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AUSLAN AT ELTHAM OUR PROGRAM WITH EXPRESSION AUSTRALIA IS PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION AND LEARN A VALUABLE AND FUN SKILL.
Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is the oďŹƒcial language of the deaf community of Australia. There is no written form of Auslan; it is a visual form of communication that uses hand, arm and body movements and facial expressions to convey meaning. Auslan was added to our long list of wonderful co-curricular activities last year to help interested students gain an understanding and ability to communicate more effectively with current Year 6 student, Luca, who is hearing impaired. While advances in technology have supported Luca to learn effectively in the classroom, communicating with peers across a busy playground can sometimes be diďŹƒcult. 6
His family, who are all learning Auslan, linked the College up with Expression Australia who have created a bespoke curriculum and supplied teachers for our co-curricular Program. Expression Australia are the same group that translate for government press conferences which has been a fantastic real world link for students learning the language at school. As Luca is heading into Senior School next year, it is important that the students he will be interacting with understand how to communicate with him. With this in mind, our Auslan sessions have been made available to students from Year 3 up to Year 8. Junior School students have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know their Senior School peers and learn from their experiences while studying the language together.
Despite learning remotely in Term 2, Auslan continued virtually with weekly Zoom sessions overseen by teacher Haining Lu. Students learnt finger spelling (letters of the alphabet) and other important areas of communication, as well as areas of interest. Auslan is a wonderful, interactive language that we hope to continue to have as part of our program.
Kate McCracken Deputy Director, Junior School
