A range Extra Curricula Electives offered in 2021

ECE’s are activities that the school offers that are in addition to the standard school program. They are activities designed to complement the regular classroom or school program and provide extra learning opportunities and experiences for students. Extra Curricula Electives are an educationally enriching activity, which will enhance students’ experiences socially, academically, physically, creatively or intellectually. Extra curricula activities are offered to provide students with a range of experiences and opportunities that we know will further challenge and benefit our students linking into capabilities of Critical & Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural and Personal & Social. While also offering student voice and agency in their learning.

These will be offered as a term block on Friday afternoons (every second week) for 90 minutes where the students work with the teacher from that elective for the whole term.

Health and Fitness: Come and try four different activities.  Join Mrs Gale for some circuits to get you fitter and stronger, some boxing to try something new, a walk to a local playground and learn what kids played in the olden days to keep active and fit.

Coding- Computer skills: Coding will be held in the Computer lab. Each week you will learn how to use a different coding program to learn some computer skills and activities.

Yoga/Meditation: Come and join us for a mixture of Yoga and Meditation. Yoga uses breathing techniques, exercise and meditation to help improve our health and happiness. Yoga helps us to relax, relieve stress and anxiety, sleep better, improve emotional regulation, increase empathy, and improve mood.

Cooking: Engage in your joy for cooking as we explore cooking techniques, use a range of ingredients and make both savoury and sweet delights. You will go through the whole cooking experience from preparation, following recipes, making different treats and cleaning up our working environment.

Gardening and the environment: Get your hands dirty in the garden!

Gardening is a fantastic way to learn about the natural world around you, plant and watch vegetables and other plants grow and learn about the environment as well.

You will get to dig, play, plant, create, use your imagination and watch your very own plant grow and flourish. If we don’t have gardening weather we will explore the life cycle of a plant.

Come and join us for lots of fun!

Directed Drawing: Come and join the directed drawing sessions to be part of a step by step approach to drawing a range of images. You will be guided through the process and anyone can follow along! You will be given the opportunity to build your drawing skills and create a range of illustrations. 

STEM Are you curious? Are you a thinker? A problem-solver? An inventor?

Then get ready for the ultimate STEM challenge!

Ask. Imagine. Plan. Create. Improve. Share…

In a team, with a partner or on your own as you venture into a

STEM challenge that will stretch your mind.

Science Experiments: Are you interested in learning about science and the world we live in?

Join me to do a variety of fun science experiments to find out about how things change and why things happen.

Lego: Come and join me for some fun with Lego.  Enjoy constructing vehicles, buildings, anything that you can imagine!

Tournament of Minds taster: Tournament of Minds is an international problem solving program. In the taster sessions, student will work in teams to creatively solve a variety of problems and have fun. Students who are creative thinkers, work well in teams and enjoy a challenge would enjoy this elective.

Students who enjoy this elective, may then decide to join the Mill Park Heights team in Term 3 and represent our school at the Regional Championships.

Photography: Today the wonders of photography are at your fingertips! But have you ever experimented with “Filling your Frame” when taking a photo? Removed the distractions from the viewing screen? Looked at the light, the perspective, the colour, the filters? Here we will experiment, play and practice with the art of light and perspective to create the most thought-provoking photos. We will then experiment with Movie Maker to create movies from your photos!

Magical Mandala’s: A mandala is a complex abstract design that is usually circular in form. In fact, “mandala” is a Sanskrit word that means “circle”. Mandalas generally have one identifiable center point, from which emanates an array of symbols, shapes and forms.

Mandalas can contain both geometric and organic forms. They can also contain recognizable images that carry meaning for the person who is creating it.

In essence, mandalas represent the connection between our inner worlds and outer reality. Designing your own mandalas can be both inspirational and therapeutic.

The Amazing Race/ Orienteering/Challengers: Get a chance to show how adventurous you are as you take part in the Amazing Race Club. Each week you will get the opportunity to earn points by locating various coordinates around the school and completing different physical and mental challenges. The more points you earn the higher the chance you have of being our Amazing Race Champion.

Caine’s Arcade: Taking inspiration from the short video ‘Caine’s Arcade’ students will work as individuals or pairs to plan, design and create their own arcade game using recycled materials. In the final session, the games will be put together to form an amusement arcade for the students to play each other’s games.

THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL CENTRE: Have you ever wanted to be like Mystery Doug? What have you ever wondered about? Is there anything you would like to investigate? This elective will give you the opportunity to investigate a passion project of your choice.

Hot Shots Tennis: Have you ever wanted to play like Serena Williams, Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal…well here is your opportunity to join Ms O’Neil to learn new skills and challenge yourself.

STEM – Design based thinking challenges: You will learn about the engineering process whilst developing your creative and critical thinking skills. You will choose your own STEM challenge. For example: designing a bridge that can hold 4 matchbox cars OR a raft that can hold 10 coins etc and have the opportunity to work independently or in a team. I look forward to working with you!

Exploring Colour:  Including Tie-Dye T-Shirts (students to bring their own white t-shirt $3.00 from K-Mart)

We will explore colour mixing by participating in different art activities. We will extend these skills by learning some different methods of creating tie-dye designs on fabric. You will need to bring a white T-Shirt to dye and then you can wear it to show off your creation.

Web Site Design: Students participating in this session will be involved in the development and skills with creating their own Google Sites/Wix. Through these sessions students will,

• create their own site, to view online
• use images, videos, text to enhance pages
• then provide support to  others to engage in the creation of class pages
• develop skills in using Websites, becoming experts.
• Drawing and painting: Explore the wonders of 2D Art. Work with what you love drawing yet develop your painting and drawing skills. Use a range of materials and techniques to create a few art pieces.