Holland Street School
Science
Our Science program is designed to nurture student curiosity as they explore, participate and engage safely in hands-on Science activities. Students are exposed to a range of everyday objects, materials and living things to gather different types of information. HSS is an active member of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Our school garden is central to our Science program, providing endless opportunities to incorporate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning, as well as environmental sustainability. Students maintain compost bins, worm farms and learn about soil and plant health as part of this program. As with all learning areas at HSS, Science lessons are highly individualised, using students' personal interests to motivate and extend their learning.
Sustainability
At HSS we promote the 4 R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuse. Our school community is encouraged to recycle what they can in bins placed throughout the grounds. Our secondary students are responsible for collecting and sorting recyclable materials (cardboard, plastic bottles, copy paper, batteries, printer cartridges, oral care products and stationary items) during the on-site work stations. We are a Wastewise accredited school and our goal is to reduce what we send to landfill.
Health & Wellbeing
We promote several initiatives for Health and Wellbeing of staff and students. These include:
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“Be You Program”, empowering students and families to develop the skills to tackle their own mental health concerns for now and in the future
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Random acts of kindness, teaching students the meaning of kindness with a focus on intrinsic motivation
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R U OK Day, promoting questions and check-ins amongst staff and students
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Warm Fuzzies for staff recognition
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Staff and student wellbeing check-in's
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Teacher and Education Assistant appreciation weeks
Swimming
The swimming program is designed to help students meet their swimming goals and increase their safety, independence and enjoyment in and around water. A therapy program is developed in consultation with the Allied Health Physiotherapist when required. The swimming program is run from the school’s hydrotherapy pool and regular outings to the Geraldton Aquarena.
Ball Therapy
Therapy balls provide a variety of useful sensory input, can help to improve balance, coordination and strength, and they can be a lot of fun. Students are given the opportunity to sit and bounce for both vestibular and proprioceptive input, and to regulate sensory systems. This may be to alert or calm the student depending on their individual needs and to best prepare them for their classroom learning. Therapy ball sessions are usually run with appropriate music that suits the need of the child at that time.
Tac Pac
Tacpac is a sensory programme that draws together touch and music to create a structured half hour of sensory communication between two people. It begins with a simple sense of touch with a familiar, everyday object. Tacpac uses specially composed music that matches the texture of the object for each activity so that those who are receiving Tacpac have an aligned experience. Each session consists of six of these experiences in a sequence carefully planned for maximum variety of stimulus, always ending with a relaxing piece of music.
Life Skills
Throughout the secondary campus there is a focus on preparing students for life after school and their transition to the community. Students are provided with opportunities through various programs to develop independent living skills, travel training, work skills, personal and social skills and community access skills.
Career Education
Workplace Learning
Students in year 10 are given the opportunity to ‘job sample’ a variety of work experience placements throughout the year, exposing them to work environments based on their interests. In years 11 and 12, Individual Transition Planning involving parents, staff and students greatly determines the career path students take from school to work. Students continue to develop relevant work skills, knowledge and attitudes through involvement in on-site work stations and structured work place learning placements in the community. Students work alongside school staff and supervisors from the work place in either group or individual placements.
Career Education at HSS involves students from years 6 to 12 and aims to motivate and assist students with their transition from school to the work place. The outcomes of the program are designed to assist students to develop skills necessary to gain employment, either with or without support and/or voluntary work. The program focuses on work skills, knowledge and attributes relating to being a successful worker, and providing the transition required for students to become as independent a worker as possible in the community after school.
Secondary Camp
Students in the secondary campus are provided with the opportunity to attend an off-site camp bi-annually. In lower secondary the camp is overnight at the Geraldton Camp School and in upper secondary, a three-day camp is organised at an out of town location.
Happiness Hound
Throughout the year, we have scheduled visits from a happiness hound. During these visits, small groups or individual students are given time to spend with the happiness hound and their handler. Therapy animals have been proven to assist with the mental health and wellbeing of those whom they assist. Therapy animals are a way for people in stressful, traumatic or lonely situations that might not be able to own pets, to share in the health benefits.
Chaplaincy Program
School chaplains make a valuable contribution to the social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of school communities across Western Australia. This might include support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships and helping students engage with the broader community. They are part of the school’s pastoral care team. Every Monday, Thursday and Friday we welcome Miss Bev to our team. She has a great rapport and works hard to support our students, staff and families.