Gifted and Talented Programs
Diverse education programs that focus on developing the critical and creative thinking skills of boys.
Balgowlah Boys Campus is committed to maximising the learning outcomes of its gifted and talented students. The school provides its high-achieving Year 7 students with a series of challenging and innovative project based learning opportunities which are designed to develop the deep, critical and creative thinking skills of each student by exposing them to a variety of practical learning experiences.
Held each term, students participate in week-long projects which allow for rich investigations of the world around them. Students work in small groups across key learning areas to apply critical and creative thinking skills to solve a range of problems, and to present their findings to school community members using a range of 21st Century skills and technologies. During each learning opportunity, students are encouraged to investigate the role of the expert in a range of fields relating to the topic they are studying. Working in groups to solve real-world problems through deep learning, and presenting their findings to school community members provides our students with safe, challenging and competitive opportunities for active participation and success in their own learning.
Gifted and Talented students have participated in a range of diverse education programs such as investigations of definitions of sustainability including, as well as extending beyond, notions of environmental sustainability; researching and designing alternative spaces for maximising the learning opportunities of boys within educational environments; investigating notions of piracy both historical and contemporary perspectives; investigating the impact of Renaissance ideas on modern times, and investigations into the extent to which people experience equality in our contemporary world. At the conclusion of each unit, findings are presented to members of the school community including students, teachers, parents and executive staff.
This year the Year 7 Gifted and Talented students, as just one of their activities, created a website to promote our wonderful school. They were challenged to create informative and engaging content to assist the incoming Year 7 cohort as they make the transition into high school.
See their work here: Year 7 Guide to Bally Boys
Year 7 Academic forms can be accessed through the College Website through here
HAST Sample Test (pdf 112 KB)