Enrichment

As well as sport, music and service, the School offers a diverse range of co-curricular activities designed to provide extension and enrichment opportunities for students, particularly in the key learning areas and which typically involve team competition, team challenge or a significant individual or group performance.

Key Contact: Anthony Petty apetty@friends.tas.edu.au

Enrichment Opportunities

Students may select from a number of self-sufficient expeditions ranging from five to seven days in duration. Key outcomes include; skill development, exploring self and nature along with developing pathways to future recreation, courses and employment. The programs include: snorkelling and riding on Maria Island (April), sea kayaking to Schouten Island (April), Overland Track (July), and bus supported Hard Top Tour (October).

Michael Francis

Students may continue their outdoor development and interest through skill-focused challenge programs. Options include: ultralight hazards traverse (May), Winter Skills training at Mt Field (August) and Sea Kayaking and Peak Bagging at Lake Pedder (December).

This award is internationally recognised and enables students to develop interests in a wide cross-section of activities. The award is available at three levels they being Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level requires students to complete service, physical recreation, skill development and complete an adventurous journey. The gold award has an additional component where students must complete a multi-week self-directed ‘residential project’.

Michael Francis

Outdoor Education - Year 10 Tassie Icon Program

Students may select from a number of self-sufficient expeditions ranging from five to seven days in duration. Key outcomes include; skill development, exploring self and nature along with developing pathways to future recreation, courses and employment. The programs include: snorkelling and riding on Maria Island (April), sea kayaking to Schouten Island (April), Overland Track (July), and bus supported Hard Top Tour (October).

Michael Francis

Enrichment Opportunities

Mountain Bike Club leaves The Friends’ School on Mondays and Thursdays at 3:50pm throughout terms 1 and 4. The Monday session is for Year 7 & 8 students while the Thursday session is a designated Year 9 & 10 session. Students meet at the Weetbix, with all the necessary equipment ready to ride at this time.

The aim of these sessions is to build riding fitness, develop confidence and bike handling skills and connect with other riders in the school community. It is also a great opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with the local trail networks.

Some previous experience riding on rough uneven surfaces is advised. However, if your child has had no previous Mountain Biking experience and would like to join please contact Anthony Petty.

The rides will be guided by Anthony Petty and externally sourced guides.

The trails locations will comprise Knocklofty, the foothills of Kunanyi/ Mt Wellington, the Domain or on occasion we will be commuting to the Clarence Mountain Bike Park. The group will ride straight from school up to these trails or travel by bus in the case of Clarence.

Anthony Petty

An opportunity to be involved in a condensed production of a Shakespearean comedy. The team will meet on Tuesday and Thursday at lunchtimes each week and a performance will take place in approximately Week 5 of Term 3. Students will have the opportunity to act, direct and or oversee technical aspects (such as costumes, sound/music and lighting) of staging their production.

Tammy Giblin

Inter-School debating competition Wednesday nights 6pm-9pm (please note College roster can extend to 10pm). Weekly lunchtime meetings February to August.

Key Contact: Maddy Walker, Yvette Blackwood

This program is available to mathematically interested and talented students from Years 7-10. Those involved are likely to have a record of high achievement in their Mathematics courses and/or successful participation in Mathematics competitions. Each participant will be given six problems to solve in their own time over a 4 -week period during Term 1 or 2. Students then have the option to continue with the Enrichment Stage which is a sixteen-week program running between April and September, and to sit the Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad paper in September.

More information from Kathy Bunton

Every Friday afternoon of Term One in the High School Lecture Theatre, lovers of film meet in front of The Big Screen. We watch movies from different eras, directors and cultures, in various genres and languages, from main-stream to indie, classic to avant-garde. Through the magic of cinema — those stories told on celluloid — we encounter the ideas and experiences that shape all our lives. And after each screening… we talk about film. See posters around campus for more details.

Nadine Frick

This activity offers students the opportunity to work on self directed ceramics projects, learn a variety of ceramic techniques and enjoy working in a relaxed and friendly studio. The activity runs in Term 1,2 and 3. It is open to students from Year 7 – 12, Numbers are limited to 24 in the studio.

Miriam Berkery

Textile Club is available to all students, Years 7-12 and will run after school in the Textiles room. We will explore and play with a wide range of textile art techniques including free-motion machine stitching; dyeing fabrics using the sun and snow; distressing fabric with heat, rust, bleach and stitch; embellishing fabric using machine stitching, hand stitching and beading; creating new, unique fabric from scraps; and making and working with felt. Students can also work on individual projects.

Sue Walker

Maker Club allows students to work on projects at the intersection of Design and Digital Technologies. Projects could incorporate physical computing (wearable technology, arduino), 3D printing, robotics and coding. Maker Club will run after school in the Design & Technology classrooms. With some consultation with the teacher, students can have a large amount of free choice in what they intend to make.

Minecraft Club also runs as part of Maker Club, this is a lunchtime activity for students who would like to work creatively in a positive group setting. Minecraft club is open to all students from grade 7 to 12 and no previous experience is necessary.

Chris Wood

Enrichment opportunities

Courses offered for students wishing to extend their art practice, draw, paint, or journal. Materials are provided in a calm relaxed atmosphere.

Alice Bowman-Shaw

Many opportunities exist for students to enter a range of writing competitions, from a local or national focus.

Students from the School can enter the City of Greater Dandenong and Dorothea Mackellar competitions, the Central Highlands, Kathy Sussanah Pritchard and Somerset Competitions as well as The Write for Fun competition.

The School also has in-house competitions. The Peter Jones Peace Prize is open to students from Years 7-10. The Jean Yeates Writing Prize is open to students in Years 11 and 12.

English Faculty

There are several Public Speaking competitions in which students can partake. Students in the High School are eligible to try out for Rostrum Voice of Youth. Year 10 students can also enter the The Mary Stanfield Public Speaking (an in-house event).

The Ray Green Speaking Prize is an annual competition open to students in Years 11 and 12. The winner and runner-up go on to represent the School at Rostrum Voice of youth. Senior students are also eligible to represent the School in the Lions’ Youth of the Year.

Sarah Walker

Readers’ Cup is a competition in which teams of school students read a set of books, then compete against each other, based on their knowledge and interpretation of the books. The aim of Readers’ Cup is to encourage all children – not just ‘good readers’ – to read, and to enjoy what they read. It is also a way to reward enthusiastic readers in the context of a team activity. The Readers’ Cup in Southern Tasmania comprises two elements:

  • A memory test about the books read by the teams. There are usually approximately 6-8 questions per book.

  • A ‘creative element’ in which each team interprets an aspect or aspects of one or more of the books and presents their interpretation to an audience. Each presentation should last a maximum of five minutes.

Katey Stanley

The Da Vinci Decathlon is a gala day, run in the spirit of an Olympic decathlon with events of an academic nature. Activities are in the following disciplines: Mathematics, English, Science, Code Breaking, Engineering, Philosophy, Creative Production, Art and Poetry, Cartography and General Knowledge. The tasks are exciting and challenging with a particular emphasis placed on higher-order thinking skills.

Katey Stanley and Duncan Kirkwood

Animation Club! is a weekly workshop for students in Years 7-10 who would like to develop or refine skills in animation or film making. Support in the use of relevant software or the use of peripheral hardware such as Wacom Tablets is provided. No experience is necessary, but any creativity will help! Students will sample the broad range of software available on School laptops this year to create animation, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Animate and Blender’s Grease Pencil.

Stuart Packwood

Philosophy club is for students who love to think critically and creatively about ethical and political issues. We will meet fortnightly in order to prepare for the inter-school events ‘Ethics Olympiad’ and ‘Philosothon’. There are two separate Ethics Olympiads; one for Years 7-9 and one for Years 10-12 while Philosothon is for students from Years 10-12. Philosophy club is open to students from any year group and you don’t have to study Philosophy to participate. All are welcome.

Ben Felstead

Wednesday morning Community Yoga is held in The Farrall Centre from 7.45am to 8.15am. It provides an opportunity to stretch, breathe and find a moment of stillness. A great way to start the day. Community Yoga is open to any member of The Friends’ School community. No experience is necessary; mats are provided and a gold coin donation is gratefully accepted.

Julia Gibson

‘Lab Rats’ is a new Science co-curricular opportunity in the High School years 7 to 10. The group will decide on which activities we want to focus on for 2020. Some ideas could be: experiments, engineering challenges, scientific investigations, robotics, organising a Science Fair for Science Week, microscopy, scientific photography, documentary making, wildlife field trips, meeting scientists… and your other ideas.

Competitions (many with prizes) that may interest you include: Titration Competition, the BHP Billiton Science Awards, Tasmanian Science Talent Search, the Science Olympiads, the Google Science Fair, the STEM video challenge, and the Model Solar Car Challenge.

Charla Sweeney and Kristi Ellingsen

Board games and chess games and card games, oh my! An opportunity for students to learn new games, compete with each other and have lots of fun in the process. Students will be provided with a range of games from which to choose. Chess players are warmly welcomed to join and hone their skills, and participate in chess tournaments with other schools during the year.

Richard Lawler

Woodwork Club caters for students, who may not be able to study Design and Technology, but would like to utilise the woodworking, and metalworking equipment, in order to produce an item of choice. The program is planned to run on Thursday afternoon, from 3:40pm – 5:10pm throughout Term 2 and Term 4.

These projects will be negotiated through planning and consultation, and support will be provided, in order to achieve practical outcomes, whilst learning new skills and abilities.

Julian Bugg

Students have the opportunity to walk or run in the southern Tasmanian Fun Runs throughout the year. It is great to have an event to train for, it counts as service as entry fees contribute to medical research.. Entries can be facilitated through the Fun Run Co-ordinator (Anthony Petty)

Run the Bridge February 28 (2 km, 5 km, 10km)

Cadbury Marathon April 4 (5 km or 10km)

City to Casino Fun Run May 16 (5km or10km)

Anthony Petty