Spotlight on Learning

Spotlight on Learning - Auslan

Auslan Spotlight on Learning

After engaging with Kerrie Taylor’s bilingual Auslan & English books throughout the year, it was an absolute treat to finally meet the author herself! St James students were fortunate to be able to meet with Kerrie, ask her questions (signed and voiced) and soak up her personal insight into growing up deaf. She was very open with the students, sharing the positives and negatives of her deafness, the difficulties she experienced in her schooling, the details of her recent cochlear implant operation and her love of both English and Auslan. For many students, Kerrie is the first Deaf person they have interacted with. Her visit has provided us with deeper understanding about the different technologies used by Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, the variety of communication techniques and how the age of hearing loss often impacts communication methods. For example, a baby who is born deaf,to deaf parents is likely to have a very different upbringing, to a hearing child, born to hearing parents, who becomes deaf from illness at the age of 3. Kerrie was a delight to have at St James and it was wonderful to hear her positive remarks about our students’ behaviour and signing skills. She kindly gifted her latest (currently unreleased) book to our school, with an inscription and signature.

I enjoyed meeting Kerrie because I have never ever met a deaf person before and she was really kind and funny! - Samantha 

I was able to interact with an actual deaf person and she was really nice. – Elsie 

I liked Kerrie’s visit because it was interesting to learn that she had a cochlear. I was surprised that she was not born deaf and that her voice is so clear. – Morrison

I liked finding out more about Kerrie and what it is like to be deaf. – Avin

I loved Kerrie’s visit so much! It was so much fun and I loved signing to a deaf person! - Isla

 It was so cool to see how Kerrie grew up and what it is like to have a cochlear implant. –Talitha 

We thoroughly enjoyed Kerrie’s visit and how she shared her experiences with us in suchan open and engaging way. It was an amazing opportunity for our students to learn directly from a primary source and to use Auslan authentically. – Staff.

Kerrie was so kind, helpful and interesting. – Paige 

I loved Kerrie Taylor coming to visit! We have been reading her books and it was so special to meet a deaf person who creates Auslan books. – Machaela 

I have never met any other deaf people in my life and it was such a great opportunity to ask her questions. – Francesca 

I thought it was a great opportunity to interact with a deaf person. Kerrie is such a role model and inspiration. – Natalia

Year 5 Water Safety Day

By Amelia

On the 18th of November the grade five students went to Port Melbourne beach to learn more about water safety and ways we can be safe around water.

To begin with, at the beach we changed into pink rashies that could be seen from space so we could be seen in the water. We split up into groups and did some activities my group looked at a sign that we should use in an emergency. It told us the emergency marker, the hazards in the area and what we could do if we ever got into trouble on the beach.

After that,  we did some water activities. The first one we did was where we were partners and one person had to go into the water and the other person had to rescue them using floatation devices. The water made everyone feel numb and cold and when we got out the wind made our teeth chatter and our whole body shiver. Next we got on boogie boards and hopped in the water. We quickly swam up to the instructor and back five times. Then we got back into partners and did an activity where we pretended to need help then our partner saved us on the boogie board. In our last activity we got into life jackets and swam into a circle in the water. We pretended that someone had floated away and we needed to help them.

Finally,  we got out of the chilly water much to everyone's delight and got dressed in warm clothes that heated us up like a fire. Then we had a sandcastle building competition. My group built a mountain with a moat around it and a gravity defying bridge made of sand. It was really good but we didn’t win.

 We all had an awesome day that we would never forget.

Students of the Week

Week  7, Term 4