ENRICHMENT
AND EXTENSION
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We believe that all children can be enriched and extended whether that be support within a subject area or accelerated learning above their year group including to university level. The enrichment and extension program at the College starts with staff striving to identify each child’s unique gifts and abilities to maximise the opportunity within the classroom. Specialty staff can be available depending on the child’s enrichment and extension needs.
Extension & Acceleration
LEARNING SUPPORT
Extension and ACCELERATION
As students are identified as benefiting from extension programs, the College offers a range of options which aim to challenge and grow each child:
Acceleration
(in a given subject)
Students may be identified early on in their schooling as being well ahead of their cohort. Usually they would need to be demonstrating that they are working at a level similar to the students at the top of the year above. The requires consultation with the Heads of School and parents, as it will affect timetabling and the student’s ability to work independently in a class where the content they are studying is not being taught.
Acceleration
(by a whole year group)
Students are identified as early as possible as needing to be extended across all key learning areas, and must also have displayed the maturity needed to successfully work in the cohort a year above them. This requires extensive consultation between staff and parents.
Extension
(in specific subjects)
Where students are identified as needing to be extended in certain subjects, teachers may provide extra work in class and/or to be completed at home.
I-XL Stretch
(extension in area of personal interest)
This is an extension program for Year 7 & 8 students in an area of their own personal interest and strength. It runs on a Friday afternoon, alongside a range of other electives for students. In I-XL Stretch, students present a project idea and a plan for completion and approval. They then are responsible for keeping to the time frames and completing their project. Teachers are available to provide support and feedback.
TERTIARY Extension
(completion of a programming course in partnership with UNSW)
On occasion, we have had students complete one university level programming subject, in partnership with UNSW, whilst the students were in Year 11. In these cases, students have been identified in their Year 9 & 10 Information & Software Technology (IST) class as being well ahead in their understanding of computer programming.
I-XL for Years 7 & 8
Each child is different. God is incredibly creative and He has equipped us all with skills, talents and abilities that help form our character and interests. The I-XL program endeavours to provide opportunities for our students to develop and expand on existing skills and provide some individual choice in their learning. Each year the students in Year 7 and 8 are provided with a number of choices covering a variety of subject areas and students are able to select one of these options to add to their learning program.
This program is not meant to be just ‘more’ of a particular subject but an opportunity to build and extend on their learning. Students attend these classes on Friday afternoons and these times of learning are often the highlight of the week.
learning SUPPORT
The College Extension and Support Team works alongside teachers and parents supplementing and growing the learning that is happening both in the classroom and at home. The structure and programs used are multi-faceted and benefit students right across the College. These include:
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Screening assessments for all Kindergarten students to identify extension and enrichment opportunities in literacy and numeracy.
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One-on-one and small group support provided by qualified Teacher’s Aides in the consolidation of numeracy and literacy concepts.
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Essential Assessment outlines the progress of K-10 students on a literacy and numeracy continuum, providing an overview of student learning across the year groups.
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Organisation of supervisors for Year 7-12 students who require special provisions for exam situations.
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The framework for Secondary School students with an intellectual disability to be assessed on Life Skills Outcomes.
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Orientation for students prior to the commencement of the school year.
These initiatives ARe in addition to the ongoing work of providing individual and small group support for skills in phonics, reading, comprehension, and numeracy.
