Auslan

At HWPS, students in Year 3-6 learn Auslan (Australian Sign Language) as the language program.

The goal of the national curriculum is to systematically provide this language learning opportunity to students across Australia, while rightfully recognising the importance of Auslan and the culture of the Deaf community in Australian society.  

Learning Auslan can enhance life by offering social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional benefits, allowing all students to appreciate the unique and sophisticated visual-gestural language of the Australian Deaf community.

Benefits of learning Auslan:

• Broadens students’ understanding that each language is an integrated, evolving system for communication, and highlights the role of language in expressing cultural and personal identity and shaping perspectives.

• Enhances the overall curriculum by providing real-life and intellectual opportunities for students to engage with the wider world and reflect on their cultural and social assumptions, fostering awareness of different perspectives essential for effective communication.

• Develops critical thinking, adaptability, and equips students with strategies and habits foundational for lifelong learning and subsequent language acquisition.

The Australian Curriculum: Languages – Auslan aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable students to: 

• Communicate in Auslan

• Understand language, culture and learning and their relationship, and thereby develop an intercultural capability in communication

• Understand themselves as communicators

• Develop a knowledge and an understanding of the diversity of Deaf experience and the nature of identity.