EMPOWERING STUDENTS WITH CHOICE
The S.M.A.R.T. Program is a cocurricular program, running adjacent to the Saturday sport program, which provides students in Years 8 – 12 with the opportunity to participate annually in one season of a cocurricular pursuit in lieu of a Saturday sport.
Our S.M.A.R.T. Program is designed to enable students to discover and cultivate their cocurricular talents, under the guidance of specialist facilitators. Courses within S.M.A.R.T. are determined by the interests of students. This not only ensures that the student’s enjoyment is paramount but enables students to develop their intrinsic drive and motivation to learn.
The S.M.A.R.T. Program provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate powerful, personal growth. S.M.A.R.T. enables students to not only hone any existing talents or interests, but also delve into a new and exciting subject area which they may not have had explored.
S.M.A.R.T. looks to upskill students, regardless of their current level of ability, so that they leave with a range of skills, both technical and interpersonal, that can be transferred to curriculum areas and life beyond school. Together with the Saturday Sport program, the S.M.A.R.T. Program helps students to build important life skills in areas such as leadership, organisation, confidence, and socialisation.
S.M.A.R.T. Program courses change depending on the interests of the applying student cohort. Advertised options may include dance, drama, eSports, food technology, music, photography, robotics, and visual arts.
S.M.A.R.T. Showcases
Each season of the S.M.A.R.T. Program concludes with a showcase. These showcases provides an opportunity for students participating in the program to exhibit the work and learning that has accumulated over the season.
It also enables students, staff, parents, and the wider Mentone Grammar community to observe the S.M.A.R.T. Program and provide their support to the students in their cocurricular pursuits.
S.M.A.R.T. Dance
The S.M.A.R.T. Dance course is a supportive environment that welcomes dancers of all ages and ability levels. This course explores a variety of different dance styles, utilising routine learning to improve upon skills and techniques.
S.M.A.R.T. Drama
The S.M.A.R.T Drama course is a supportive and inclusive environment that welcomes all. This course will explore playmaking techniques and will encourage students to explore various roles within the world of playmaking in order to learn new skills.
S.M.A.R.T. eSports
The S.M.A.R.T. eSports course offers a collaborative and inclusive space for gamers of all levels to sharpen their skills. This course delves into a variety of eSports titles and genres with a focus on strategic analysis.
S.M.A.R.T. Food Technology
The S.M.A.R.T. Food Technology course is a fun and interdisciplinary course that fosters both culinary and hospitality skills. Students of all abilities are welcomed to learn a variety of fundamental cooking and baking skills, in addition to building their interpersonal skills.
S.M.A.R.T. Music
The S.M.A.R.T Music course offers students the ability to refine their rehearsal and performance practises, whilst developing their musicianship, including their written and aural music theory.
S.M.A.R.T. Photography
The S.M.A.R.T. Photography course provides students with the opportunity to explore the fundamentals of photography and relevant editing software. Students will begin to explore compositional, lighting and other camera techniques, in order to explore a wide variety of genres such as portrait, landscape, and still life.
S.M.A.R.T. Robotics
Requiring no prior robotics or programming experience, the S.M.A.R.T. Robotics course enables students to establish fundamental science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts. Utilising Sphero BOLT+ robots, students gain hands-on experience as they explore robotic design, construction, and programming.
S.M.A.R.T. Visual Arts
The S.M.A.R.T. Visual Arts course welcomes artists of all abilities and aims to assist students in developing and building upon foundational art skills. This course is an enrichment program that looks to further the artistic skills of students beyond the classroom. Students make use of technique building workshops and individual projects to develop their artistic abilities.