Senior School Enrichment - Innovation Unleashed

The Senior School have been working collaboratively on building an enrichment programme this year.  The 2 day programme is organised to ensure learning time is maximised for all students, we provide differentiated learning in all areas and students are given greater opportunities to participate is less traditional subjects.

NPS Enrichment Programme Presentation

Being two terms into this programme I was interested to know how the students were finding it compared to last year where the programme was more scattered over the week.  I created Google forms to collect and collate student voice.

Year 4/5 Student Reflective Survey
Year 4/5 Responses

Year 6 Student Reflective Survey
Year 6 Responses

As teachers we are finding the 2 day enrichment programme is meeting students learning needs and wants more effectively and also allowing more time to be spent on core curriculum subjects.  The programme now provides a wider range of subjects such as Robotics, Philosophy for Children, Mandarin, Te Reo Maori, PE etc which build children's capabilities and equips them with the skills they need to be life-long learners.  The programme incorporates areas of the NZC and ensures that children are given the opportunity to learn and practise the key competencies.

Teacher Reflective Survey
Teacher Responses

One of the reasons the enrichment programme was designed, was to address teacher frustrations regarding the interruptions to core curriculum areas due to timetabling issues with music, Mandarin and Te Reo. For teachers who run a 3 phase reading and writing programmes were severely truncated due to the students coming in and out and predictable, but nonetheless inconvenient times. 

We designed the programme to incorporate some 21st century learning tools (coding programmes/robotics), as well as thinking skills (P4C, Thinking Skills).  These programmes had not been offered previously, but have a proven track record of engagement and positive impact on achievement. While it is too soon to make any assertions about impact on achievement, anecdotally, we can say with some confidence that levels of engagement are high. Low rates of managing off-task behaviour, high levels of focus and commitment.

The programme plays to teachers' strengths and interests, which naturally flows on to the students. 

Reflection by Belinda Hitchman (Year 5/6 Teacher)

Lily-Belle and David have written student reflective blogs about the programme which can be read at the following links:

David's Reflection about the 2014 Enrichment Programme
Lily-Belle's Reflection about the 2014 Enrichment Programme