Auslan News
Errol St Campus
North Melbourne Primary School
From Caen, Senior School Auslan teacher
Occupations
Welcome back to our final term of the year! It has been wonderful to see all the students return from their break feeling well-rested, happy, and ready to learn. The energy in our Auslan classes has been fantastic, and I’m so proud of how quickly everyone settled back into their learning routines.
Over the past few weeks, students have been revising signs from Term 3, focusing on building confidence and fluency. We’ve been revisiting important Auslan features such as HOLM + NMF. It’s been amazing to see how well students have retained their signs and how naturally they’re applying these elements to communicate more clearly and expressively.
This week, our new topic is Occupations. Students have been learning signs for a variety of community roles such as doctor, firefighter, vet, teacher, pilot, plumber, and many more. They’ve really enjoyed exploring how Auslan can be used to talk about the world of work and the different jobs that help our community.
To make learning more fun, we’ve been gamifying our lessons — playing Auslan charades, matching games, and video challenges using Seesaw. Students have been working independently and in groups to record short clips demonstrating their new signs. It’s been a great way for them to take ownership of their learning, show creativity, and practise using Auslan in meaningful contexts.
The level of engagement and enthusiasm this term has been fantastic. Many students are already confidently combining signs to create simple sentences and short role plays. Their progress is a testament to how hard they’ve worked throughout the year, and I’m so proud of each and every one of them!
How You Can Support Learning at Home:
- Encourage your child to teach you some of the occupation signs they’ve learned.
- Ask them to show you how to sign your job or someone else’s job in the family.
- Use everyday moments to talk about different occupations — for example, at the dentist, school, or café.
- Celebrate their efforts and confidence — every bit of practice helps them grow!
I’ve attached a visual guide of the occupation signs we’ve been learning so you can continue practising at home together.
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping students thrive in their Auslan journey. It’s been such a joy to see their confidence and communication skills grow — and I can’t wait to see what they achieve as we move through this final term!
