Bolton’s Thomasson Memorial School is a special school in more than one sense. Not only is it special because of the care it gives to its students who all have hearing impairment, but it is also special because the school had been provided with a grant by the ELMC to be able to replace some carpeting which is needed to dampen the clatter of tiny feet.
Steve Clark, the Provincial Charity Steward, had been invited to meet some of the students who were benefitting from the new carpet in early March, and he was invited back to a summer concert in the school in July.
The concert was performed by primary school age children and went through a series of “news” items including a mock up of the BBC newsroom, an item about some of the places and things that the children had been to such as a performance of Beauty and the Beast, and an item about some of the charitable causes that the school had supported. Every child in the primary age group at the school took part and it was clear that they thoroughly enjoyed doing so. All of the news items were on Powerpoint so that the older children at the school who are also hearing impaired, could follow the story line. One of the pages on Powerpoint acknowledged the grant that the school had received from the ELMC.
Speaking after the concert, Steve said there is a temptation to think of the pupils at Thomasson as being “different” as a consequence of their disabilities, however he went on to say he said he acquired a perspective that is far more important, in that the pupils are just like any other children who relish the opportunity to get up on a stage and be the stars of a show.
