Teacher Profile

Mrs Emma McGovern, BMus, PGDipMus, BSL3Cert

British Sign Language (BSL)

I hold a batchelor degree in Music from the Royal College of Music, London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Music from the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire of Music, Moscow, Russia. My latest vocational qualification is a British Sign Language Level 3 Certificate.

I have four children aged between 5 and 12 years who have always been home educated. My husband is a professional musician with a flexible schedule, so we share the education of our children. We met at our University Christian Union whilst studying together at the Royal College of Music.

I have taught Music professionally to children for about fourteen years. I currently work part-time as a Music teacher at an independent prep school in the City of London. As well as teaching Music at the school, I run a ‘Sing and Sign’ club where I teach the children British Sign Language (BSL). I also use my Level 3 qualification in BSL in a range of other settings. I co-lead a local Christian home education group in which I have taught BSL to children of many different ages. As an evangelical Christian, I believe it is important for deaf people to be able to access biblical preaching and teaching. So I interpret the weekly morning services into BSL at the church where I am a member. We have had many deaf visitors come in person, and also some who watch regularly online.

The British Sign Language Act 2022 legally recognised BSL as an official language of England, Scotland, and Wales. In step with this, a GCSE qualification in BSL is also being developed, to supplement the long-established BSL vocational certification system.

I feel passionately about young people learning BSL for at least four reasons. Firstly, given that deaf people often cannot learn a spoken language, the onus is really upon those who can hear to reduce their isolation and build bridges. Secondly, because BSL is a visual language, children rapidly gain fluency and enjoy using it to communicate. Thirdly, although interest in BSL is growing rapidly, there is still a huge shortage of qualified interpreters, and so it is potentially a very good skill to learn for future job opportunities. Fourthly, competence in BSL can lead to excellent opportunites to serve the Church in spreading the Gospel message. I am therefore glad to be able to teach BSL for PX Classrooms.

I offer the following PX Classroom course:

An Introduction to British Sign Language

This is a one-year course pitched at KS2 and KS3 students, and providing a solid foundation for proceeding to further studies for the BSL Level 1 Award or a GCSE in BSL.