British Sign Language (BSL) is incredibly important, and I read about this proposal with a great deal of interest. I know that the Government has previously considered including BSL within the modern foreign language group of subjects in the national curriculum, but found that unfortunately, due to a certain number of requirements that needed to be met, this was not possible. For example, at key stage two, pupils are required to describe people, places, things and actions in writing, and at key stage three start writing prose in the target language. Obviously this would not be possible with BSL.
This does not mean, however, that BLS cannot be a rigorous and challenging subject which schools might choose to teach in addition to foreign languages. The Department has previously supported schools that choose to teach it by funding projects such as I-Sign, which aimed to improve the skills and qualifications of support workers in schools who help pupils using sign language.
As the Government moves towards a system in which more and more schools become academies, less will remain dependent on the national curriculum. In academies, teachers will have the freedom to use their experience and skills to design their own programmes. This will allow them to innovate beyond the academic core set out in the curriculum.