Cumbria Cricket’s Cricket Development Officer in Barrow and South-West Cumbria, Nathan Waterstone, on learning sign language to further his connection with pupils.
As part of Cumbria Cricket and Chance to Shine’s ambition to impact young lives both on and off the cricket field, we have been delivering sessions in schools in lower socio-economic areas across Cumbria.
These programmes have taken us to Greengate Junior School, which is situated in the heart of Barrow-in-Furness. Many pupils at the school have a wide range of special needs which require extra support, including different staff and classrooms needing to be available to ensure pupils are receiving the best possible education.
Upon his arrival at Greengate Junior School in September 2024, Nathan was informed one of the pupils in his upcoming Year 5 Chance to Shine sessions was deaf and, whilst he enjoys being in the lessons with his classmates, he requires one-to-one support in every lesson with the help of a sign language interpreter.
However, rather than relying on the interpreter, Nathan felt he wanted to develop a deeper connection with the pupil.
“I felt I really wanted to be able to communicate with him directly, rather than me explaining the session to the other children and then asking the sign language interpreter to explain it to the pupil,” he says.
The trigger point came following a conversation with support staff at the school.
“I’m at Greengate Junior School quite a lot and it just cropped up in conversation with a member of staff about the pupil’s needs,” he explains.
“She mentioned how this pupil was completely deaf and needs sign language to ensure he’s getting the most from his schooling. He obviously receives a lot of support from staff, but I thought it would be really nice to learn a few things so I can communicate with him.”
After learning of the pupil’s needs, Nathan set about learning sign language to ensure he could be fully involved in the Chance to Shine sessions.
“I’ve learned the whole alphabet so I can spell out the names of the pupils in the group and which group he’ll be in,” Nathan explains.
“For example, if there’s someone in the group called Tom who he’ll be pairing up with, I can sign ‘T’ and he’ll know where to go. We also use different colour cones and bibs, so I’ve learned the signs for the colours to ensure he knows where to be within the game.
“I’m not fluent in sign language, but it’s been amazing to be able to give more back to him.”
Developing that deeper connection thanks to the sign language has really seen the pupil thrive in the sessions, as well as helping his education in the classroom.
“I love having that understanding with him,” Nathan says.
“He’s so happy and smiley all the time, and he’ll always give me a big wave when he sees me. He’ll do a big cricket swing to ask if we’re playing cricket today.
“He’s definitely more confident in lessons, and he never shies away from getting involved in all the games – hopefully our ability to communicate has helped him feel more comfortable in that environment.
“It’s also great to see all the other pupils try and support him too. They’ll go out their way to try and learn the signs for the colours and the names so they can communicate with him in the lesson too.
“I know his overall education progression has really increased too and he’s doing really well in the school. He’s been learning more signs from doing our sessions through additional one-to-one support with the staff at school, and he’s now learnt to read and write, which he was struggling with earlier this year. If our cricket sessions have had a small impact on that progression, then it’s a huge success for us.”
Greengate Junior School is just one of the schools we deliver Chance to Shine programmes in across Cumbria throughout the year.
Through his experience at Greengate Junior School, as well as many other schools across Barrow and West Cumbria, Nathan has seen the fantastic impact the Chance to Shine programme can have on young people, as well as being able to take new skills into his coaching.
“When you’re going into a school, meeting the kids and delivering cricket, from the pupils’ point of view, it’s daunting for them to meet a new member of staff, but the Chance to Shine programme allows you to engage with the kids and get them thinking about different things and challenging them, which helps them grow,” he says.
“You’re also not just developing the children in the classroom, but you’re learning new things as a coach too. I never thought I’d have the skills I have now thanks to these sessions. To be able to give back to a student who needs additional support and further develop his cricket experience is a great feeling.
“That comes from Chance to Shine going in, delivering sessions and getting the kids and teachers interacting. It creates a really nice atmosphere for everybody.”
Get Chance to Shine support at your school
We run Chance to Shine sessions across schools in Cumbria, where we see great outcomes for pupils both on and off the field of play.
If you know a school that would be interest in having chance to shine delivery in 2025-26, we would love to hear from you.
To find out more please contact Bob.Simpson@CumbriaCricket.co.uk
