Kinder kids to learn sign language

A KANGAROO Flat kindergarten will start a bilingual program next year after being announced as one of eleven across Victoria to be successful in receiving Government support. 

Educational leader at Shine Bright Helm Street, Beckie Parkinson, said the centre chose Australian Sign Language, or Auslan, to assist in providing a more inclusive experience for children. 

 “We hope that it means that all of our children can communicate to each other and the staff,” she said. 

“We have a lot of children who have no language, whether that’s through disability or speech and language delay, different cultures. 

“There’s a lot of different reasons why we want to have the Auslan rather than a specific language of a culture… It means everybody can talk to everybody. 

“We work really hard with all of our children to have an inclusive space, and we think this will make it even more inclusive.” 

Ms Parkinson said kinder management hope to find a suitable teacher soon and start the program in March next year. 

“We have lots of different children and we do run our program differently to a lot of others, so someone who can come in and do it quite holistically,” she said. 

Shine Bright Helm Street Kindergarten will receive a portion of $3.7 million allocated statewide by the State Government for the bilingual kinder program. 

Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, announced the funding and said the program is about preparing young children to thrive in increasingly diverse cultural environments. 

“The basis of it is about of course ensuring that children have access to the opportunity to learn a second language which we know is beneficial for children’s brain development,” she said. 

“It’s about learning different cultures, it’s about engaging with different cultures, it’s about learning resilience and all of those wonderful attitudes that come with that as well.”