BBC Children’s and Education will mark British Sign Language Day on Sunday 28 April with all its family-favourite programs across CBBC and CBeebies signed in BSL.
The British Sign Language (BSL) takeover will celebrate BSL, which is now recognized as an indigenous language of Great Britain and will become a GCSE in 2025, ensuring full accessibility to content while educating young audiences about the importance of BSL.
Highlights include a brand new My Life documentary, My Life: Can BSL Change the World? on CBBC and BBC iPlayer, which sees BSL campaigner Daniel on a mission to get the whole world signing.
In his new documentary, My Life: Can BSL Change the World?, he’s off to a school in Bristol with his hearing’ dog Varley, armed with fun contributions from his favorite deaf influencers Jazzy and Benny, and a film about his campaign to get the BSL GCSE on the curriculum. He’s determined to show Year 6 that BSL can change the world.
In addition to the documentary, young viewers will enjoy signed episodes of beloved shows such as Bluey, Hey Duggee, Supertato, Bing, Octonauts, Yukee, Horrible Histories, The Next Step, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, and Deadly Mission Shark. Special guest Bake Off star Tasha Stones will also make a guest appearance on Blue Peter. Throughout the day, links across both channels will feature BSL interpretation, with a BSL interpreter joining Evie, George and Dodge in the CBeebies House and in CBBC HQ studios. Newsround will also deliver their morning bulletins with an interpreter live in the studio.
Every day, Newsround features BSL interpretation overlayed on its website, making its news content accessible to everyone. CBeebies offers several inclusive programmes, such as CBeebies Magic Hands, a sign language poetry series, and Something Special with CBeebies’ beloved Justin Fletcher using Makaton. Additionally, Musical Storyland, a series that brings fairytales to life with music from the BBC Philharmonic, includes a special episode, ‘The Enormous Turnip’, delivered in BSL. Another notable example is actress and Strictly champion Rose Ayling-Ellis being first celebrity to solely sign a CBeebies Bedtime Story for Deaf Awareness Week in 2022.
All signed content will be available and signposted on BBC iPlayer for audiences to enjoy beyond British Sign Language Day.
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