Since 2016 the Education Department has mandated that all students from Years 3-6 in primary schools study a language. Dawson Park Primary has chosen Auslan as the language to be taught across the school from 2022.
Auslan is the language of the Deaf community within Australia and is categorised by handshapes, their orientation, location, movement and use of non-manual features such as facial expression. It is different to other signed languages and to English through its own grammar, signs and syntax. Auslan is nationally recognised and widely used across Australia. The learning of Auslan in schools builds diversity and inclusivity and is both useful and fun. It is also particularly relevant within Australia due to the rising number of people with hearing loss.
Within Dawson Park Park, students learn signs from a number of relevant topics such as greetings, colours, home and school words, animals and more. They also enjoy learning a language that requires movement and expression and are able to quickly build a large vocabulary. Learning Auslan as a second language also allows students to engage with a different culture and to enhance understanding of their own language and culture. This is essential in our increasingly diverse and changing world.