Two historic institutions in Derby worked together to record a special version of God Save the King to celebrate the coronation.
The Derby Telegraph reported that pupils from Royal School for the Deaf choir used British Sign Language to perform the National Anthem, while the choir from Derby Cathedral sang in accompaniment.
The collaboration also marked National Deaf Awareness Week and school headteacher Paul Burrows said: “Our school is the only royal school in the area and we wanted to do something really special to mark the coronation and Deaf Awareness Week. We have established very good links with Derby Cathedral and it was a genuine joy to work with the choir on this performance.
“The result is incredibly moving and I think you can see on the children’s faces just how proud they were to be able to record this tribute to the new King. We hope everyone enjoys this performance as much as the choir did performing it, who knows maybe the King himself will visit our school one day in the future.”
The school also marked Deaf Awareness Week by launching a campaign to get wider recognition of its work with the help of local dignitaries. Staff and students want to put the city on the map as home to the historic school and the good work it achieves with deaf children from across the UK.
Paul told the Telegraph: “Derby is well known as the city of planes, trains and automobiles, as it should be, of course. But it is also the home of our wonderful school which has helped create the largest deaf community outside of London – a fact which should be celebrated too.
“There is no reason why the school shouldn’t be just as an important name to the city as Toyota or Rolls-Royce. In fact, for the deaf community, it is probably more important.
“It is the only school for deaf children which has a Royal status, which was granted by Queen Victoria during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I want everyone in Derby to be proud of our school and everything that it achieves.”
