Enrichment
Our enrichment program for gifted and high-potential students is known as the Thomas Aquinas Scholars Program. It supports these students providing opportunities, resources and guidance to help them excel.
Inspired by the greatest Dominican scholar, St Thomas Aquinas, the program fosters academic achievement, creative thinking and personal growth in an inclusive and supportive setting. The diverse nature of giftedness shapes the identification of high potential at Santa Sabina as a multi-faceted and ongoing process, employing multiple criteria to ensure gifts across many domains are recognised.
We enrich students’ minds through innovative ideas and through critical thinking and reasoning. Giftedness encompasses creativity and can be seen on the stage, on the sporting fields, perceived through artistic expression, seen in expert experimental design and heard through musical performances and composition. Many opportunities are offered to our gifted and high potential students to facilitate talent development, resulting in a range of pathways by which gifted learners can achieve excellence:
High potential and gifted students make the most of several opportunities before school, during lunch breaks and in class which extend their learning in fun ways:
- Writers’ Club: we meet each week to work on storytelling techniques. Students enter competitions such as ABC News in My Neighbourhood and WriteOn (won in 2025 by a Year 2 student) and CBCA Shadow Judging
- Our Story Explorer group delves into analysing and writing poetry.
- In class we break into ability grouping for word study.
- Each week, our enthusiastic Maths Quest group (for Years 1 and 2) comes together to tackle problem-solving challenges in a collaborative and supportive environment. Students are able to expand their mathematical vocabulary and enjoy hands-on activities, bringing logic and creativity together.
- Maths Explorer is for high potential students in Years 3 and 4.
- We enter Australian Mathematics Trust competitions.
- Young Scientist Competition: through detailed scientific investigation, our young scientists combine curiosity and research to solve everyday problems relevant to them.
- Robotics and coding
- Philosophy Club at lunchtime
- Students on the compacted curriculum can explore Passion Projects such as investigating the fascinating world of bees.
