High potential and gifted education

In our classroom

Identification

The identification of high potential and gifted students, and those with particular talents, is a continuous and flexible process that draws on multiple sources of evidence. These include teacher observations, test results, student work samples, parent and carer input, and other relevant assessments.

Differentiated Curriculum and Teaching Strategies

Teaching and learning in classrooms is purposefully differentiated to meet the individual needs and learning goals of students. This involves adjusting curriculum content, learning processes, products, and environments to provide suitable challenge and opportunity, leading to student success. Educators employ strategies such as inquiry-based learning, open-ended tasks, and higher-order thinking activities.

Relationships and Partnerships

Safe classroom environments promote relationship building and a sense of belonging. Class teachers motivate learners to take learning risks, use creativity and engage in collaboration. Plans are collaboratively created and regularly reviewed by teachers, parents, and students, ensuring learning remains challenging, relevant, and responsive to the student’s evolving strengths and needs.

Class Leadership Opportunities

Leadership opportunities help foster responsibility, fairness, trust, confidence and collaborative skills, alongside academic growth.

Competitions and External Enrichment

Participation in external academic and cultural competitions, such as the Premier’s Reading Challenge and Spelling Bee, mathematics challenges, debating and public speaking competitions, chess, Southern Stars, Southern Illawarra Music Festival, Leadership conferences and representative sports encourage and extend learning and motivation.

Parent and Community Engagement

The school actively engages parents and the community to support the learning and development of students. Communication, information sharing, and partnerships with internal and external services and community links help ensure a collaborative and comprehensive approach to education.

Across our school

Individualised Approach

The school recognises all students are individuals and they require diverse opportunities outside their classroom to explore and grow. Individual student talent is celebrated through productions, creative arts opportunities, visual arts, SRC, whole school wellbeing initiatives, sports and physical education programs.

Internal and External Opportunity Classes

For academically advanced students, Opportunity Classes in Years 5 and 7 offer enriched and accelerated curricula tailored to their abilities. Admission to these selective classes is competitive, based on a state wide placement test and school recommendations. Our school also hosts the Lake Illawarra South HPAG class, admission is through a standardised testing in Year 5.

Professional Learning for Educators

The school has a designated High Potential and Gifted Education committee who support teachers with professional learning and program building.

Targeted Enrichment and Extension

These programming decisions for standard curriculum are made carefully, involving consultation with families and school leadership.

Mentoring and Leadership Opportunities

The school cultivates mentoring, coaching and leadership programs that enable students to develop social skills, peer support roles, and leadership capacity. These opportunities help foster confidence and collaborative skills, alongside academic growth.

A range of Whole-School Programs

Our school offers a range of enrichment activities that extend learning beyond the standard curriculum. These include STEM challenges, wellbeing programs, creative workshops, specialised Creative Arts program, school production, art club, music festivals and problem-solving tasks. Enrichment aims to foster creativity, critical thinking, and intellectual curiosity both within and outside the classroom setting.

Inclusivity, Diversity, and Culturally Nourishing Relationships

The school’s  approach to high potential and gifted education values and respects cultural backgrounds and the individual identities of all students. We build nurturing, culturally safe and positive relationships with the school community to create a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We celebrate diversity and promote equity. This allows for quality learning opportunities that meet the needs and aspirations of all students.

Across NSW

Our students participate in a wide range of state-wide 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:

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

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

The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.

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

The Premier's Multicultural Public Speaking competition encourages primary school students to explore ideas of multiculturalism in Australia while they practise their public speaking skills and improve their confidence.

The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.