Gifted and Talented Students At Siena College the Learning Enhancement Department is committed to providing enrichment opportunities to those students who have been identified as gifted or talented. The definition of giftedness and talent adopted by the education sector in Australia was developed by Professor Françoys Gagné of the University of Quebec in Montreal. Giftedness is the possession and use of natural (non-systematically trained) abilities (called high aptitudes or gifts) in at least one ability domain, to a degree that places an individual at least among the top 10% of age peers. Talent is the superior mastery of systematically developed abilities (or skills) and knowledge in at least one field of human activity, to a degree that places an individual at least among the top 10% of age peers who are (or have been) active in that field. Gifted students must be challenged to develop their strengths into talents but also to expand their thinking skills. The Learning Enhancement Department understands the particular needs of this group of students and works in conjunction with other Heads of Learning to offer opportunities for enrichment. As a member of the Boroondara Gifted Cluster, students at all year levels can participate in a variety of different activities from many different curriculum areas such as ‘The Mathematics of Infinity’ workshop at Presbyterian Ladies’ College for Year 10 students or the da Vinci decathlon at Methodist Ladies’ College for Year 7 students. As a member of the cluster, Siena College will be offering theme based extension days. This year, gifted students from Bialik College, Strathcona,
St Catherine’s and Ruyton will be challenged by activities at least two years advanced at the ‘All Fired Up’ and ‘Communication, the Universal Link’ workshops. At the school level, the Siena Chess Club has been established with over thirty students playing chess each Wednesday at lunchtime. All the Year 7 students have been taught how to play chess having participated in chess training sessions run by ‘Chess Kids’. Other initiatives which have been offered to students to develop their thinking skills are Distance Education Victoria’s on-line philosophy classes and philosophy in Years 7 and 8. The latter is a withdrawal program that develops the students’ ability to question, to explore ideas, be challenged by abstract concepts and to broaden their understanding of their world. This is also achieved through external learning activities to places like the State Library where Year 8 Philosophy students will be involved in a medieval calligraphy workshop and view the Persian manuscripts. While some activities are invitation only others are available for all students. Siena College is a long-standing participant in ‘Tournament of Minds’ which draws together students who have strengths in a range of areas and fosters team building and thinking skills. These are just a few of the many enrichment opportunities available to students from all year levels through the Learning Enhancement Department at Siena College to assist the development of gifted students into talented ones. Simone Ryan Head of Learning Enhancement
Environmental Sustainability Environmental sustainability discussions and measures are of high importance. Everyone can be a part of contributing to spreading information, about how we can all protect and preserve our world. Last year, the Environment Committee ran the ‘gorillas are calling on you’ campaign. This was in response to gorilla habitats in Africa being destroyed in order to mine metallic ores that can also be found in mobile phones. This was highly successful and over 50 mobile phones were donated. The addition of the chickens to the school has been wonderful. They are laying plenty of eggs which are raffled off, allowing the money for the eggs to be spent on maintaining the chook house. The school and in particular, the Food Technology students are able to learn from the experience of such a sustainable project.
A new initiative in 2012 is the adoption of an endangered animal. Siena College will soon vote to adopt one of the following animals - the Tasmanian devil, the platypus or the koala. Once selected fundraising activities will begin to aid the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in raising money for the protection of this species and its habitat. The Environment noticeboard has been revamped and energised with colour and is now located outside B-level classrooms. Facts and tips are displayed on various topics such as water bottles, trees and cars. These initiatives spread facts about how human actions are damaging aspects of the earth, then suggest solutions on how we can all make better choices that can make a huge difference. These posters have also been included in our online student run magazine Veritas.
Let us all keep in mind that every little thing we do as a community, no matter how small, makes a difference. So join the race to make the world a better place! Katherine Lo Presti Environment Captain 2012 (Year 12)
SIENA COLLEGE 2012
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