Castle School pupils Roar for awareness day

Newbury school releases music video on World Down Syndrome Day

Pupils at a Newbury school are showcasing their talents in a music video to honour World Down Syndrome Day.

Eight Castle School students and their families recorded the special video to Katy Perry’s Roar, using Makaton – a unique language programme that uses symbols, sign and speech to enable people to communicate.

Teacher Meaghan Ebbage-Taylor, who is a registered regional Makaton tutor, organised the video with members of an inclusion group, comprising pupils from a range of classes.

“One of the young ladies in our inclusion group was phenomenal when we started singing Roar and the idea just grew from there,” she explained. “And then we just added our Castle magic.

“We are raising awareness of how we ‘wouldn’t change a thing’ – at home or at school.

“The backing track is the school choir too and there is one girl that you can definitely hear roar.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve ever done at the school”

The ‘wouldn’t change a thing’ message was created for World Down Syndrome Day in 2018 and is still a key one today.

Some of the videos were filmed at school, while others were filmed at home with the pupils’ siblings also joining in.

Ms Ebbage-Taylor, who edited the video herself, began planning it back in January and is overwhelmed with the result and the response it has received.

So far the video, posted on the school’s Facebook page to “bring some sunshine into your day” in this very uncertain time, has been viewed more than 6,000 times and shared by more than 225 people.

She added: “They are a gorgeous group of children and they absolutely loved making it.

“It really made them all feel so special.”