one of the UK’s leading deaf and deafblind charities, and awarding body in deaf communications, has praised the efforts of a student from Jack Hunt Specialist Language and Sports College in Netherton.
Golofnira Zadran has been shortlisted for Young Learner of the Year in the 2013 Signature Annual Awards for her excellent progression in the study of British Sign Language (BSL).
Golofnira, 13, originally from Pakistan but moved to Germany aged 4, joined Jack Hunt School in 2012. Proficient in German Sign Language, but with no knowledge of English or BSL, she found herself in a world where communication was next to impossible.
Golofnira joined the school, at which 16 other deaf pupils are in attendance, and quickly set about learning BSL. Teaching Assistants there were struggling to communicate with her so they purchased books on German Sign Language and learned more than 1,000 words so that they could better communicate with her.
During this period Golofnira threw herself into learning BSL, with her teachers in awe of how she managed to cope without any common language to fall back on. Within the space of two months she had passed the Signature Level 1 Award in British Sign Language, an achievement which takes most adults at least 12 months to achieve.
Jim Edwards, Signature Chief Executive, said: “Golofnira has shown an incredible feat of intelligence and sheer dedication. “To achieve the Signature Level 1 Award in the length of time that she has is just astonishing.”
Golofnira’s progress with BSL has led her to assist in deaf awareness classes for trainee teachers, in which she can pass on her experiences; teaching basic signs and fingerspelling. She was also part of a group who visited Cambridge University to deliver deaf awareness training to trainee teachers there.
Golofnira is a keen advocate for deaf awareness and actively encourages as many people as she can to become more deaf aware and to learn BSL. She has taken part in various deaf sporting events and is eager to continue her studies.
She will join shortlisted entrants for Learner of the Year, Young Learner of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Community Spirit, Organisational Achievement, Communication Professional of the Year and the Joseph Maitland Robinson Award for Outstanding Contribution.
The glittering awards ceremony will be on 15 November at London’s prestigious Bloomsbury Ballroom.
For more information please visit: www.signature.org.uk/awards/