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Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
In a classroom at Toowong State School, a group of Year 5 students move fluidly between languages.
Hands lift, expressions sharpen, meaning travels across the room in ways that are both visual and deeply felt. Auslan is not an addition here. It is foundational.
This is what a truly bilingual and bicultural learning environment looks like in practice. And, increasingly, it appears to be one of a kind.
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
Led by Deputy Principal Liz Fletcher, Toowong’s Deaf Education Program has been evolving for more than two decades. Established in 2001, the program has grown into what is understood to be the only model of its kind globally, embedding Auslan and English equally across curriculum, culture and community.
What stands out immediately is the level of care embedded into each classroom.
In the lesson we observed, four adults supported a single group of students: a classroom teacher, an Auslan teacher, an Auslan Language Model (ALM), and an educational interpreter. Together, they create an environment where language access is constant, not conditional.
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
It is a model that recognises something simple but often overlooked: deaf children do not need to be supported into learning. They need full access to it from the start.
Language, identity and access
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
At Toowong, Auslan is not treated as a support tool. For many students, it is their first language.
The program spans a wide cohort of learners. Some students are profoundly deaf and learn primarily through Auslan. Others are hard of hearing and move between spoken English and sign. There are CODAs, siblings learning alongside one another, and students at different stages of language acquisition.
There are also increasingly diverse pathways into the program.
The school has welcomed deaf refugee students, including children arriving with limited prior access to formal language. In these cases, the classroom becomes more than a place of education. It becomes a place where language itself is built, often for the first time.
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
This is where the bilingual model proves critical.
Students are not asked to choose one mode over another. Instead, they are supported to develop Auslan as a first language and English as a second, allowing identity, culture and learning to grow side by side.
Early access, lifelong impact
The importance of early detection and early access to language is a consistent thread throughout the program.
Screening tools such as Sound Scouts help identify hearing needs early, supporting timely intervention in those critical early years. Without access to language in this window, the impact on learning and social development can be profound.
At Toowong, that window is treated with urgency and care.
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
Support extends beyond the classroom. Partnerships with Hearing Australia bring specialist services on site, including regular visits for ear mould fittings and device support. Technologies such as FM systems and Roger devices are used across the school, while captioning services like Caption Connect extend access even further.
Just as importantly, there is an understanding that devices are not a complete solution.
Students are encouraged to take breaks when needed. Language access is supported through people, not just technology.
A whole-of-school approach
Around 55 deaf and hard of hearing students are part of the Toowong community, with many more engaging with Auslan across the broader school.
This is not a program operating at the edges. It is embedded into the life of the school.
Auslan is visible, shared and valued. Hearing students learn alongside their deaf peers. Families engage with the language. In some cases, entire families are part of the Deaf community. In others, Auslan becomes a new bridge between parents and children.
The school also plays a role beyond its own campus.
Through a partnership with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (DHHS), Toowong hosts a “hub” for the Queensland Virtual Academy, a distance education model supporting Auslan-using students in regional and remote communities. This ensures that children who cannot physically access a bilingual program still have a pathway to language, connection and learning.
In a state as geographically vast as Queensland, this kind of model is not just innovative. It is essential.
The program is also investing in its future. Plans are underway for a new build of 11 classrooms, designed with acoustic treatment and hearing-enabled technologies embedded into the infrastructure. It signals a continued commitment to environments that are not only inclusive but intentionally designed for deaf and hard of hearing learners.
Looking ahead
Programs like the one at Toowong State School show what is possible when language is placed at the centre of education.
Not as an add-on, but as a right.
They challenge us to think differently about inclusion, not as access after the fact, but as something designed from the beginning. And in doing so, they offer a model that reaches far beyond one school in Brisbane.
Photos courtesy of Toowong State School
