Better Homes & Gardens Magazine Monika Eyers

Senior School students can take part in extension classes in English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities and Social Sciences.

English

In Years 9 and 10, very able students are selected on performance and teacher recommendation to form extension classes. In Year 9, students can choose Creative Writing as one of their options.

Among the activities and competitions on offer in our Academic Enrichment programs are:

Excursions, visiting speakers and performers
Creative Writing
Workshops

SCRAM. The School's Conflict Resolution and Mediation competition (an initiative of West Australian Dispute Resolution Association supported and administered by Edith Cowan University's Faculty of Business and Law), is an interactive role play competition for Year 9 and 10 high school students, that facilitates the development of peaceful dispute resolution awareness and skills in secondary school communities.
SmARTS is offered to Year 11 students who work in groups with students from other schools on a research project as an initiative of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia.

Humanities and Social Sciences

In Years 9 and 10, students are selected and invited for inclusion in an extension class which would typically move at a faster rate and study topics in greater depth. Students are encouraged to question, think deeply and critically on a range of issues, and then reflect on their learning.

For gifted and talented students, there are a range of competitions, activities and excursions. For many years, St Mary's has achieved great results, at state and national levels, in the National History Challenge and Australian History Competition. Additionally, history enrichment is also provided to older girls competing in the Premier's ANZAC Tour and Simpson Prize. In Geography, keen participation in the Australian Geographic Competition has led to state, national and even international success.

For Politics and Law, there are the select Mock Trial teams and opportunities for state and federal parliamentary opportunities. Rare insights into the economy and the Australian political and legal systems are provided with guest speakers and excursions.

A great addition to the extension of our students is the Future Problem-Solving program. It helps students learn how to think, not what to think, and challenges them to use their imagination in applying research, and critical and creative thinking strategies to their resolution of issues.

Mathematics

We encourage our students to participate in many external competitions, including the Australian Mathematics Competition and Math-O-Quest. We have been very successful in both of these competitions and we are very proud of the girls' achievements.

We conduct a Mathematics Camp in Year 8 in conjunction with Hale School and invite our more talented students to spend a weekend extending their mathematical knowledge and understanding. The emphasis of the camp is on problem-solving and the students are exposed to many new routines and algorithms that will be of benefit to them in their future mathematical studies.

Science

In Years 8 to 10, Science students are offered a variety of activities and competitions to allow students with an enthusiasm and talent for science to expand their knowledge and skills.

They include:

RACI Chemistry Quiz
UNSW Science Competition
Science IQ Quiz
The Big Science Competition
Year 9 students compete in an Engineering Challenge
Brain Bee Competition for Year 10 students
PICSE for students in Years 8 and 9 who represent the School at the Science Investigation Awards (SIA) hosted by the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE) at the University of Western Australia (UWA).
Science Extension Camp for Year 10
Science Café for Year 11s

STEM Award Finalists

St Mary's was among the top five schools at both Junior School and Senior School level for the 2017 Governor's STEM Awards, a great accolade and reflective of our School's commitment to STEM education. Featured (L-R) are the Hon Dave Kelly MLA, Minister for Science, Monika Eyer, Billie Daly, Mark Staniforth, and Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AC Governor of Western Australia.