Auslan News
Errol St Campus
From Caen, Senior School Auslan teacher
We’re already halfway through Term 4, and what an amazing start it’s been! It’s been so rewarding to see how much progress students have made in their Auslan learning this year. Their confidence and enthusiasm continue to grow each week and it’s been especially wonderful to see students using Auslan signs out in the yard to greet friends, share a joke, or describe something that happened in their day. This shows how naturally they’re beginning to integrate signing into everyday life, which is exactly what we aim for!
Over the past few weeks, students have been revising occupation signs and building on their vocabulary from earlier in the term. They’ve also been introduced to a new and exciting topic: Sports Signs! We’ve been exploring how to sign different sports such as soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, swimming, and athletics, and students have enjoyed connecting these signs to their own hobbies and interests.
A key focus has been reinforcing the use of HOLM (Handshape, Orientation, Location, Movement) and NMF (Non-Manual Features). Students are showing great understanding in using these features naturally, which has made their communication more expressive and accurate.
Our classroom has been full of laughter and learning as we’ve gamified Auslan practice to keep students motivated and engaged. Some of our favourite activities have included:
- Auslan Sports Charades – guessing and signing different sports.
- Memory Match Games – pairing pictures with the correct signs.
- Role-Play Challenges – signing short scenes like “I am playing soccer with my team.”
- Video Journals on Seesaw – recording themselves using full sentences in Auslan.
It’s been amazing to see how confidently students are signing longer phrases and creating their own short stories using the new vocabulary. Their progress and positive attitude have been outstanding, and I’m so proud of the effort and teamwork they’ve shown in every lesson.
How You Can Support Learning at Home:
- Encourage your child to teach you or a family member a few new signs each week.
- Ask them to sign what sport they played at school or after school that day.
- Use the attached Sports Signs Poster to practise together at home.
- Celebrate their effort — every bit of practice builds fluency and confidence!
As we move through the rest of the term, we’ll continue expanding students’ signing vocabulary and developing their ability to use Auslan in conversations, role plays, and storytelling. It’s been wonderful to see how proud the students are of their learning and I can’t wait to see how much further they’ll go by the end of the year!
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping students grow in their Auslan journey.
