From bespoke learning programs to brain-training academic competitions, accelerated enrichment opportunities for high potential students and a student-mentor study program, Newington’s Inclusive Learning Programs are designed to enrich and extend.

Year 11 students Hugo N and Paul H were identified as gifted in mathematics in Year 8. Accelerated in their studies, last year the friends completed HSC Mathematics Extension 2 in Year 10. This year, they are busy undertaking the online study of Mathematics Extension III with the University of NSW.

‘Newington works collaboratively with high potential and gifted students and their parents to create pathways of learning that cater for different strengths and needs,’ says Mrs Marianna Keogh, Gifted and High Potential Coordinator and Inclusive Learning teacher.

‘Hugo and Paul are undertaking a Mathematics Extension III correspondence course through UNSW which is a self-paced subject. They are also continuing to experience high levels of challenge and complexity by participating in selective mathematics competitions with Newington throughout the year.’

Hugo, who recently won a gold medal in the Australian Maths Olympiad after scoring the third-highest result in NSW, says Newington has played a huge part in his acceleration.

‘When I first came here, there were a lot of opportunities that I couldn’t access at previous schools,’ he says.

‘Both me and my family are big advocates of extending ourselves, so I was looking for a more enriched program. Here at Newington, I was able to do competitions, and that led to extending myself in acceleration maths.

‘I feel very lucky to be at Newington – all the teachers have been very kind and helpful in terms of helping me achieve growth and have provided so many opportunities.’

Right across our Prep and Senior school campuses, Newington offers enrichment programs and opportunities to every student, as well as an inclusive and extensive range of enrichment pathways from Kindergarten to Year 12.

At the Senior campus, our Scholars Club students have already notched up some excellent results across several major academic competitions this year. Scholars Club is composed of 70 students from Years 7 to 10 identified as excelling or being highly capable academically and provides enrichment opportunities across all subject areas. These include participation in extension competitions such as:

• the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge, an international competition that requires students to complete a series of interactive, puzzle-like tasks
• the Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad (OzCLO), a linguistics competition in which competitors solve a range of language-analysis problems
• the da Vinci Decathlon, which presents students with critical thinking challenges across 10 learning disciplines – engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy.

Earlier this year, Newington’s Bebras competitors achieved four perfect scores, plus 15 High Distinctions and 18 Distinctions. The Year 10 OzCLO team earned Gold, placing them in the top eight per cent across Australia; and our Years 9 and 10 da Vinci Decathlon teams (Year 10 pictured in top image) competed at the NSW competition taking out 11th place and 6th place overall respectively.

Meanwhile, the ‘Wings’ program at the College pairs senior students with younger counterparts to provide study and goal-setting guidance. Mrs Catherine Phoon, Head of Inclusive Learning, says this beneficial program was ideated by a past student a few years ago, and really took off at the beginning of last year.

‘One of our former IB students wanted to set up a mentoring program for younger students where they could come in before or after school and he would support them with their learning,’ she explains.

The program is open to any student in Years 7 to Year 10 on Monday mornings.

‘Sometimes students just need a supportive space to set themselves up for the week, to get themselves focused and in a good place,’ says Mrs Phoon.

Year 12 mentor Oscar W believes the program brings many benefits beyond the academic.

‘While I think it’s a valuable tool for academic support, I believe the greater benefit for the Year 7s is to interact with Year 12s. It’s a way to let them know that they’re just as much a part of our community,’ he explains.

Fellow mentor Rhys H-J agrees, citing the sense of community he gains from the program as key reason he enjoys being involved.

‘It makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself, and bigger than just this one program,’ he says.

For more information about what’s on offer in our Inclusive Learning department, you can read our blog ‘Brainpower blooms at Newington’. In addition, turn to page 20 of our latest issue of The NC magazine to read about how Newington supports high potential Prep students.

Did you know?

• Newington’s Senior High Potential Program operates across Years 7 to 10, across and between students’ core and elective academic disciplines.
• Our Prep students benefit from Additional Language/Dialect teachers who welcome students from a range of backgrounds and provide extra tuition and support as they develop their English skills.
• Our Lindfield and Wyvern House campuses have Learning Enhancement teams and High Potential teachers with specialised training who are always part of the lesson planning process.
• In 2025, three Newington HSC students came first in their subject to achieve First in State in the HSC in 2025. Another seven achieved State rankings, and nine were named All-round HSC Achievers.
• In the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, which Newington is one of only two GPS schools in NSW to offer, four students achieved a perfect score of 45/45 and another five achieved 44/45.

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