Throughout Term 3, our Year 8 Auslan students worked hard on creatively translating texts into Auslan. Students were required to translate, rehearse, film, edit, and add captions, leading to the production of some excellent music videos.

Since the introduction of Auslan to our curriculum in 2014, the program has expanded dramatically, quickly becoming the most subscribed course in the school.

Leanne Potter, Principal of the Shenton Deaf Education Centre said,

One of the benefits is you don’t have to go to France or China to speak the language you’re learning, you can do it at the canteen or in class.

Available to both hearing and deaf students, our Auslan course enables students to communicate in ways they never thought possible, an opportunity Dr. Karen Bontempo, Curriculum leader and Auslan teacher at Shenton is quick to point out.

Using a visual language… you actually have the capacity to think visually and spatially. [Students] can communicate with someone who only speaks Hungarian, in a way that if you were only depending on spoken language, you wouldn’t be able to manage.

With 100 hearing students learning Auslan, Shenton College deaf students have a large peer network available to them with signing abilities, further fulfilling our vision of an inclusive schooling environment.

Congratulations to all our Year 8 Auslan students on their inspiring creative translation works. It was a tough decision with such excellent work handed in but we picked out Bea and Erin for their outstanding creative translation of Sam Smith’s song, I’m Not The Only One, featured below and on our homepage.