The Catholic Education Sandhurst ‘Auslan Teacher as Co-Learner (TCL) Conference’ held at St Monica's Kangaroo Flat this month was a great success. There were 33 attendees from the Auslan TCL schools including classroom teachers, school principals, and Auslan language teachers and assistants.
During the Auslan Conference we had the privilege of hearing from two amazing guest speakers – Kate Frost and Janelle Giffin. Kate is a member of the deaf community and is an Auslan translator, tutor, teacher and consultant. Kate shared some valuable information about the history of Auslan, the importance of Auslan as a language of the deaf, and the variations of sign language.
Our second guest speaker, Janelle, is an Auslan interpreter, curriculum writer, teacher and consultant. Janelle presented the Auslan TCL website and the relevant resources available for the classroom teachers. Janelle also ran some hands-on activities in Auslan, which encouraged the participants to be challenged and to have a go at signing. Sherri, Tim and Sharralee, Auslan language assistants in the Sandhurst Diocese, participated in a panel to share insightful information about their experiences being deaf, their challenges and achievements.
A highlight of the Conference was seeing the networking and the connections that were happening between the classroom teachers, the school principals and the Auslan assistants. As we progressed through the day the barriers started disappearing and everyone had a go at signing and communicating together. The feedback from the Conference survey was also highly positive and this feedback will help in shaping the Diocesan future Auslan events.
Well done to all the participating schools who saw the importance of this professional learning and made the most of this great opportunity. A big thank you to our presenters and especially to Janelle for her amazing knowledge and support of our Auslan programs. Last, but not least, we are very grateful to St Monica's Kangaroo Flat for hosting this event and ensuring that the day ran smoothly.
