Children, parents and staff at Trowbridge charity Stepping Stones joined together to sing familiar rhymes and songs using Makaton signing for a special DVD on Friday.

The special needs nursery, which is based at Longfield Children’s Centre in Broadcloth Lane, filmed the music DVD with Trowbridge company Media Inventions, which provided Stepping Stones with a discounted rate.

Once the DVD is produced, it will be shared with families of children who attend the group to encourage communication skills and support familiarity with session activities between visits.

Stepping Stones, which is also planning to show the DVD to parents of prospective children, was able to organise the project after being sponsored by The Co-operative Funeralcare in Trowbridge.

Debbie Wickham, manager of Stepping Stones, said: “We use signing and music as part of every session that we do and we often get parents saying they notice their children doing an action or humming a tune and wondering what it is.

“Music is something every child takes part in no matter how complex their needs and we use it to indicate the start and end of sessions, as well as a strategy to improve their concentration, focus and understanding of language.

“While parents may think of music as a jolly activity, it underpins everything the children do at Stepping Stones, so we wanted to do something like the DVD to share with the parents.

“The DVD can then be used by them to support their children at home and improve their familiarity with what happens in sessions at Stepping Stones, while also giving parents the confidence to start using Makaton signing.”

The centre, which helps children in west Wiltshire with learning difficulties and disabilities, lost £10,000 funding from Wiltshire Council last year, but was able to raise £36,000 thanks to the Wiltshire Times’ Give Us A Chance Appeal.

Mrs Wickham added: “We invited all the children to take part in the DVD and everyone had a great time. It was beautifully organised by our playroom manager Judy Hennessey and we are looking forward to seeing the end product.

“It is something we wanted to do for a long time and we are very grateful to both The Co-operative Funeralcare and Media Inventions for their help, as they have been brilliant.”

For more information on Stepping Stones, visit www.steppingstonestrowbridge.co.uk