Curriculum                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Enrichment Experiences and Learning at HPS

Recently the Leadership Team has researched and investigated into how we can continue to provide enrichment learning experiences to all of our students across the curriculum. Enrichment and extension learning opportunities is a crucial aspect of fostering intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and personal growth. While required curriculum is designed to meet general educational requirements, they often do not fully cater to the diverse learning needs of all students. Enrichment and extension programs serve as valuable tools to enhance students’ educational experiences, helping them develop essential skills that extend beyond the classroom.

Through these opportunities we can foster students love of learning, encourage critical thinking and problem solving skills, cater to the diverse learning needs of our students, increase confidence and motivation in learning and enhance social and emotional development. Such experiences are not seen as 'add-ons' but we view them as a fundamental to nurturing well-rounded, inquisitive and capable young learners.

This year, we have had some of our Grade 6 students participate in the John Monash Science School Mathematics/Science Extension Program at Monash University. Grade 3 & 4 students participated in the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series, where they investigated into mathematics problem solving. Starting next term there will be an enrichment mathematics program for all Grade 1-6 students which will be coordinated by some of our classroom teachers. We are keen and eager to continue to develop our knowledge within enrichment and provide opportunities within the classroom, but also extend these opportunities to external organisations and competitions. Below is an example of how we are providing these experiences to all of our students across the curriculum.

Grade 6 Excursion

Itwas a crisp fresh chilly Autumn morning when my class (6A) and half of 6B set off on our adventure into the city. We were traveling to the immigration museum, and going to the National Gallery of Victoria to look at the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s work. It was 9:00 am in the morning when the whole of grade 6 split into groups and frantically got on the train. It was a long ride for around 20-30 minutes, stopping at Flinders Street Station to get off. The smell of underground metro tunnels and cigarettes filled the air. The morning sun shone down on us, making most of us very hot, making us take off our hoodies and jackets. From the station, we walked across the city streets to the Melbourne immigration museum.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the sight of many artefacts and documents. We split into groups of 6, and sat down at some round tables. In the middle of the table were an artefact, and a tube containing documents about a person. Our guide, Pat, showed us some interesting facts about immigrants and the First Nations People, involving a red ribbon as a timeline, and some pictures showing us how long immigrants have been in Australia. Pat told us to look at the documents and answer some questions about a specific immigrant’s story. 

After we finished that, Pat handed us some question booklets that looked like passports. We were supposed to walk around the immigration museum and answer the questions. There were many stories about different immigrants, some of them famous, some not so much. We even got to look at a film about immigrants and their journeys. We even got to try the dictation test that people used to have to do to get into Australia. It was impossibly hard! The man telling us what to write was talking very very fast, most of it didn’t make sense. The dictation test was showing us how brutal the test was back then. Soon, our time in the immigration museum came to an end. We exited the museum and had a quick 20 minute lunch break before going to our final destination, the National Gallery of Victoria.

The first thing we saw were 3D pumpkins, covered in black polka dots on a yellow background. We waited a while in line, before seeing the first highlight of our trip. It was a steel mirror cube, with a catch. Around the back of the cube, was a small square looking hole into the bigger mirror cube. The inside was hollow, lined with small dotted pumpkins on the bottom. The walls inside the pumpkin were all mirrors. It was so cool! Everywhere you looked inside the cube, it was pumpkins reflecting in every direction, infinitely. 

We finally made our way into the large building. The Immigration Museum was a pale coloured, large 3 story building with banners and flags hung on it. Inside, it would take you back decades to discover why people from all over the world wanted to come to Australia, so our journey started now. Straight off the bat, the lady took us in through the café and let us put our bags away.

Then, we were led down a long hallway into a huge room with 5 tables. Other accessories and tubs were on the brightly coloured tables. First, the lady told us that we had to sit on a table and not touch anything yet. Then she told us a few reasons why immigrants might want to come to a new country, things like war, poverty, to get freedom from disaster and conflicts. Then she told us why moving would be hard, because of things like, the food and language would be different, the culture, there would be racism too! Then, finally we got to start and investigate our immigrants.

Finally we made it out of the NGV and started to head back on our trip. We made it to Flinders St Station and started to board the train. On the way back, I couldn’t help but think how much fun we had, learning about immigrants and seeing beautiful dot artworks. Well, you know what they all say- time flies by, when you are having fun. Which we certainly had.

Written by Mark Li (6A) & Jamie Li (6A)

SeeSaw - Weekly Celebrations

Just a friendly reminder to continue to engage in your child/s learning through our weekly SeeSaw celebrations. This is a great opportunity to gain an insight to what learning is occurring each week in the classroom, view highlights and promote a deeper connection to your child/s classroom learning experience. Posts are made each Friday by our classroom and specialist teachers. If you would like anymore information regarding SeeSaw, please contact your classroom teacher.