A fun and inclusive way for children to learn the Auslan fingerspelling alphabet. Schools, home educators, families and libraries can use these free resources to run an Auslan fingerspelling competition.
The Deaf Children Australia Auslan Spelling Bee is a fun and inclusive way for children to learn the Auslan fingerspelling alphabet. Schools, home educators, families and libraries can use these free resources to run an Auslan fingerspelling competition in their classroom, school, or community group.
The Bee helps all students build visual communication skills and supports deaf and hard of hearing children by increasing Auslan awareness in the school community.
All resources on this page are free to download.
Teachers can introduce the Bee over several weeks in Term 1 and/or Term 2 2026, practising a few letters or words at a time.
Yesterday, St Raphael's kicked off the week with our very first Auslan Spelling Bee.
We started the day learning about Auslan, Deaf culture and how to fingerspell the Auslan alphabet. We also mastered the “Deaf clap” (waving our hands), which we used to celebrate!
Our brave Homeroom representatives stepped up to play a high-stakes game of “Guess the Word by Emoji,” in which they had to fingerspell the answer. Year 10 kept it close, but Year 7 took the overall year-group win!
A huge thank you to Deaf Children Australia for providing every student with an Auslan alphabet bookmark to take home.
The excitement didn't stop there! Kindy, Year 2, Year 7 Green and Year 12 cheered our Spelling Bee participants on as our BEES went head-to-head:
A Year 8 student took out the ultimate “Queen Bee” title against Years 7 and 8! A Year 12 student won the sibling showdown against her brother (Year 8) and a Year 9 student won against her sister (Year 12)! A Year 12 student took home the crown for the students in a fierce Teacher vs. Student round against one of our brave teachers.
The positivity and enthusiasm in the room were unmatched. I am so proud of everyone who participated and so proud to be an Auslan Spelling Bee School!
St Raphael's Secondary School
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PDF poster of the Auslan alphabet with clear diagrams, plus a video of the full alphabet being fingerspelled.
5 practice words for teachers, with an image and letter diagrams showing how to fingerspell each word.
Ready-to-print certificates for Bee winners and participants.
A simple sheet to record student names and track words spelled correctly.
Short, ready-to-use snippets for school newsletters explaining what the Bee is and how students are learning.
26 posters showing the letter, Auslan handshape, a matching word and picture, and how to sign it. Perfect for classroom walls.
Step-by-step instructions covering how to prepare students, run class heats, and judging and rules.
A poster you can print and display in your classroom or around the school.
A short letter template explaining the Bee, why the school is participating, and links to resources for practising at home.
A template to share that your school is taking part in the DCA Auslan Spelling Bee on Facebook, Instagram or newsletters.
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