For students at St Martin’s Greenacres, learning Auslan is about more than communication.
It’s a sign of the times at St Martin’s Greenacres as students from Reception to Year 6 are learning a vibrant new language – Auslan.
With 50 different nationalities and 33 languages spoken by students at the school, Auslan –
the language of the deaf – was selected as the school’s Language Other Than English (LOTE) learning option and introduced at the commencement of 2021.
And, in an ever-changing, pandemic world, it is more relevant than ever. “Because of Covid, students were seeing people signing on the news and even on some children’s programs, so we thought it was a good idea to introduce Auslan,” says Christine Comas, principal of St Martin’s Greenacres. “We believe we are the first Catholic school in South Australia to adopt the teaching of Auslan.”
Teacher Mary Mellon embraces the use of games and interaction to bring Auslan to life for students during class. “I might have a PowerPoint presentation on the smart board showing the different signs; the children watch it, then watch me, and then in pairs or small groups do the signing to each other,” she says. “We also play games: for example, one student will pull out a pop stick which has a word we’ve learned in the class: the child will sign it and the rest of the class has to guess the word.”
The response from students has been overwhelmingly positive. “I’m surprised at how quickly they’re picking it up,” Ms Mellon says. “They’re really engaged – the lessons are 45 minutes but they fly by. Because children are so used to learning through their books, many times I get them asking, ‘When are we going to be doing our learning?’ and we are doing it – through games or signing.”
For St Martin’s Greenacres’ young students, the benefits of learning sign language go beyond supporting communication with those who are hearing impaired or speak other languages: there are personal and developmental gains to be had, too.
“Auslan develops students’ literacy capabilities, increases memory retention and improves gross motor skills as they’re using their hands, which stimulates brain development and mental flexibility,” Ms Comas says. “We know that some children who don’t like writing are more attentive in class now they’re using their hands: it provides accessibility for visual learners, who are well and truly thriving.”
But Auslan is not just being taught in the classroom: it is also transitioning to the playground and school assemblies. “Our students are really engaging with it, and it makes our assemblies more enjoyable when you see them signing Advance Australia Fair or using sign language to do some of the prayers at Mass,” she says.
“It’s not just one or two children – the older children do it without even thinking. It’s interesting to see how it’s been embraced by the whole school community.”
That community includes the parents: with children bringing their Auslan learnings into the home, they are also engaging with the subject. The school recently received a $2500 Parent Initiatives in Education grant to encourage this intergenerational learning. “We’re running three workshops next term whereby up to 20 parents per session can work with Mary for a couple of hours to get basic sign language skills to take home and use with their children,” Ms Comas says.
Such is the success of the program, students of tomorrow are also excited to sign up. “All our new enrolments for 2023 are aware that this is what they’ll be learning and they are ready to go, so it is being embraced at all levels.”
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