Education and Learning

Education is about far more than the classroom.

It's about opportunity, confidence, curiosity, belonging.

In Australia, students with disability continue to face significant barriers to education.

Many experience exclusion, low expectations, inadequate supports, and environments that aren't designed with access in mind.

I visited Toowong State School in Queensland, an everyday public primary school.

Toowong is a bilingual school, meaning that the curriculum is taught in two languages.

And while there are other bilingual schools around the country, what makes this school unique is that the language that sits next to English isn't a spoken language, it's Auslan.

So any student who is zoned to Toowong can enroll, whether they use Auslan or not.

But there is also a high percentage of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and use Auslan as their first language.

The students I met were some of the most switched on and articulate kids you could ever meet.

Education is about far more than the classroom.

It's about opportunity, confidence, curiosity, belonging.

In Australia, students with disability continue to face significant barriers to education.

Many experience exclusion, low expectations, inadequate supports, and environments that aren't designed with access in mind.

I visited Toowong State School in Queensland, an everyday public primary school.

Toowong is a bilingual school, meaning that the curriculum is taught in two languages.

And while there are other bilingual schools around the country, what makes this school unique is that the language that sits next to English isn't a spoken language, it's Auslan.

So any student who is zoned to Toowong can enroll, whether they use Auslan or not.

But there is also a high percentage of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and use Auslan as their first language.

The students I met were some of the most switched on and articulate kids you could ever meet.