High potential and gifted education

Warrawong High School is proud to be an inclusive school at the heart of our community, committed to meeting the diverse needs of all learners, including high potential and gifted students. We provide tailored support and resources to ensure every student succeeds, including making adjustments so that high potential and gifted students with disability can fully participate alongside their peers. Our goal is for each student to grow and improve every year.

We are proud of our three flagship programs—the ASPIRE Academic Learning Program, the Illawarra STEM Academy, and the Real Madrid Social Football Program. Together with our comprehensive wellbeing and leadership opportunities, these programs enable students to extend themselves across all four HPGE domains: Creative, Intellectual, Physical, and Social.

Our teaching is grounded in evidence-based pedagogy and led by skilled educators who explicitly teach essential knowledge and skills to prepare students for success, no matter their pathway beyond school. We prioritise teaching critical thinking and problem-solving strategies, provide strengths-based feedback and goal-setting, and foster safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.

At Warrawong High School, we celebrate significant learning improvements and remain dedicated to nurturing excellence and ongoing growth for every student. We create inclusive environments that recognise, respect, and value diversity, supporting all students to thrive.

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?

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 HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.

In our classroom

We identify students' learning needs in the classroom and use evidence-informed teaching practices to challenge and extend students. We provide learning pathways, such as our ASPIRE program to extend students learning.

Our supportive classroom environments promote a sense of belonging and encourage risk-taking, creativity and collaboration.

Warrawong High School proudly offers:

· ASPIRE Targeted Academic Class

· Illawarra STEM Academy

· Real Madrid Social Football Program

· Permaculture Program

· Aboriginal Cultural Programs

Across our school

Our supportive classroom environments promote a sense of belonging and encourage risk-taking, creativity and collaboration.

All our students, including high potential and gifted students, are encouraged to take on leadership roles through student representative council leadership, mentoring programs and peer coaching.

Warrawong High School proudly offers:

· Student leadership (SRC)

· Wellbeing programs

· Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.

· Sporting Knock Out Teams

· Aboriginal Cultural Programs

Across NSW

Our students participate in a wide range of statewide programs to extend and enrich student potential.

We provide access to local, state and national competitions and events to help students explore and extend their talents

Warrawong High School proudly offers:

· The Premier’s Reading Challenge promotes our students’ reading comprehension strategies.

· Academic competitions including Australian Geography Competition, UNSW School Mathematics Competition.

· The Premier’s Sporting Challenge (PSC) promotes whole-school participation in physical activity with leadership pathways and professional learning.

· Our STEM Enrichment Partnerships with industry and universities deepen our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.

· The Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA and CHSSA events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.

· Southern Stars is an iconic performing arts event that celebrates the talents, diversity and creativity of students from across NSW public schools.