COLLEGE students in York are working on animations for a national television broadcaster.

A group of York College graphic design students are working on ITV’s Signed Stories Project.

The first years have been tasked by the broadcaster’s creative team to produce animations for popular nursery rhymes, which will be performed in two different sign languages for deaf children around the world.

The most successful student animations will appear on the ITV Signed Stories app, available on the App Store.

Students will respond to a brief to animate six nursery rhymes: The Incey Wincey Spider, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Alice the Camel, The Wheels on the Bus, Humpty Dumpty and Baa Baa Black Sheep.

The students’ animations need to demonstrate an awareness of how deaf children watch and enjoy stories in order for ITV to add sign language, captions, music and sound effects to the final edits.

Joseph Sheridan, on-screen manager for ITV SignPost, said: “Deaf children so often miss out on access to the best children’s literature because nursery rhymes, picture books and songs are just not available in their native sign languages.

“And reports have shown that a big factor in the attainment gap between deaf and hearing children is the lack of good quality, accessible resources. ITV Signed Stories is helping hundreds of thousands of children around the world to develop better language and literacy skills, and a love of reading and we’re delighted that the students at York College are as passionate about this project as we are.

“I have been blown away by the students’ initial creative ideas – they really have taken the brief to their hearts and we’re excited to see their final animations.”

ITV Signed Stories has a huge impact on the lives of children around the world, providing an all-inclusive shared story telling experience to improve the literacy and language skills of deaf children, and children with special educational needs that also use sign language, which includes children with autism and cerebral palsy.

The stories are performed in both British and American Sign Languages, and are enjoyed by deaf children around the world.

Sally Jackson, graphic design tutor at York College: “This is a very interesting live project which requires a multi-layered approach from our students. The brief is very concise and the animations must appeal directly to the audience, being visual and all-inclusive. The project provides a great opportunity for our students to work on.”

The winners will be announced in March 2016.