"Gifted students are students who were born with a heightened intensity of experience impacting on all aspects of their development – social, emotional, intellectual and ethical. Their intensity makes them potentially capable of exceptional levels of performance in one or more areas of learning but can also potentially lead to difficulties in achieving social and emotional adjustment. Provision for gifted students caters for all these factors."
Dr Rosemary Cathcart: New Zealand leader in the field of Gifted Education.
Lynfield College provides an atmosphere where the wellbeing of students is maximised and everyone is encouraged to reach their full potential.
Gifted Education Programme students are given more challenging academic tasks and opportunities than mainstream students. This work is regarded as being instrumental in advancing learning, building confidence in personal abilities and widening horizons for future learning and aspirations.Our gifted learners are supported by independent classroom teachers providing extension activities, access to competitions, extra curricular activities and diverse learning programmes. These students follow an enriched curriculum with a particular focus on developing higher order thinking skills. We aim to foster their creativity and critical thinking in a supportive and inclusive environment.
Gifted new entrants are identified via transition information provided from intermediate schools, beginning of the year asTTle testing scores, enrolment information and individual teacher observation. In addition, there are ongoing identification measures in place for other year levels.Students are provided with a range of opportunities, both within and outside of the classroom, to broaden and deepen their knowledge and acceleration in key areas. Each year all Junior classes also benefit from involvement in cross-curricular projects.
Gifted students from Lynfield College consistently win or rate highly in regional, national and international events and competitions. Our Robotics teams have won New Zealand championships and multiple awards at the World Championships in the United States.
Gifted students are also encouraged to take part in the Debating Programme. Lynfield debating teams have enjoyed tremendous success at all levels in recent years.
Talented students in Drama, Music, Art, Dance, Fashion and Design are welcomed and encouraged to contribute to the College’s annual production. Opportunities for students to submit their writing to a number of national publications are also promoted.The Academic Council is a forum where student representatives can meet and explore avenues to enhance and celebrate the academic life of the school.
Two Academic Captains are elected to lead the council. Student representatives from Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 and staff representatives meet every week. The Council recognizes and supports academic excellence by presenting outstanding scholars with certificates during assemblies. They also collaborate to provide a range of exciting intellectual challenges for students throughout the year.
Each year opportunities are provided for students to participate in a range of extra-curricular activities, often in collaboration with outside providers. Such examples include, the annual student conference hosted by Academy Conferences, the Tournament of Minds challenge, where teams compete regionally and nationally, and the Maths Olympiad.
Ministry of Education Gifted Learner Awards (Tukuna kia rere), recognise diversity in giftedness and support students to develop their potential across a range of fields, including the arts, performance, sport, and culture. Since their inception in 2019, a number of our gifted students have benefitted from these awards, primarily for development and enrichment of sporting potential – notably track, hurdles, triple jump, discus and shotput.
Each year opportunities are provided for students to be involved in cross-curricular initiatives. Our gifted students get to choose from a wide variety of projects to explore areas of interest and potentially work directly with other members of the community.
We also offer annual Lynfield College Sports or Creative, Innovative Scholarships to students showing potential in their field.
Lynfield College has a record of high achievement in New Zealand Scholarships. In 2021, scholarships were awarded in Design, History, Statistics, Economics and Biology. Special congratulations to Isha Ramanlal for being awarded an outstanding scholarship in Biology (top Biology student in New Zealand), and to Eliana Sanvictores for an outstanding scholarship award in Design.
This is a fantastic result and indicates the high achievement for this group of students. Top academic achievers at Lynfield College also have a history of success in the scholarships awarded by tertiary institutions.
Junior and Senior Gifted Programme students are encouraged to participate in school, national and international competitions. At Lynfield College students are offered the opportunity to participate in the following:
Gifted Education Programme Coordinator: Tess Morrison.
191 White Swan Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland 1041