Coronation Street will see Gemma Winter up in arms against her children’s school when one of her kid gets sent home in an upcoming storyline.
Actress Dolly-Rose Campbell has weighed in on her character’s ordeal, explaining how furious Gemma will be when her son Joseph (William Flanagan) gets punished for having used BSL with his friends at playtime. According to his teacher, kids aren’t allowed to use other languages, as she insists that Joseph may have signed something rude without her knowing.
Gemma, however, thinks her decision is “ignorant and audist” and undermines her efforts for everyone in her household to learn sign language to make Aled (Joseph Woods) feel included.
“She has encouraged and been the driving force of the family to learn sign language, to keep practising to keep using it with all the children to support Aled, and that includes Joseph,” Campbell explained.
“Gemma feels that the teacher is being unfair sending Joseph home and she feels that he wouldn’t have been sent home if he was speaking maybe Spanish or something. She feels like it is an audist action and very ignorant of the teacher to discriminate against Joseph in this way.
“She is worried about how it will be when Aled goes to school and will there be support there for him.”
With the help of her mum Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove), Gemma turns up at Joseph’s school with the intention to get the teacher to apologise.
“They even offer to help set up an after school class that Gemma would volunteer at but the teacher just dismisses the idea saying she hasn’t got the time, she hasn’t got the money to be teaching sign language and she has got other priorities,” the actress said.
“At that point, things get out of hand and Gemma and Bernie sort of accidentally end up staging a sit-in and barricade themselves in the classroom.
“Then they realise that Michael is in there as he was waiting to see the teacher about enrolling Glory – but he did have cake with him so it wasn’t all bad and he was a very welcome addition to the team. He ended up joining the protest and spending the whole night with them playing ScaleXtric.”
Will the school rethink their position?
Read more:
- Coronation Street’s Rita reflects on past romance with Ken
- 11 Coronation Street Christmas and New Year spoilers: Wedding bells and sinister motives
Visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV guide and Streaming Guide.
The Christmas double issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.