Extension and Enrichment News

Enrichment in the Junior School

As the term has unfolded, boys have enjoyed a multitude of opportunities that offer enrichment and extension in their learning. Competitions aimed at developing their subject skills and areas of talent, have seen an impressive level of entries and the boys have performed very well in ICAS Writing, Mathematics, Science and Cluedunnit, being successful in the results that they have achieved. Of particular note, three of our students were prize winners in the Shaun Tan Awards, demonstrating that the Visual Arts programme at Scotch is developing some wonderful artists. Congratulations to Eryn Richards (3W), Jack Mayo (4T) and Ben Marris (5L) for their entries.

The Inter School Speakers Challenge provided a wonderful platform for boys to refine their public speaking skills and our Year 5 boys, Caden Hart, Abel Algie and William Arundel competed admirably in a field of 50 of the best speakers from across the region. The standard was exceptionally high and the audience was suitably impressed and entertained by the speeches entered.

During Semester 2 students will have the opportunity to compete in Tournament of the Minds where their creative thinking skills will be put to the test in an exciting and innovative series of long and short-term challenges that culminate in State Finals held at the University of Western Australia. The Junior School Spelling Bee and Inter School Spelling Bee will challenge those students who excel in this area and will also require nerves of steel from their accompanying parents as they watch their children compete at Guildford Grammar for the esteemed prize. It is not for the faint-hearted.

Many boys have commenced their Passion Projects and are talking enthusiastically about their learning, intrinsically motivated to explore a subject that is exciting to them. From Pre-Primary to Year 5, boys have amazed me with their commitment and drive as they immerse themselves in a project of their choosing, one that inspires them and also demonstrates their talents in their chosen area of speciality. We have seen fantastic planes, designed to forecast the weather, computer games based around Norse mythology, research projects into nuclear power and many more. I look forward to mentoring the boys as they continue with their projects and know that I will learn many new things from their body of work.

Meanwhile, in class, I look forward to working weekly alongside the teaching team in the Junior School, across all year levels, as we differentiate the programme to offer all of our boys many challenging and stimulating activities in an inquiry-based context.

  

Mrs Alison Webster
Enrichment Co-ordinator