At Lake Illawarra High School, our approach to Inspire – High potential and gifted education (HPGE) is grounded in the NSW Department of Education’s policy and informed by Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). We recognise that students come to us with a wide range of natural abilities, and that true talent emerges when those abilities are intentionally developed through the right opportunities, supports, and learning environments. Our programs are therefore designed to provide challenge, structure, and meaningful pathways that help students transform their gifts into talents.
Our broader HPGE approach is aligned with the Department’s recognition of Gagné’s four domains of high potential:
- Creative: Students are supported to generate original ideas, take intellectual risks, and apply creative thinking across disciplines, particularly through enrichment tasks and inquiry-based learning.
- Intellectual: We extend students through high-order thinking, and opportunities for depth and complexity in each core subject.
- Physical: We recognise and nurture physical talent through specialised programs, sports pathways, and targeted development.
- Social-Emotional: We build students’ wellbeing, leadership, resilience, and self-understanding, acknowledging that personal growth is foundational to academic and creative success.
The LIHS 2026 enrichment programme for our HPGE students is based upon a combination of Gagne’s DMGT model and the Renzulli Schoolwide Enrichment Model, providing access to invigorating teaching and learning designed to inspire student interest and facilitate curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking skills.
Our philosophy on enrichment is that all students deserve access to meaningful learning opportunities and, likewise, all students deserve to learn at a pace that is appropriate for their strengths and abilities. Our 2026 programme fosters a passion for learning and academic growth in students’ area of strength by ensuring that they are consistently challenged to grow.
From 2026 our Year 7 Enrichment class incorporates a tailored, cross-curricular scope combining English, Mathematics, and Science, embedding complexity and rigour into classrooms using Blooms Taxonomy. Our scope will offer students the opportunity to develop:
- Conceptual thinking across subjects: building advanced skills in analysing narratives and worldbuilding, interpreting scientific models, and applying mathematical reasoning.
- Creative and Critical Problem-Solving: through representation of sophisticated ideas and concepts, as well as opportunities to apply reasoning to engineering design challenges like the Gravity Games. Students use inquiry and experimentation through learning cycles to develop original solutions and communicate their thinking visually and verbally.
- Scientific and Environmental Understanding: Students explore living systems, forces, mixtures and water quality through hands-on investigations, supported by enrichment experiences such as a planetarium, Taronga Zoo, and local waterway science activities. They use poetic, expressive language to create meaningful connections with real-world issues and evaluate texts.
- Advanced Communication and Metacognitive skills: Students compose high-quality informative, persuasive, poetic and multimodal texts, developing strong literacy and numeracy skills to clearly explain ideas, justify decisions and present findings.
LIHS will also be offering enrichment workshops for students in our partner primary schools each term, giving them an opportunity to engage with our curriculum and have access to guest speakers and projects in public speaking, debating, mathematical problem-solving, and scientific inquiry. We look forward to welcoming local HPGE students to our school to foster a learning community devoted to curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
Recognising potential and developing talent
Our teachers find potential and nurture our students to be the best they can be.
Tailored lessons
Each student has different abilities. Teachers respond to each student’s ability by providing extra challenges and extension activities to keep learning exciting and engaging.
Rich opportunities and activities
Students can take part in opportunities to develop their talent in the arts, sport, leadership and more.
Opening doors to wider experiences
Our students can participate in a wide range of state-wide opportunities that aim to extend and enrich student potential.
What is high potential and gifted education?
Inspire – High potential and gifted education (HPGE) is how our school supports students with advanced learning needs.
We do this through:
- effective teaching strategies like enrichment, extension and acceleration
- tailored support during lessons that stretch, challenge and inspire
- access to a wide range of opportunities both within and beyond our school.
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
Our students engage with high quality teaching and learning in our classrooms, across our school, and across NSW.
At Lake Illawarra High School, we are committed to creating a culture where high potential is nurtured and celebrated. We provide opportunities that challenge learners, develop their strengths, and support them to achieve excellence across all domains.
We recognise that students bring their own passions and areas of interest, and our enrichment opportunities in Years 7-12 offer a means of transforming their potential into expertise and talent.
Alongside the STEM Domain, we have a vibrant and well-established committment to performance and the arts, reflected in our students being accepted into ARTEXPRESS, performing in theatre and ballet productions in the community, writing and performing original music, and achieving success in speaking and debating competitions.
From 2026, our Year 7 HPGE class will incorporate enrichment across English, Mathematics, and Science. This will include both literacy and numeracy streams, allowing students to work in flexible groups that respond to their strengths, learning pace, and developmental needs. By integrating enrichment across the core subjects as well as extending our classes across the school, we aim to create a cohesive, high-challenge learning environment that builds deep knowledge, critical thinking, and confidence.
Opportunities for enrichment and academic challenge are offered in all stages through both rigorous curriculum offerings and extra-curricular activities, allowing students to pursue growth in their areas of strength and passion.
Our HPGE approach is aligned with the Department’s recognition of Gagné’s four domains of high potential:
- Creative: Students are supported to generate original ideas, take intellectual risks, and apply creative thinking across disciplines, particularly through enrichment tasks and inquiry-based learning.
- Intellectual: We extend students through high-order thinking, and opportunities for depth and complexity in each core subject.
- Physical: We recognise and nurture physical talent through specialised programs, sports pathways, and targeted development.
- Social-Emotional: We build students’ wellbeing, leadership, resilience, and self-understanding, acknowledging that personal growth is foundational to academic and creative success.
- Lake Illawarra High School has a strong and growing tradition in competitive debating. We enter teams in the Premier’s Debating Challenge across Stage 4, Stage 5, and Stage 6 each year, giving students from Years 7–12 the opportunity to develop confidence, critical thinking, and skills in persuasive speaking.
- Lake Illawarra High School participates in the Plain English Speaking Award, one of NSW’s premier public speaking competitions. Each year, students engage in this highly challenging event, demonstrating clarity, confidence, and the ability to think critically under pressure.
- Lake Illawarra High School fosters inclusive sport participation by providing opportunities for all students to compete in school teams and representative sports, promoting leadership and resilience through events including gala days, combined high schools knock out competitions and selection through to zone, regional and state carnivals.
- Lake Illawarra High School is part of the academies of STEM Excellence (ASE) to connect schools, industry, and community stakeholders to deliver real-world learning experiences that prepare students for future education and career pathways.
Help for your high potential child
If your child shows signs of high potential, contact us. We can share how our HPGE support can guide their learning journey.
Student opportunities and activities
Discover the opportunities our students have at our school.
Learning
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