingers extended in a relaxed position.

In Quintilian’s writing, it was found that this gesture meant the word grateful or approval, and the deaf communities added the other extended fingers later for the BSL signs FLOWER, WATER and TEA. See the pictures of John Bulwer's 1644 gesture for "Approbabit" (He/she/it will approve) and the comparison of the old and new BSL sign for FLOWER.

Peter R. Brown

13/04/2026

It was wonderful seeing parents join in with their children for my City Lit’s Deaf Day BSL storytelling session. We did a popular book called ‘We’re Going on Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury - with my daughter as BSL assistant! It was amazing seeing parents filming my BSL story to help them to share with their children. Some feedback: “amazing, beautiful and inspiring. Asked me to create more BSL stories, where did you get this signing bear? Children loved this bear”. One of the little girls was excited telling her lovely parents who signed that she said one of deaf people with cochlear implant like her. It is really important for seeing deaf adults to give deaf children deaf identity! They asked to have more BSL stories sessions!