Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Children from Orchard Brae School promote Makaton signing workshop for Santas

Pupils and staff at Orchard Brae School, Aberdeen.
Pupils and staff at Orchard Brae School, Aberdeen.

Santa and his helpers are learning how to communicate with children who have speech and language issues in the north-east.

Makaton is a language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to help people with communication difficulties.

And next week, a Makaton signing taster session for Santa and his helpers will take place at the Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village.

Children from Orchard Brae School’s Makaton choir gave a performance at the Aberdeen venue yesterday to promote the initiative.

Speech and language therapist Lisa Bergstrand said: “The children absolutely adore using Makaton, particularly with singing and music, and it’s such a powerful thing for the children to learn.

“When they see other people signing, you see their faces light up and they think: ‘you understand, you talk my language’.

“It’s so powerful when they know other people out there know how to sign Makaton.”

Fellow speech and language therapist Pamela Cornwallis added: “Our training session coming up in Aberdeen next week is for Santa, his elves, Mrs Claus and other grotto people to come along and learn some signs so that children and young people like those here today can interact with them in their own language.”

A key figure behind the Makaton choir at Orchard Brae is music therapist Emmeline McCracken.

She said: “Once the children have the signs, it gives them a sense of confidence, and really helps them acquire the lyrics of the songs more quickly.”

The Makaton taster session takes place at Aberdeen Community Health and Care village on Frederick Street, Aberdeen from 4.30pm to 6pm on November 6.

Participation is £5 per person.

For more information, contact Sarah Thornborrow on 01224 310582 or sarah.thornborrow1@nhs.net.