Extension Program for Gifted Children

Sacred Heart runs an extension program , which includes an engineering group, empower hour and Maths Olympiad. The Extension Program for Gifted Children is a unique programme designed to meet the needs of gifted students.

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Many students work on a variety of enrichment activities designed to enhance their skills, expand on their interests and promote a love of learning and discovering. These activities provide opportunities for the students to have choice and voice in the design of their learning and to share their knowledge and discoveries with their peers.

 

" A Year 2 group has been part of Empower Hour. Their enthusiasm and ideas make this an exciting and enjoyable activity for all involved.

Other activities that students are currently involved with include Empower Hour in Years 3-6, Prose and Poetry in the Literacy Group and some Special Projects. These opportunities allow students to work on subjects of interest, take responsibility for planning and managing their work and time and to have the pleasure of sharing these interests and skills with their peers. "

 

The communication skills of these students have been amazing. With such confidence and enthusiasm, they exhibited the power to entertain, inform and stir up curiosity.  The emphasis has been on skills such as talking not reading, making the most of aids and props to enhance their transfer of knowledge and finding creative ways to engage with their audience.

 

The breadth of topics covered made the experience of this group very special. They were exposed to a variety of fields in topics such as Malaria, Atomic Fusion, How Illusion is used in the Movies, Poisons, The Chinese Zodiac, The Colour Wheel, Pollution, 3D Printers, Fashion: Making a Skirt, The Paranormal and All about Sounds.

 

The group and the invited guests are developing the critiquing skills to enable them to provide feedback and constructive suggestions for bumping up future presentations. The audience also picked up helpful tips for their own use. "

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Diverse Learning 

Sacred Heart offers ​support for any students who are identified by the school diverse learning team and the class teacher for various reasons. We have a dedicated and experienced team of teachers. 

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Arrowsmith Program

The Arrowsmith Program is based on the application of neuroscientific research and for 40 years has helped students strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying a range of learning difficulties.
Barbara Arrowsmith, the creator of the Arrowsmith program, has visited Sacred Heart in the past, to meet with our Principal, teachers and our Arrowsmith cohort. As well as taking us through the key findings of the latest independent peer reviewed research study published in “Learning Research and Practice” in 2019. This research showed that test subjects who had participated in the program had changes in brain activity and connectivity, cognitive functioning, acquisition of cognitive skills, rate of learning and social and emotional well-being.

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To find out more about the Arrowsmith Program, please visit: www.arrowsmithschool.org

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