We have had another busy year in Enrichment at Holy Cross.
The Catholic Diocese of Cairns is committed to each child reaching their full potential in learning. Consistent with this focus, the Holy Cross Enrichment Program began in 2018 as a response to furthering the learning opportunities for students who were identified as able to further extend their academic skills, primarily in English.
These classes are designed for students who wish to extend themselves to “next level” learning, usually working for about six months to a year above standard classroom work. Enrichment is offered across Years 2 – 6 inclusive, with Semester One and Two intakes. Students typically participate in two to four sessions a week during regular classroom Reading Rotations.
Curriculum Links
Enrichment courses are focused on the ACARA Curriculum Content Descriptors – primarily reading and writing, including grammar, spelling and punctuation skills. All students in Enrichment create digital learning portfolios on Seesaw, where parents are encouraged to view and comment on their child’s work. Focus areas include further reading through class novels and an increasing level of challenge in both reading and writing across a range of genres. Students are additionally exposed to a range of Learning Sprints, tailored to targeted areas of identified student need, for example, paragraph writing. Skills learned in Enrichment can be applied across a range of curriculum areas.
Students in Years 3 and 5 participate in a range of specific Naplan Practice tests to consolidate test “readiness’. In addition, Enrichment students are supported in their abilities to manipulate a range of technologies. Another aim of the course is to develop confidence building with similarly focused students and provide springboards to a range of other learning opportunities. Students are therefore encouraged to generate and maintain strong levels of engagement with the course.
To support students in Enrichment, students have access to both a range of technology and educational programs – including ChromeBooks and Ipads. Students access Google Classroom, where classwork and assessment is posted, as well as a range of additional programs, including Studyladder, Kahoot, Google Quizzes, Pic Collage, Story Starter, Pobble 360, Spelling City, Nearpod and Kids News.
Additional Learning Opportunities
Enrichment students have been provided a range of extracurricular additional learning opportunities to further encourage them to reach their potential within this subject.
2019 has seen our students participate in a range of activities, including the Harmony Day, the Cairns and District Junior Eisteddfod [both Literary and Speech and Drama Sections], Mt Sheridan Spelling Bee, the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition, the Henry Lawson Wombat Poetry Competition, the Ipswich Poetry Feast, the Calanna Public Speaking Competition, OptiMinds, the IEU Writing and Poetry Competition, the Trinity Bay Writers Festival, BRAINWAYS Education Holiday Programs [in conjunction with JCU] and Ted-X Presentations.
Practice sessions for these opportunities are held outside of school hours, including weekends. Further opportunities are also provided by Ms Joanne Neil, our school librarian, including Kids Lit Day, Readers Cup, Book Club, Rusty Story Dog Poetry and Story Writing Competitions, Movie Nights, Writers Club, and the Holiday Writers Workshop.
