Spotlight on Learning

Auslan Spotlight on Learning

In Auslan, across all year levels at St James, students are now actively engaged in sharing a signed presentation with their class. It is always a delight and a moment of pride to see how much our students’ Auslan skills have developed throughout the year, equipped with new vocabulary and hopefully an increased confidence.

Our Preps have learnt how to introduce themselves in Auslan, in case they meet a member of the Deaf community and also how to turn their voices off even if they are bursting with excitement.

Year 1 and 2 have learned how to use action verbs and to communicate their interests around school life.

Year 3 and 4 presentations have focused upon their routines and responsibilities after school, commonly sharing the sporting practices and entertainment choices they engage in.

Our senior students in Year 5 and 6 have been presenting their desire to host a hypothetical birthday party, in which many have shared their love of ice-cream cake and Bounce!

As usual, I feel particularly proud of the students who overcame their nerves or those who strove to learn the content by heart.

Additionally, it is impressive to note those who have increased in fluency, or who have actively aimed to demonstrate more facial expression.

As always, the goal of our Auslan classes is to assist with closing the communication gap between hearing and Deaf communities – and these presentation topics form the basis of potential conversations for genuinely signing ‘in real life’. A huge *Deaf clap* from me, to our wonderful St James students!

Clip annotation:

Snippet of vocabulary interpreting challenge in Year 5 Auslan, where students practiced their commonly required verb signs in preparation for their presentations.

Vocabulary Interpet Auslan Challenge (1).MOV