St John Fisher College sees the development of real-world skills as a priority across all curriculum areas of study. The College's new Learning Enhancement program - LEAP, provides an
exciting opportunity for invited students, in Years 7-9, to extend upon the development of skills learnt within the classroom, by challenging and expanding their outlook and building on their naturally inquisitive minds. LEAP is designed to extend students’ thinking, develop their problem-solving ability and challenge them with material that is new, complex, and interesting. The program promotes intellectual flexibility. Students work in small groups developing their higher order critical thinking skills and applying these skills in seeking creative solutions for social, economic, or scientific issues. LEAP also teaches the girls Strategies to Maximise Impact (SMI). These strategies can be applied across all curriculum areas to improve their academic outcomes. The 3D LEAP logo was the outcome of a group of LEAP students, whose clever visual interpretation of the program, focuses on looking at learning from a different perspective. Depicted below are photos from various excursions LEAP students have been taken on, to encourage out of the box thinking whilst opening eyes to career pathways in engineering, science and maths.
What students say about LEAP excursions
“No matter the difficulty of the
challenges we faced, as a team we worked through them and found solutions, and
that's what's important. Facing and overcoming challenges because opportunities
won't just be handed to you. You must work to be successful.”~Abbey Leonard~ “It was interesting to know that if you Engineer something
or help build something you are improving the world and building better
communities.” “The reverse osmosis and micro filtration process was interesting
as it come out too pure to drink.” (Talking of a Power of Engineering Excursion)~Julie V R~
The Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority has placed an emphasis on preparing our young people for a very different world and see our students in the future as:
Innovators 
Entrepreneurs
Lifelong Learners
Responsible Global Citizens.
The 21st Century Skills addressed in the QCAA General Senior Syllabuses focus on:
Critical thinking
Creative thinking
Communication
Collaboration
LEAP classes enhance the student’s ability to:
Develop skills including, analyzing, decision making, reasoning and reflecting
Creatively reflect and present information
Communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences
Collaborate in a team recognizing and using diverse perspectives to make community connections
Build cultural awareness including ethical and moral understanding
Access and analyze information in a safe, positive and responsible way.
Participation:
Students are invited to attend the LEAP program based on an identification process that includes academic results, a variety of diagnostic data, teacher
recommendation and work ethic.
© Brisbane Catholic Education, St John Fisher College Bracken Ridge (2019)