Welcome to the SGPS Auslan Classroom! 

At Spring Gully Primary School, we are excited to be on an adventure together learning Auslan.

Auslan stands for Australian Sign Language.

Auslan is the sign language of the Australian Deaf Community.

In 2024, our students are learning from a program called LEARN AUSLAN ONLINE.

We learn Auslan from instructional videos presented by a Deaf teacher with Learn Auslan Online, and then we enjoy practicing and applying our knowledge of Auslan signs in the classroom through partner/group signing, games, songs, drama, and a range of fun learning tasks and activities.

We are excited to be learning Auslan so that we can become a more inclusive school by bridging the communication gap between the Deaf and Hearing Communities.

Please read these points of interest about Auslan, to guide your child/ren’s research at home and when practising Auslan together:

* Auslan is not written in capital letters (unless it is displayed as a heading.) 

* The name Auslan is taken from the words Australian Sign Language.

The Au is for Australian. The s is for Sign, and the lan is for Language. 

* Auslan is not the same as English. The language actually has its own structure and grammar. 

* There is not always a sign for an English word in Auslan.

* At times there can be more than one correct Auslan sign for an English word. 

* There are 2 dialects of Auslan in Australia; the Northern Dialect and Southern Dialect. Our program teaches the Southern Dialect. 

* When you are signing it is important to know your dominant hand, as this hand does most of the moving. (Your dominant hand is usually the hand that you write/draw with.) The learner uses their dominant hand, as does the teacher, whether they be left-handed or right-handed.

If you have any suggestions, Auslan resources or contacts in the local Deaf Community that you wish to share with me, please feel free to email me:   Adele.Riordan@education.vic.gov.au 

Mrs Riordan 

SGPS