Gifted at Del Monte

At Del Monte, students from across the school participate in small, ability-based groups as part of our St Thomas Aquinas Scholars Program. These groups extend classroom learning by incorporating critical and creative thinking, encouraging students to explore ideas more deeply and imaginatively.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) highlights critical and creative thinking as a key capability within the curriculum:

The capability of critical and creative thinking gives students the tools to examine the world they live in, analyse their findings and reach conclusions using evidence. — NESA, 2025

This philosophy is embedded across all Year levels:

Kindergarten Scholars

Our youngest learners engage in bookstudies, where they practise inferential comprehension and learn to support their ideas with textual evidence. Currently, they are enthusiastically researching animals in preparation for creating their own informative books.

Year 1 Word Collectors

Inspired by The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds, Year 1 students have become passionate about discovering and dissecting interesting words. Using their understanding of phonics and morphology, they explore word structures and meanings. Their next challenge is to use these words to craft original poetry.

Mathematical Thinkers in Years 1 & 2

In Mathematics, students investigate growing patterns, identifying how patterns evolve in multiple ways. These explorations foster logical reasoning, visualisation, and creative problem solving, demonstrating that mathematics is a powerful tool for thinking critically and creatively.

Australian Mathematics Competition 

Each year the Australian Maths Trust holds the Australian Mathematics Competition which is the nation’s longest running and most well-known maths competition for school students. The competition is designed for high achieving mathematicians who get the opportunity to challenge their thinking through tackling unique problems. This Year, 42 of our students across Years 3-6 entered the AMC and they are all congratulated on undertaking a very challenging competition. 

A special mention goes to those students who achieved very highly.

Distinction

Best in School: Priscilla Peng (Year 4)
Alicia Wu (Year 4)
William Lu (Year 4)
Michaela Nguyen (Year 4)
Irene Jung (Year 4)
Sebastian Portelli (Year 4)
Jonathan Lin (Year 2)

Credit

Audrey Wong (Year 4)
Natalie Sun (Year 4)
Kaylee Liu (Year 4)
Sam Oli (Year 3)
Amara Li (Year 3)
Axel Leung (Year 3)
Ethan Fahmy (Year 3)
Sabrina Commisso (Year 3)
Siobhan Chung (Year 3)
Joseph Hoang (Year 2)

Brooke Panagopoulos
Gifted Education Coordinator P-6/Year 2 Teacher