Sing and Sign makes baby signing a fun and lively experience. It is also a joy to teach!

There are currently over 150 teachers running classes across Britain, If you are enjoying Sing and Sign with your baby either through our DVD or by attending classes and are interested in exploring the possiblity of running your own groups, then we would love to hear from you!

WHAT DOES A SING AND SIGN FRANCHISE OFFER?

The opportunity to teach baby signing using a highly respected, much loved and successful system
A potentially high return for low start-up costs
Use of the Sing and Sign registered trademark logo
Your own territory in which to operate
Comprehensive initial training including Manual and training video
Complete lesson plans and curriculum
Refresher training and follow-on curriculum packages
Comprehensive package of props and materials required to run Sing and Sign classes
Administration software (incl. enrolment forms, attendance records, flyers etc.)
Ongoing support, including a Teacher's Forum online
Merchandising opportunities for the popular and professionally made Sing and Sign products (videos/DVDs, CDs, dictionaries etc.)

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT SING AND SIGN?

Sing and Sign was the first British baby signing programme and was developed with the help of Speech and Language experts
Sing and Sign is respected and recommended by professionals and widely loved by parents and babies
A full range of toys and props for class are included, to help keep the babies attention
Quality recorded music (which the babies love!) accompanies many of the songs
Parents pre-pay for your courses (so you can budget effectively)
Comprehensive private website exclusively for Sing and Sign teachers! All the resources you need, including ongoing support and advice from other teachers!
Classes can fit in with school term times. You decide how many sessions to teach per week and can therefore build an enjoyable and successful business without compromising your family commitments

WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

As a Sing and Sign teacher you will have a lively personality, be able to sing in tune and enjoy interacting with small children
To run a Sing and Sign group requires no particular business experience but you will be well organised, reliable and have a professional attitude.
You will have a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for the concept of baby signing
It is essential that you have either :
- experience of baby signing as a parent, or
- a speech and language qualification, or
- significant experience using signs (such as Makaton) with pre-school children in a special needs setting.
We require a commitment to build your business and a keenness to promote baby signing.

What are the costs?

The cost of your own Sing and Sign franchise is £1200+VAT for the first year, subsequently renewable at £500+VAT for further years.

Even if teaching on just two mornings a week, you can still be in profit during your first term.

All the money you earn from your classes is your own, we take no commission.

There is no charge for refresher training sessions which are often run locally

WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP?

The first step is to print out and complete our Franchise application form and send it to us.

If you submit an application form you are in no way obliged to take up the franchise! It is just an initial step in learning more about you.

If you have access to a camcorder then please also enclose a short audition film. We receive a large number of franchise enquiries each day, so if possible we like to “meet” you on film straightaway! This really speeds the process up. The format can be either VHS, DVCAM tape, CDRom or DVD. The purpose of the tape is to show us you can sing in tune and put across a song in a friendly way!

Two or three simple nursery rhymes or Sing and Sign songs
No musical accompaniment, please.
Songs can be performed with or without signs
Something fairly jolly like "Wheels on the Bus" is suitable

It is fine for your children to be in the film (in fact this is nice!) but try to ensure we can actually hear you singing rather than other people!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE APPLICATION FORM

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE FRANCHISE INFORMATION

WHAT OUR TEACHERS SAY...

Helen Hill (Bristol) has now been teaching Sing and Sign classes for over five years. “The structured lesson plans are extremely easy to learn and this makes taking classes really enjoyable and fun as there is always something exciting about to happen next and that enthusiasm passes on to the children and parents.”

Helen now has 6 teachers working for her and all of them attended her classes and loved the program so much they wanted to get involved. “The best bit of being a Franchisee and Teacher for me is watching tiny babies who join classes at just 7 months and who then progress onto the Stage 2 classes and eventually leave as chatty little toddlers with great signing and fantastic speech! It gives me a buzz every term”

Julie Warriner is a teacher and mother of two who runs Sing and Sign classes in Bedfordshire..."I am now in my fourth year of teaching Sing and Sign and I love it - it doesn't feel like work! The training manual tells you everything you need to know and for anything else Head Office is only a phone call or email away, plus there is a Teachers' Forum online where you can get tips and advice. I would recommend the franchise to my friends - in fact, I have!”

Liz Merrifield works in the Malvern and Worcester area…”I was an accountant but wanted to do something more fulfilling after I had children. When I was expecting baby number three I read about baby signing and thought it sounded wonderful. We started using the Sing and Sign DVD with Phoebe when she was 6 months old and loved it. Phoebe signed ‘milk’ at 8 months old, and it was so exciting to have such a tiny baby able to tell us what she had seen or wanted; she was much less frustrated than my older daughters had been at that age. Phoebe is nearly two and a half years old now and speaks wonderfully in full clear sentences. She still signs occasionally and has learnt that there are lots of ways to communicate. I am convinced that she is a happier more relaxed little girl because of Sing and Sign.”

Liz decided to apply to teach the course and found the business was easy to set up. After only two terms of teaching she had more mums than she had space for and made a profit.“This is the most rewarding job I have ever had! I love the look on mum’s faces when their baby joins in with the signs in class! The reaction that I get each week when Jessie Cat or the instruments come out is amazing and seeing the babies change over the term is wonderful.”

Vicky Rogers (South London) says: "Helping mums, dads and carers to communicate with their babies is one of the most rewarding jobs I can imagine. I am part of their lives during some of the most formative years and the signing stories the parents tell you are truly inspiring. I have taught young children for over 14 years and moving into teaching Sing and Sign has been a very natural progression for me. I have the stimulation and fun of teaching with the flexibility to work the hours that suit me and my young family. Running your own business is hard work but I have loved every minute of it."

Emma Cox-Voyle (Stafford) first heard about Sing and Sign when her daughter was very young. “We bought the DVD from The Baby Show Exhibition at the NEC. We all loved to watch it and my daughter started to sign shortly after we started to use the signs throughout the day. It made a huge difference to all of us! She was the sort of little girl who wanted things here and now, not in 5 minutes when we'd worked out what she was trying to say!”

Three years on, after baby number two and a University degree in Fashion design, Emma decided to apply to teach Sing and Sign. ”I went for the opportunity, and a year on, I’m loving it!”

Caryn Brazier (Thurrock area) used to work as a banqueting co-ordinator and later as a regional sales manager for a privately owned group of hotels; she’d always been a ‘people person’ and after being a mum for 5 years, really missed using these skills. ”A friend bought us a DVD when Katie was 8 months old. I was hooked and decided to find a local class. By the end of the first session I’d decided I could see myself as a franchisee and then my teacher asked me if I’d like to train and teach for her, giving me the ‘seal of approval’ to go ahead. I taught for her for one term and then went onto run my own franchise.”

Caryn now runs 9 classes a week and employs two teachers to help her. She loves the support from Head Office, the Online Forum and other Franchisees and looks forward to our Annual Conference each year. ”To sum it all up, IT’S A REAL BUZZ – teaching, helping people enjoy parenthood, being an employer, working the hours I want and most of all…I’m sure singing releases endorphins making you feel happy! Being a franchisee is just like being a parent - you reap what you sow.”